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AEON FLUX - THE DEMIURGE
By Anthony Burns
We're pleased to present Anthony's latest Sideways SEUCK project, based on the MTV cartoon. Click the screenshot to download the game, or scroll down to read more on the game and its characters.
Disclaimer: Æon Flux and all related characters, names, and settings are copyright of Peter Chung and MTV. All rights reserved.
Important notes:
This game uses a greyscale background graphics style that makes use of all three of the grey shades in the SEUCK palette. These will only show up correctly if your emulator is switched to a PAL TV-style graphics mode. If you use the default graphics mode (in CCS64, at any rate) then white and light grey will appear the same, obscuring some of the graphics.
This is a one-player game, but it uses both joysticks. You start the game in the Ultrado vehicle, using joystick port one (If you try to start using port two, you will be unable to move or defend yourself). If you can get past level 1, you will be instructed to switch to port two. From this point, you will be on foot.
When you are on-foot, you fire in the direction you are pointing. The background cannot harm you in this mode, but certain areas of it are dangerous when you are in driving mode. When you are driving, you fire forwards only.
Story:
In an indeterminate future, in which most of the human race dwells in squalor and anarchy, the city or Bregna has emerged as a shining beacon of order … and of repression. The “executive chairman” (re: absolute dictator) of Bregna – Trevor Goodchild – rules his people with a combination of scientific ingenuity, relentless propaganda, continual observation, and plain brute force. Those who try to escape have a nasty tendency to end up maimed or killed by the extensive border control network, supposedly designed to keep out invaders (though it is equally, if not more effective at keeping the Breen populace within). However, some do escape, and have joined with the mutants, outlaws, and anarchists who live in the wastelands to form a rival community: the Monicans, as they are known, are held together by their hatred of Trevor Goodchild and his megalomaniac ambitions, and foremost among their ranks is Æon Flux: skilled in all manner of combat and stealth operations, and with few moral qualms to cramp her style …
Her latest assignment is crucial to the freedom of Monica: Trevor Goodchild has acquired an embryonic alien creature known as the Demiurge. When it achieves maturity, its powers will be nothing short of god-like, and its influence will spread throughout the world, depriving the Monicans even of the desire to rebel. Æon has been charged with the duty of infiltrating Bregna, locating the immature Demiurge, destroying it, and (hopefully) making her escape. Not one of these objectives will be simple …
Character Guide:
Ultrado Infiltration Vehicle (Port One) – Æon’s personal transport takes after its owner: fast, sleek, nimble, and sadly destructible … Keep to clear terrain and bridges, and drive as cautiously as the constant attacks from the Breen border defences will allow. The Ultrado is armed with forward-firing missiles, which have good power and range, but can only fire twice in succession (so use judiciously).
Æon Flux (Port Two) – Once within the borders, you will proceed on foot. Your FUG-1 sidearm doesn’t have the range of the Ultrado’s missiles, but its rapid fire makes it well suited for the enemy attacks you will have to fend off from all directions in the heavily-defended streets and walkways of Bregna. Not all of the terrain is accessible, but ladders allow you to reach some areas (and your enemies too).
Rocket Bomb – Very fast projectiles on a fixed course, you will only encounter these in the border lands (as even Trevor Goodchild would consider it morally questionable to pound his own city with missiles). Destroy or avoid, and also keep out of the path of their jet trails.
Tower Gun – These fixed emplacements are the mainstay of the Breen border defence system, although they are increasingly being phased out in favour of less humane deterrents … They fire randomly in all directions.
Flying Drone – Slower than the rockets, but more heavily armoured, and their guidance systems allow them to fly on unpredictable, quick-changing patterns. Terrain is no obstacle to these dive-bombing automata.
Crawler Drone – These spider-legged robot grenades will try to ambush you in the city streets. They are fast and agile, but can be detonated with a single well-placed shot.
Wheelie Drone – Not the most advanced looking robot in the pack, but who needs sophistication when you have an armoured shell and a big stack of anti-personnel mines just waiting to be spread out?
Breen Guard – The fearless and fanatical soldiers of Bregna attack singly or in formation, and will try to ambush and overwhelm you.
Sniper – Hides in the scenery, popping up his head at regular intervals in order to fire a shot.
Blast Cannoneer – This soldier carries a deadly, fast-firing bazooka-type weapon equipped with explosive rounds.
Saw Blades – You can’t destroy these automatic defences, so use every iota of your agility to slip between them without being dismembered.
Laser Traps – Slip between the emitters while the beam is deactivated, unless you are in the mood for some very crude and nasty eye surgery.
Supply Train (Boss 1) – Your Ultrado can drive on the train tracks, as long as it doesn’t collide with the carriages. Take out their side-firing flame guns and keep an eye on the carriage doors, as the cargo is of a decidedly unfriendly nature …
Demiurge (Boss 2) – Though not in its fully mature form, this god-like entity is still a resilient and dangerous opponent. However, the bonus for successfully destroying it is substantial, if you can survive the encounter.
Trevor Goodchild (Boss 3) – If you manage to escape Bregna, your final ordeal will be a vengeful counter-attack by the megalomaniac himself, at the helm of a fast and heavily armed hovercraft. Destroy it if you can, though even staying alive at this stage will require considerable skill.