Hostages (video game)

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Hostages
Developer(s)	Infogrames
Publisher(s)	Infogrames, Superior Software
Platform(s)	Acorn Electron, Acorn Archimedes, Amiga, Apple IIGS, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, NES, ZX Spectrum
Release	1988
Mode(s)	Single player

Hostages is a computer game developed by Infogrames in 1988. The game was called Hostage: Rescue Mission in the United States, and Operation Jupiter in France. The Nintendo Entertainment System port was called Rescue: The Embassy Mission.

It was released for Acorn Electron, Archimedes, Atari ST, Amiga, Apple IIGS, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, NES and ZX Spectrum platforms.

Terrorists have overrun an embassy and hold the people inside as hostages. The player takes control of six counter-terrorists whose mission is to eliminate the terrorists. The game is split into two or three (depending on platform) distinct sections. In the first part of the game, the player must bring three men into position so they can snipe the building. In doing so, the men must avoid the searchlight by hiding in doorways as well as rolling, crawling and running. The second part involves entering the building with the other three men. In some versions of the game, this section is linked to the first part. The player's men abseil down the side of the building to choose which room to enter from, and the snipers (positioned earlier) can be used to shoot the terrorists through the windows. The building must then be searched, shooting the terrorists and finding the hostages in the process. In some versions of the game, hostages must be taken to a safe room.

The game consists of four parts, each presenting the action in a different way.

In the first part, three of the characters are taken to various spots in buildings surrounding the building that must be infiltrated. Along the way, though, the player must avoid the ever-moving spotlights by ducking behind scenery, crawling, rolling, and jumping into open windows. Failure to do so results in immediate death. Once the three characters are brought to their appointed spots, each in a progressively farther location from the start, part two begins. At least one character must reach their destination. Failure in part one results in a game over.

In part two, the same characters now act as snipers, watching the windows of the building for movement and shooting the terrorists' profiles in the windows if and when they appear. Doing well in part two means that part three is easier, but part two also takes a lot of patience and time, and the longer the player takes means he/she will have less time to complete the third part.

Part three is the shortest. Three characters on the roof must simply rappel down into the building from one of the sides, avoiding the windows that have sillouettes in them and crashing through on one of the three floors. Failure to time one's movements though results in the character falling and, presumably, dying.

Once inside, the player guides the character in a first-person perspective block-by-block movement around the building, looking for terrorists and shooting them before they can open fire, and finding the hostages inside. Once all the hostages have been rescued, and all the terrorists have been killed, the game ends. On harder difficulty settings, one must also be careful not to shoot hostages. The first person block-by-block method of play is similar to some of Kemco's other games, including Shadowgate.

There are varying degrees of difficulty, the easier settings giving the player more time to complete the tasks at hand, as well as the ability to see where the enemies are in the final part of the game. The harder settings give the player substantially less time, and the character lacks the aforementioned ability.

• Hostages at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
• Hostage: Rescue Mission at MobyGames
• Hostages blog post celebrating the game