7 /10 1 Votes
Mode(s) Single player Developer Computer's Dream | 3.5/5 My Abandonware Initial release date 1989 Publisher Ubisoft | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date(s) 1989 (Atari ST)
1990 (Amiga, C64, DOS) Platforms Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Amstrad CPC, AmigaOS Designers Hervé Lange, Olivier Cordoléani Genres Adventure game, Role-playing video game Similar BAT II – The Koshan C, Fer et Flamme, Barbarian II: The Dungeon, Beach Volley, Bloodwych | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
B.A.T. (expanded: Bureau of Astral Troubleshooters) is a futuristic point and click adventure game with some role-playing video game elements. It was released in 1989 and available on several home computer platforms. It was developed by Computer's Dream and published by Ubisoft. A sequel, B.A.T. II – The Koshan Conspiracy, was released in 1992.
Contents
Summary
The Atari ST version was notable in the fact that it shipped with a dongle purporting to be a 16-channel sound card. This was required to play the game, but resulted in no sound being transmitted to the attached monitor or television, and to get any sound at all the user was forced to either play the game wearing headphones plugged into the dongle, or purchase external speakers. It is also dubious whether the dongle produced higher quality sound, since the music did not feature any more channels than regular sound-chip music.
The card actually contained a 12-bit DAC, giving the dynamic range for 16 simultaneous 8-bits samples at the expense of the CPU given the lack of DMA. The game audio itself only used up to 4 simultaneous samples.
Reception
Computer Gaming World praised the NPCs and graphics of the Amiga version of B.A.T., but criticized the combat, puzzles, user interface, and arcade sequences. The magazine advised traditional RPG fans to avoid the game.
