In the early nineties the words „interactive film“ and „CD-ROM“ sounded like the promise of an entirely new era of games. Microcosm, from the British studio Psygnosis, was exactly the title meant to demonstrate this future: a flashy spectacle that prided itself on pre-rendered 3D graphics running from a high-capacity CD medium.
The game's concept is unabashed sci-fi: you are shrunk to microscopic size and sent into a human body to prevent a hostile probe from taking control of it. In terms of gameplay it is a so-called on-rails shooter, where you move along a predetermined route through tunnels and blood vessels and shoot down incoming enemies. The player thus does not steer the direction of flight but focuses on aiming and reactions amid the colourful, organic scenery.
Microcosm was above all a showcase of what the new medium was supposed to enable. Psygnosis, a studio famous for visually inventive games and later the Lemmings series, bet on pre-prepared videos and rendered sequences that looked stunning by the standards of the time.
On the Amiga CD32 console the title became one of the flagship demonstrations of why players should acquire a device with a CD drive. At the same time, however, Microcosm nicely illustrates the double-edged nature of the whole era: visual grandeur often outweighed gameplay depth, and so today it is perceived more as a technological calling card of its day than as timeless playability.
That is precisely why Microcosm is a fascinating exhibit of gaming history. It shows the moment when the industry believed the future belonged to cinematic experiences on CD, and it records both the enthusiasm and the naivety of that vision.
Why play it: For a nostalgic look into the era of the first CD-ROM games and a flashy rendered spectacle that was meant to show the future of gaming at the time.
Game 6 of 10 for Amiga CD32
