GOLD OF THE AMERICAS

 GOLD OF THE AMERICAS (GOTA) is a breath of fresh air in a market recently
inundated with simulators, arcade conversions, and action adventures. GOTA takes
you back in time to the chaotic years that followed Columbus's (re-)discovery of
the Americas. You represent one of the four major powers whose political
maneuverings, high-seas larceny, and New World exploitations dominated the
300-year period following Columbus's historic landing. (This review is based on
the IBM-PC version; Amiga and Atari ST version notes follow.)

 In GOTA, your goal is to achieve the largest colonial presence in the New World
by the end of the time period covered in the game (1500-1800). Each turn spans
ten years, so you have 30 turns in which to accomplish this. Colonial presence
is measured by the total levels of each colony. Levels range from 1 to 7 and
reflect an increasing degree of development. These levels are governed by the
amount of money you devote to developing a colony, as well as by the potential
for development of each province (again, ranging from 1 to 7). Provinces may
change hands through military conquest, or they may declare independence, so the
game involves more than just "grab and grow" tactics.

 Essentially, GOTA is a game of resource management and economic development.
Player turns consist of reviewing results of the previous turn, acquiring items
for use in the current turn, placement of purchased items (and reorganization of
currently placed items), and determination of the economic posture of each
colony. While GOTA covers the same period of history as SEVEN CITIES OF GOLD, it
bears little resemblance to that game. It _is_ very reminiscent of an old
boardgame called CONQUISTADOR, and players of that game will undoubtedly
consider GOTA to have much of the same appeal.

 To begin, results from the previous turn's activities are reported. These show
how each colony fared and how successful trading was in that turn. The results
of any raids or privateering are also reported. You'll be informed of your
income, as well as any other gains or losses: Colonists may die from plague or
native revolts; trading ships may be sunk or plundered; colonies may be raided,
and new provinces explored and looted. Income is distributed between a treasury
and your own personal secret funds. These secret funds are handy, because
they're not subject to the extortionate tax that follows the results phase of
each turn.

 After the results, the game's most unpleasant event occurs: tax collection. An
obese man appears and claims an average of _over_ 100% of your previous turn's
income. If you made more money this turn than last, there is a good chance
you'll be able to pay this exorbitant amount. Otherwise, you may have to tap
your secret funds, or simply turn over whatever cash you have and shrug your
shoulders. While the latter may seem the most appealing, there are penalties for
this, the most obvious being that the government will curtail the number of free
items it provides if your taxes are not paid in full. Unfortunately, at some
point in the game, you definitely will _not_ be able to pay your taxes, even
with secret funds.

 Following taxation, you may purchase items to use in your next turn, including:
Armies, Colonists, Trading Ships, War Ships, Privateers, and Slaves. Armies are
used to explore, raid, quell native revolts, and repel raids against your own
provinces. Colonists do just that: colonize. Trading ships return income from
trade; war ships protect them from other traders and privateers. Privateers raid
ships (including your own, if in the same area!) for their income. Slaves may be
placed with a colony and exploited for additional income. They may also revolt:
_Caveat emptor_. All items cost $500, so purchase decisions are fairly
straightforward.

 In the next phase, items are placed on the map, and you're to determine the
economic stance of each colony. Choices are: Exploit, Develop, and Placate.
"Exploit" generates the most income, but lowers colony loyalty, which can lead
to colonial independence (or conversion to another player). "Develop" severely
reduces the returned income, but gives you a chance to raise the level of a
colony. "Placate" returns more income than "Develop," but less than "Exploit."
"Placate" will help retain colonial loyalty, however, and is virtually mandated
for well-developed colonies. Following this economic phase, the computer players
make their decisions, and the results of the turn are displayed.

 GOTA is very easy to learn and play. Turns pass quickly, and an average game
should last little more than an hour. You can play the four countries according
to their historical characteristics, which means that at no time are their
capabilities evenly matched. Over the course of the game, this "imbalance" evens
out, and offers players an opportunity to assume different roles as their power
ebbs and flows.

 The interface is wonderful, particularly if you have a mouse. Simple pointing,
clicking, and dragging are used for everything -- non-typists should love this
game! Gameplay tends to be free-flowing and rollicking, with the last five turns
particularly chaotic as players attempt to grab each other's provinces while
older colonies begin to go independent. The graphics are nice, particularly in
EGA, but nothing to shout about. The computer AI is well-done (an SSG hallmark),
with Novice, Normal, and Expert modes provided.

 On the down side, a few enhancements to the game would have been helpful:
First, there is no way to back up in your turn. Once you've completed item
purchasing and moved on to item placement, you cannot go back to change
purchases. You _can_ scan the map while purchasing, but you may still miss
something. Second, although you can play with "Random" continents and "Random"
Europe for more balance and variety, the shape of the continents is constant. A
random continent capability similar to that in SEVEN CITIES OF GOLD would have
been better. Finally, there are some sketchy historical notes on the package,
but I would have appreciated something more substantial. (SSG usually excels in
this area, which may explain my disappointment here.) The rules themselves are
well-written, if brief.

