Epic

Epic is an action-based space flight simulator game. It features eight completely different levels (including two in two phases), which take place either in space or over the surface of a planet. Each has a tight time limit to complete the mission (destroying the assigned targets); failure results in the loss of one of the player's ships, and may affect the gameplay in subsequent missions.

The plot borrowed heavily from the television series Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek and the Star Wars film franchise, focussing on a fleet of ships carrying the human inhabitants of a planet threatened by an imminent supernova. Their escape route leads through Rexxon Empire territory; however, the Rexxons doubt the humans' motives, and refuse safe passage. With no other option, the humans are forced to attempt a crossing anyway, leading to war between the two.

As the game progresses, it becomes apparent to the Rexxon scientists monitoring the humans' sun that the exodus is indeed genuine. However, the Rexxon military suppresses this knowledge and doubles down on the efforts to stop the humans' fleet, deepening the conflict.

The game had been in development for about three years and had been repeatedly delayed. At first it was known under the working title Goldrunner 3D and was initially announced to be published by Microdeal as a spiritual sequel to the two Uridium-like Goldrunner top-down shooting games, before a publishing deal was signed with Ocean in 1989.

Much of the technology that was used to create F29 Retaliator had been used to create Epic. The action is viewed in 3D, with graphics being a mix of uniformly-coloured polygons and bitmaps (featuring 16 colours for Atari ST and 32 colours in the Amiga version, largely shades of grey). Cut-scenes that move the story along vary between the versions; the Atari ST and Amiga versions are largely the same, a combination of pre-rendered 3D artwork overlaid with dynamically generated ships, and more conventional artwork where characters are involved. On the Atari ST, some pre-rendered images have been dropped and replaced with similar, animated bitmap versions of the same scene.

Critical reception of Epic was mixed. A number of magazines scored the game highly, including review scores of 92% for the PC version from Mega Zone, 91% from CU Amiga and Amiga User International, and 90% from Amiga Action. ACE, for instance, gave the Amiga and ST versions a score of 839 (out of a possible 1000), praising its fast 3D graphics and sense of scale, but disliking its longevity and lack of depth. In ST Format, the game received a score of 91% and was described as "the best blaster that the ST has seen in some time".

The title fared less well with Amiga Power which gave the game 34%, noting its many glitches and gameplay problems, such as mission time limits. The magazine's reviewer concluded that Epic felt "rushed" and "unfinished", and had prioritised looks over gameplay. Maff Evans in Amiga Format delivered a similar verdict and criticism, also awarding a score of 34%; he noted that the despite being two years late, the game felt rushed to release and expressed that the game was too short. The magazine also published feedback from players in the review, many of whom also completed the game shortly after purchase, complaining that a cheat mode for the game was included in the instructions.