It is no secret really that I am a big fan of BOH from Simone Bevilacqua, a great game for anyone that is a retro enthusiast (if you are a retro gamer, then you owe it to yourself to purchase a copy of BOH). Overhead action adventure titles like BOH don’t come around every day (this is an exclusive genre that Simone has taken BOH into, one of prestige).
Some people are thrown off by the graphics of BOH since they are in the lower resolution (it is a RETRO flavored game, HD graphics just won’t fit in this style). When a game is designed from the ground up like BOH, with the limitations of the graphics mode fully in mind, a certain level of beauty can be achieved. BOH has atmosphere so tense sometimes that you can almost feel it. I know because I have reviewed an earlier version and it rocked. If you are a fan of Gauntlet, The Chaos Engine or many other retro overhead titles then you definitely should try BOH out.
Below are the additions that have been made to BOH for the 10.0 update:
* adds acceleration to the turning of the main character when standing (allows to turn by small degrees and, at the same time, to change totally direction more quickly);
* makes enemy fields harmful like traps;
* adds sound effects to enemy fields and conveyor belts;
* improves the sound volume balancement of clusters of squares (enemy fields, conveyor belts and traps);
* intensifies the hit sparks effect;
* increases a bit the weapons shoot rate (so killing enemies is a bit easier);
* replaces the “USE ENHANCED/STANDARD WEAPONS” option with the “DIFFICULTY: normal/easy” option, which affects also the spawning rate of enemies;
* removes the “ENABLE/DISABLE BARRIERS” option;
* adds the “NAME REQUEST: once / per session / always” option;
* adds walls graphics to the themes “C64”, “default” and “warm”;
* extends the illumination range of rotating lamps;
* adds music and recoloring of graphics to the mission report screen;
* adds 10 new short pieces of music;
* improves some graphical elements, sound samples and music pieces;
* simplifies menus and adds the number of the non-secret missions;
* modifies the automatic theme switching so that it will not occur after selecting another video mode or another different automatic theme switching option;
* optimizes slightly the graphical engine;
* adds a new secret mission;
* makes some minimal changes to a few missions;
* updates and improves the manuals;
* applies various other changes.
I would like to also point out that users can download the manuals available on Simone’s site that will show you how to create levels. The fun of BOH is that you can import new levels (either ones you made or those made by others) and keep playing long after you beat the stock game.
Check out Captain D’s interview with Simone here.
BOH version 10.0 by Simone Bevilacqua – website
Platform: AmigaOS, AROS, Linux, MacOS, Windows
Price: Please check site for current pricing
Due: Now
Demo Available: Yes
