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Captive

Available Platform: Amiga

Captive is a sci-fi RPG created by Antony Crowther and published by Mindscape in 1990 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS.

Year1990
GenreRole Playing
Rating4.5

85/100 based on 7 Editorial reviews. Add your vote

PublisherMindscape
DeveloperMindscape
OS supportedWin7 64 bit, Win8 64bit, Windows 10, MacOS 10.6+
Updated6 June 2020

Game Review

Captive is a sci-fi RPG created by Antony Crowther and published by Mindscape in 1990 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS.

The game uses a first-person perspective, with movements in the four directions in a pseudo-3D environment. Very similar to Dungeon Master or Eye of the Beholder, but instead of the fantasy settings, we have space stations. The hero is locked in a prison, but he can lead a group of droids using a remote control. The droids are the "party" that you control in the game. They can buy and use weapons and upgrade their body parts during the game. As long as you advance, you have shops that sell more powerful upgrades. The combat mechanics are pretty interesting because the weapons' effect changes depending on the type and position of the droid in the formation.

Captive received very positive reviews at the time, and it's still one of the most appreciated RPG ever created for the Amiga. The gameplay is perfectly balanced, and the level design is fantastic. Interestingly, Crowther found a way to generate all levels with an algorithm not to occupy space on a disk. This technique allows the game to have thousands of levels, and the player can continue exploring them after completing the main ones. The graphics maybe is not top-notch, but it does its job well. Instead, the music and the sound effects are excellent and contribute to creating an atmosphere that is the real gem of this game. You know what I'm talking about if you have already played it. If not, this is the time to try this fantastic game.

Review by: GN Team
Published: 6 June 2020 12:35 pm

Users Reviews

loved this game when it came out and also Knightmare which was created using the same engine, spent many happy hours tramping down corridors. I slowed the mouse pointer down in the preferences by two notches as it seemed too quick for me. An excellent and underated game in the Dungeon Crawler genre.

Review by: Sean Slater
Published: 9 June 2020 7:31 am



Sorry, for copyright reasons we cannot provide any download link. You can check if the game is available on GOG or Steam, or you can search on the GamesVoyager search engine.

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Latest Comments

  • Manu - 2023-04-12 - Reply

    @Jeff this problem happens when you try to use the saved states of the emulator. You should not use them. See #5 and #6 here: https://gamesnostalgia.com/faq

  • Jeff Brewer - 2023-04-12 - Reply

    Very much a nostalgic game for me.

    Unfortunately, the uploaded version does not let me leave the third base. when I click on the door to exit, I get the following error message:

    "Installed program has modified the VBR, detected on entering 'resload_LoadFile'."

    I am given the options to 'QUIT', 'RESTART', or 'MAKE CORE DUMP'.

    'Restart' restarts the game. 'Make Core Dump' creates a core dump, then returns you to the same screen and options. 'Quit' quits the game, and leaves you in the amiga screen, with a C:.

    Really loved playing this again, but wish I could get further along.

  • Guy Patten - 2021-04-24 - Reply

    Played well until I got to the door to exit level one at which point it exited the game