QAD is a disappointing 3D action flop from Cranberry Source, a small UK company formed by Jon Ritman, famous designer of several Spectrum computer classics including Head over Heels and Match Day. The wacky name and premise seem to be the best thing about QAD. Your job is to rescue the people from 10 different types of aliens, while launching a counter-attacks against the invaders. The game is essentially a 3D shooter, with smooth graphics and decent gameplay options, including a radar, dozens of weapons, and interesting ground structures and ship designs. Unfortunately, the gameplay gets repetitive and tedious quite fast. Despite the change in terrain and enemy types, QAD is essentially a shoot-everyone-in-sight game, rinse, rise, and repeat -- without anything to keep the game fresh and fun. Not surprisingly, the game didn't do well in the market -- not enough to fund a timely release of Super Match Soccer, a long-awaited sequel to Match Day series (which is still under development, by the way, according to Cranberry's website). An average underdog to say the least. Reviewed by: Underdogs |