Hostages

Hostages is an action game developed and published by Infogrames in 1988 for the Amiga and Atari ST.

The title was also ported to other platforms, including DOS, Apple IIgs, NES, and Commodore 64. The game was called Hostage: Rescue Mission in the United States and Operation Jupiter in France. The NES version was named Rescue: The Embassy Mission.

Infogrames, a French company that later became known as ATARI SA, is known for a wide variety of titles, including Alone in the Dark, a precursor to the Survival Horror genre.

Hostage has quite a simple premise. The protagonist must control several soldiers from a GIGN team. The mission is to eliminate a terrorist group occupying the Parisian embassy and free the hostages.

The gameplay is separated into three stages. In the first one, the player must go through a 2D scenario surrounded by spotlights with which the terrorists search the place. The character can hide behind various elements of the city or dodge the lights. Then comes the sniper section. In it, one of these officers is controlled by aiming from one building to another. The objective is to quickly eliminate any enemy that appears while giving cover to a comrade that wants to enter the site. When he succeeds, the game changes again. Similar to a third-person 3D shooter, you must fire at terrorists who appear in multiple rooms. Of course, it's not real 3D, but pseudo-3D like Dungeon Master. The final objective is to search and rescue the hostages along with the building,

The title graphics change as the stage of the game requires it. In the first area, a cold palette predominates. The blue is mixed with the protagonist's uniform, very referring to the mission of infiltration that must make. Inside the building, more vivid and intense colors take over the screen. Like a more action-packed and energizing gameplay, the colors and the character figure stand out among rooms made for him to stand out and play the leading role in the scene.

The soundtrack seems to be made only for the last section of the game. The intense tones of action empower the soldiers. Even though one section is fully dedicated to infiltration, it generates the feeling that this is just the prelude to a shooting frenzy.

The critics received the title in a very positive way.

Infogrames launched 4 years later, a direct sequel for Hostages, called Alcatraz. If you want to experience an action-packed game where your reflexes will be tested, this is a must-see.