The forgotten grandfather of the third-person cover shooter?
The only problem withOperation Wolfis this: it isnt exactly what youd call strategic.
Your involvement in the game is essentially reduced to a pair of eyes and an itchy trigger finger.
So how do you inject a bit of freedom and variety into what is essentially an electronic shooting gallery?
In 1988, a young upstart of a Japanese studio called the TAD Corporation had the answer:Cabal.
It lacksCabals all-important crosshairs, however, which makes it more of an up-the-screen shooter with a faux-3D perspective.
Chief among these is the ability to hide behind cover.
Squint, and you might just about see the family resemblance betweenCabalandGears of War.
Cabalis also noteworthy for its destructible scenery, which was unusually extensive for a game of its era.
Its only by filling up that meter that each level can be completed.
Its these ideas and flourishes that makeCabalsuch an addictive game, even when played today.
Most of all,Cabalhas that hard-to-define x-factor that separates an exciting shooter from a tedious one.
For what it is, the ZX Spectrum version is perhaps my favorite.
The destructible environments have also been squeezed in, and the shooting effects sound fantastic.
For a game from a relatively small start-up in Japan,Cabals influence was admirably far-reaching.
Such titles asNAM-1975,Wild Guns,Dynamite Duke,andSin and Punishmentall take elements fromCabal.
(Homers famous line, Stupid sexy Flanders often springs to mind here.)
Sadly, the TAD Corporation didnt last long.
This personnel exchange might explain why the spirit ofCabalwas briefly revived withGamshara, released by Mitchell in 2002.