 The game comes on two 5-1/4" diskettes (3-1/2" disks are available), and
requires 512K to run. It supports CGA, Hercules, EGA, MCGA, and VGA graphics
modes. There is no copy protection of any kind, and the program installs easily
on a hard drive. Mouse and keyboard control are both offered. There is no sound
board support.

 GOLD OF THE AMERICAS is a well-designed, entertaining game. I recommend it
highly, especially for multiple players.

 AMIGA VERSION NOTES

 Gameplay in the Amiga version is identical to that of the IBM-PC version: The
game is fast, colorful, and dynamic, and entertains you for either a brief round
of play or for hours at a time, depending on your choice.

 One of the best features of this program is its mouse control. In some games
that rely heavily on mouse input, there are infinitesimal (and sometimes longer)
post-click delays that make control feel sloppy. Or, sometimes the window within
which the mouse pointer must operate is so small that you're constantly
"hunting" for just the right place on the screen to click. GOTA suffers from
neither of these problems: Mouse control is simple, quick, and decisive. This
helps you move smoothly through each phase of gameplay, and because the screen
is organized around graphic representations of choices, there's no fiddling with
menu bars, sub-menus, or mysterious command abbreviations.

 The graphics in GOTA are a real improvement for SSG. If there was one factor in
earlier SSG games that players might have complained about, it was the
relatively primitive quality of the graphics. (REACH FOR THE STARS is an
exception, although its graphics are still somewhat simple by current
standards.) No longer! While there's no animation in the game, it's not
necessary: As you click on each choice, a small window in the upper-left-hand
part of the control portion of the screen fills with a colorful, nicely drawn
picture indicating your selection. The opening screen is a small masterpiece of
computer art, depicting two warships in the middle of battle; the map of the
North and South American continents is jaggie-free, colorful, easy to read, and
a pleasure to look at. The iconic representations of all components of the game
are also precisely and informatively designed. Bravo for this major step forward
on the part of SSG!

 Not only are the graphics themselves well-designed, but the layout of the game
is also exceptional. The entire left half of the screen is devoted to the map,
where game progress is indicated with appropriate icons. The right-hand section
of the screen consists of a series of different windows, which you scroll
through as you move from one segment of the game to the next. In all cases,
screen layout is immediately comprehensible and absolutely manageable. As in
REACH FOR THE STARS, you find soon after the game begins that you don't even
think about where to go to make the next decision in your turn. The transparency
of this interface should serve as a model for other wargame designs.

 Sound on the Amiga version is relatively sparse, but always appropriate. The
game begins with a short, rollicking tune that nicely introduces the events
about to ensue. National anthems play when a country manages to capture another
country's colony, and the game finishes with a pleasant little melody
accompanying the game results screen.

 GOTA comes on one copyable floppy disk, and is not copy-protected (a rather
bold move for a company as small as SSG). It plays easily in 512K of RAM, is
hard-disk installable, and multitasks like a champ if you have more than 512K.
SSG is one of the few companies to realize that Amiga players might like to end
the program with a command other than Ctrl-Amiga-Amiga. Thanks, SSG, for a great
game, and a well-implemented design!

 ATARI ST VERSION NOTES

 The Atari ST version of GOLD OF THE AMERICAS plays identically to the IBM and
Amiga versions described above. The graphics are bright and colorful, and the
mouse interface works like a charm. GOTA for the ST requires a color monitor and
a double-sided drive (if you need single-sided disks, SSG will provide them).
The program disk is not copy-protected; it will run from a hard drive, as long
as you don't put the game files in a folder. The instruction manual is for the
IBM and Amiga versions, but it describes gameplay for all editions; information
pertinent to the ST is in a README.TXT file on the program disk.

 The good thing about the interface is the design of the play screen: The right
half is a series of nested windows, similar to the series of nested menus of
SSG's BATTLEFRONT game system for 8-bit Apples and Commodore 64s. The bad thing
about the interface is that you can't back out of anything: Once you've made
purchases in the Acquisitions phase, or placed items on the map in the Placement
phase, and then clicked on Continue, that's that. In the BATTLEFRONT system,
nothing became irrevocable until you selected RUN 5; in GOTA, decisions are
irrevocable as soon as you make them.

 Apart from this, GOLD OF THE AMERICAS for the ST is a fine game, easy to learn,
easy to play, and easy to look at. Not only that, it's also SSG's first-ever
release for the ST. A port of HALLS OF MONTEZUMA is due later in the year, and
if sales warrant it, SSG will continue its newborn support. Excuse my pessimism,
but it's unlikely: Pirates recently destroyed the 1990 Northeast AtariFest, so
continued support from anyone seems like a pipe dream. I urge all normal ST
users to help out SSG. Until they throw in the towel, you'll be getting good
games -- and GOLD OF THE AMERICAS is a great place to begin.

 GOLD OF THE AMERICAS is published by Strategic Studies Group and distributed by
Electronic Arts.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253