Hive Review

Pest control takes a turn for the unbelievably bloody serious when an alien bee-hive invades Myrtle Rowbottom’s garden.

STORY

So there is this giant extraterrestrial bee-hive that suddenly landed in Ms. Rowbottom’s peaceful and beautiful garden in Upper Slaughter. The hive appears to be made of metal and is crawling with stuff that obviously has to be exterminated. And wherever there are bees, there must be a Queen.

As for the extermination part… Some tanks of Raid won’t do the job, so the authorities bring out the Grasshopper Ship a.k.a. the S.E.A.C. Mk. II… Guess who now will have to get into the cockpit of the Grasshopper, enter the hive, and wipe it out from inside – Including its aggro inhabitants? You guessed right that it’s you – If you ever feel the need to play a vector-graphics based arcade game on the ZX Spectrum.

THE GAME

Hive is not just a simple arcade game, though. You really need to learn how to pilot the ship with some neat multi-tasking. Because you will be navigating through a network of tunnels while responding to threats and at the same time trying to keep the Grasshopper in one piece.

The mission is to locate the “control center” of the hive and exterminate the Queen Alien Bee. The hive consists of seven segments (Strata) and it’s built like any maze where it’s very easy to get lost. (Everything looks the same. This is naturally a technical limitation, but we don’t exactly “see” that much variation in any hive, do we?) You pilot the Grasshopper like any vessel that has to move through tight spots, i.e., you try to avoid colliding with objects that damage it. The Grasshopper can however jump as well as crouch. (This is essential for avoiding spikes on the floor and the ceiling.) It can also pick up and drop objects. And shoot at the various pestilence roaming in the tunnels.

The Grasshopper moves in one direction only and it can’t reverse. Naturally, it can brake and stop. And it can turn around when it’s stationary. So while moving ahead, you can aim and fire in any direction that you can look in. (The rear view is allocated to a separate button.)

CONTENT

When you start the game, you are immediately standing at the entrance of the first tunnel on Strata 0. Below the view of the tunnel is the Grasshopper’s dashboard. The dashboard is divided into several sections. The square to the left with 4×4 letters in a matrix is a code display. This works as an “on the fly” Save-function. As you progress, you’ll notice how this code changes. To “save” a game, write down the code on a paper. Then type it in via the interface to “load” that position. The code also keeps track of everything related to the Grasshopper.

The gauge formed from seven conjoined vertical circles (Filling up with yellow.) indicates which Strata you’re on. (I have no idea why the instructions mention “eight Strata”, but most likely, the Queen nests in the last one.) Then, you have two squares. Worry when the left one flashes red, because that means that you are attacked from behind. The right square turns magenta-colored when you’re close to a junction.

The on-display Grasshopper shows whether you are crouching or standing. In the middle of the dashboard, you have a normal compass as well as a two-digit number representing your energy-level. You don’t want to see this number anywhere close to “0”. The other two numbers below the energy display is your current score and Hi-score.

Finally, the right part of the dashboard is the icon display. The top row shows your front- and rear armor, plus shield. The middle rows shows what items you have picked up. And the bottom row with “321” shows that you are carrying three “markers” that can be dropped and picked up freely. These are used to keep track of where you are in the network. (Like breadcrumbs in the forest.)

The extremely uncertain journey towards the final Boss won’t be peaceful in the slightest. You will have to fight all kinds of devilry, and to get a piece out of the worst freaks, you need better weapons. And keys in case you’re captured by those so called Jailers. Because the Jailers lock you up in a cell. No keys? Tough shit – You might as well restart, or type in the last code where everything was going relatively fine. You could try to escape or get away from some of the menace, but the most crucial part would be maintaining the right energy- and armor levels. The energy is determined by Pylons, of which you can have two installed. One is good, but two is better. When the Pylons are used up, your energy will be directly affected. Strong armor and enough equipment is also preferable, but running with all that extra weight also uses up energy much faster.

CONTROLS

Keyboard only. You have thirteen commands that you more or less have to use all the time. There was no Joystick in existence in 1987 that could have handled all this. At least not on the Spectrum.

The controls include: Accelerate, Brake / Stop, Left, Right, Up, Down, Fire, Jump, Crouch, Pick Up, and Drop. Plus you will have to change between front- and rear view as well as switch between the Grasshopper’s manual controls and the icon control. A separate button freezes the game, letting you enter codes, abort the game, or reverse the controls. (X- and Y-axis.)

Picking up objects is semi-automatic. You press “Q” to conjure a green square on screen. When the object is within the square, it’s automatically picked up. Using any object is done with the “L”-key. This switches to the aforementioned icon control. Select the right object with the directional controls and press “L” again.

GRAPHICS

Minimalistic vector-based graphics in single color (Blue on Strata 0.) on black backgrounds. The tunnels are represented by circular shapes in different sizes. This makes it easy to spot the various enemies. It all flows smoothly and moving forwards reminds quite a bit of Master Of The Lamps on the C64. No irritating drops in the frame-rate either. The various creatures all have a distinct look as well.

Developer Torus who were behind the “Gyron”-games (Gyron Atrium, Gyron Necropolis, and Gyron Arena.) also converted Elite for the Spectrum. It’s no wonder if they picked up a thing or two about 3D-graphics during that time. Stare into those circles for too long, and you might even start hallucinating. This of course puts you properly into the right mood of the game.

SOUND

Some beeps, screeching noises, and… What other synonyms are there for the simplest computer-generated sounds in existence? No worries, though – The effects can always work as warnings, and the silence adds to the somewhat creepy and claustrophobic atmosphere.

SUMMARY

Are you prepared to learn how to operate the Grasshopper? Then you might have a chance to find the endurance to get through this nightmare. Four arms would of course be an advantage in this case, or at least two brains. Because when the going gets tough, you simply have to master the controls… Or your chances are reduced to what the on-screen energy-level says…

Oh yeah! There’s that one final question that always pops up: Is Hive “Bastard Hard”? While playing, you might come to that conclusion on your own, but you’d definitely think so in any case since there are no playthroughs on YouTube as of writing. (December 2019. Or I didn’t look hard enough.) Hell, there is barely any proper gameplay footage or video reviews. And I didn’t find any complete map of the game. One scan of the first two or three Strata… I guess most players disappeared in the hive, got lost, or died locked up.

And who the hell was it who said that Old School video games outside the pure arcade genre were easy and simple…? Okay, maybe no one. Because you almost need to take a driver’s license for the Grasshopper!

Note: Not to be confused with Capsoft / Softy’s game by the same name.

Developed by: Torus and Kevin Wallace.
Published by: Firebird
Version Reviewed: ZX Spectrum 48K
Genre: Maze
Players: 1
Also Available On: Amstrad CPC
Released: 1987