Does Bolo have gee-whiz-cool Doom-style 1st-person virtual reality graphics with digitized sound?
Nope. Well, it does have digitized sound, courtesy of the Mac’s marvelous multimedia capabilities, but the graphics are actually based on the BBC Micro’s graphics, the platform from which Bolo was originally ported. They are functional, however, and do not distract from the game in any way. (I’d like to be able to do graphics this “primitive”, believe me.) Bolo sports an overhead, third-person view of eight squares in all directions plus the ability to scroll slightly farther with the arrow keys. Like many of the old classics, it proves that you don’t need to be a graphic artist to design an eminently playable game. Did you say you can play in teams? Yes! In fact, the name “Bolo” is from the Hindi word meaning “communication”. A game with every man for himself involving four or five players generally goes nowhere…too many enemies at once. Bolo works best with two equal teams, whether the equality lies in numbers or skill offset by superior numbers. Bolo has a built-in message system
