The Chaos Engine Longplay (Amiga CD32) [60 FPS]

Developed by The Bitmap Brothers and published by Renegade in 1993

Mad scientist, Baron Forteseque, has created a machine capable of distorting time and space. Unfortunately, the machine has gained consciousness and has distorted reality, causing wide-spread chaos and destruction.

Enter 6 mercenaries for hire; armed to the teeth, it is up to them to fight their way across multiple levels to destroy the Chaos Engine.

Undoubtedly one of the finest games on the Amiga and also of it's particular generation, I decided to do a longplay of the Amiga CD32 version of the game. It's practically identical to the AGA disk version (the CD32 was equipped with the AGA chipset) apart from an animated introduction with voice-over.

The game features levels with multiple paths, secrets galore, great graphic, sound and playability. The AI for the CPU-controlled player is pretty decent too; it will actively try to collect loot, activate nodes, shoot monsters and avoid danger. The effectiveness of the AI can be upgraded in the in-game shop too, improving it's effectiveness.

A few of the game music tracks have been remade as full CD audio and sound really nice, but the actual level music is the same as the original disk version, which is a real shame. There's nothing wrong with the music, but knowing Richard Joseph, he would have done them justice.

In addition to the music, some of the environmental and ambient level sounds have been digitally recorded and added as tracks to the CD (listen at 6:50 for the bird-song); it's better quality than the sound in the disk version. To be honest though, I'd never have noticed unless I played all the CD tracks separately to find out what they were.

The enhanced AGA colour palette is also up for debate as to whether it's an improvement over the ECS original; the muted and slightly drab colours of the original ECS disk version complemented the overall atmosphere of the game.

All these niggles aside, it's still a brilliant game and is crying out for an HD remake (not 3D though!)

Enjoy!

#retrogaming
#amiga
#retrogames

[lordfagbutt]

The pixel art in this game is absolutely gorgeous.

[syu]

I can't believe how many memories hearing "node activated" brought back!

[adroharv]

one of the few Amiga games I finished. Simple enough ending but I felt satisfied for having completed it and not short changed. Great experience all round and a real gem especially the Amiga version which really shines

[toughguyver]

This is definitely the best version of Chaos Engine! The intro is outstanding!

[jaystercutie]

Never realised this was the first time I encountered steam punk as a kid xxxx

[Zoulz]

Bitmap brothers games always blew me away. Great graphics and sound.

[alessandromarani]

This looked amazing... It was difficult to find such a coherent and solid pixel art style in Amiga games...

[Microbex]

Graphic is still better than most 2D games of today.

[TheRetroShed]

One of the Bitmap's finest games. Love it!

[captainz-man]

One of the all time classics. Always loved powering up your character to the max and then seeing how much damage your weapon did lol.

[ALRetrogamingLongplays]

He was undoubtedly one of the best there was and I think this was one of his best. I'd love to know who's voice they used for the effects like "Special Power!!" and "Players Activated!!" - the voice samples were actually a big highlight of the game for me; they were really dramatic :D

[dirkmontgomery]

The ost of this game is a masterpiece.

[UberSynth]

I had this on the CD32
The CD console version of the Amiga 1200 with its good old AGA chipset. You got to love that music "node activated!"

[emixiak]

No fucking achievements, quick payments and help. True gaming experience.

[ProBloggerWorld]

So many high-class games were produced in the UK. Bitmap Brothers were huge, I love(d) their aesthetics.

[jeanpierreragequit]

The Bitmap studio have been one my favorite one creating amazing Amiga games.

[DrakoDragonis]

So many fond memories playing this game with my dad. Thanks for the upload, it made interesting viewing :)

[Vivenk]

I played this game as a kid and still love it.

[Topesio]

Omg this game. 58 old and avid amiga fan. This was so cool! Chaos engine. Xenon. Speedball 2.

[fuzzylogic]

Thanks for posting this, it's great to see it again after quite a few years! I spent soooo many hours playing this game. :-)