Durrell has done a decent job of providing an inexpensive means of driving one of the finest sports cars produced, the Lotus Turbo Esprit. To add an extra dimension to the simulation, Turbo Esprit is also a game of “cops and robbers”. Actually, it is a game of “cop and drug smugglers”. The plot of the game is to chase down four drug-runners and their armoured car supplier. The action takes place in one of four different cities. A city must be chosen upon loading, and to try a different city one must reload the game.
The display is similar to Durrell’s Combat Lynx (a combat helicopter simulation). The screen is divided into two sections — the dashboard and the playing field. Once again, the player’s vehicle is seen on the screen from a view point just behind the car in a 3-dimensional world. The 3-D effect of the city landscape is effective, but a little jerky while driving at slower speeds. The car is, as one would expect, a right-hand drive ala England, and the city streets are laid out to be driven on the left-side of the road. This took quite some time to get used to, especially when making left or right hand turns. The city is made up of various 2 to 6 lane streets with a number of one-way streets. Some of the hazards encountered, while cruising the city, are pedestrians crossing in crosswalks, potholes (which are set off with barricades), and workmen on ladders, which extend into the street. Of course, what driving simulation would be complete without lane changers, who don’t use their turn signals? Yes, the cars driving through town have operating turn signals.
Your car is equipped with a gun, which can be fired at other cars. Drug-running cars can be stopped by shooting them or continually rear-ending them. Points are scored for apprehending the drug cars, with a higher score provided when disabling the car by rear-ending it. There are penalties for ramming innocent cars or running over pedestrians. You are provided with four separate cars, as your car can be demolished by crashing into other cars or walls. It is also possible to lose a car when shot by one of the cruising hit-cars. One also scores points by taking out the hit-cars. There are also various gas stations which are needed when the fuel gauge gets low or your engine develops a misfire.
A map of the city is available (on the screen), marking the locations of gas stations and drug cars. There are various levels of play which effect the speed of the cars and the number of times they must be rammed before they submit. Control is via keyboard (which is user-definable) or joystick. By being able to define the keys, control by keyboard is easy and responsive.
As a simulation, the game has a good “feel”, (especially when taking corners too fast). It is great fun to re-enact some of the great chase scenes from the movies (Bullet or the French Connection), by driving on the wrong side of the road to get around traffic jams, running red lights at busy intersections and dodging pedestrians. The plot and action of the game can get a little old-hat. It is not a game that I think one will get hooked on and forget to eat or sleep, but is great fun to pull out once in awhile and pass a few hours with. The action does not seem to slow down with the number of active objects on the screen, though it does suffer attribute bleeds. Also, one can occasionally get stuck, because some idiot driver went down a one-way street the wrong way.
Turbo Esprit is available from Curry Computer for $16.95.