AutoDuel

Moby ID: 1296
Commodore 64 Specs

Description official descriptions

Autoduel is a hybrid game based on Steve Jackson Games board game Car Wars. It incorporates elements of role-playing, driving and action-based combat. The game is set in a futuristic version of USA, where gangs and vigilantes rule the wilderness, and people's only protection are armored cars with mounted weaponry. The player is cast in the role of an average person who must at first earn enough money to buy an own car, and then perform courier missions throughout the country.

The game's progression is fairly open-ended: the player is free to visit different cities, explore highways, participate in car Arena battles to earn money, take on gangsters in the wilderness, salvage car parts, etc. A few courier missions must be completed in order to advance the story. The player can construct and customize vehicles using guns, mine-layers, smokescreens, oil slicks, rockets and other accessories, choosing between various body and chassis types for the car. The entire game is viewed from a top-down perspective.

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Credits (Commodore 64 version)

17 People

By
Based on the "Car Wars" Board Game by
Programming Assistance
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Cover by
Illustrations by
Documentation by
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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 63% (based on 6 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 52 ratings with 5 reviews)

Create a character and survive on the highways and arenas in the future United States where your style of play and your choices are all you need.

The Good
This game allowed the creation and development of character that you could truly make your own. From your skills to the body types, weapons, armor, tires and power plants in the car; you got to make whatever choices you saw fit. This flexibility made the game. The side jobs and different ways of making money meant there was always more than one option or path to follow. Another great feature was the need to buy ammunition and make repairs... this meant mistakes truly did cost you. The types of weapons and speed capability of a vehicle also made a big difference with what tactics you would use. Damaged tires and poor driving skill made cars extremely difficult to handle.

The Bad
The graphics and plot both needed some further attention.

The Bottom Line
Autoduel is a good adaptation of Car Wars (Steve Jackson Games) on a computer. Considering the time it was made and the scope of the concept of Car Wars gameworld; Autoduel was a truly great game that suffered from the limits of the time. This game allowed a great degree of freedom and therefore the chance to play as one would see fit. Create your character, save money to buy your car and go explore the Northeastern US in a version of the future where you can make it as a courier, duelist or vigilante!

DOS · by James Zimmer (2) · 2001

Very open ended arcade RPG - a cross between Grand Theft Auto and Privateer

The Good
The game world is very large and has a lot of different cities. The roads between the cities branch and you need to learn the best routes unless you are prepared to drive round in circles.

The gameplay is completely open ended and you can play the game any way you like. There are courier missions to transport goods between towns, you can fight in the arena, or drive out and find battles on the highways to increase your stats and money. You can even just play poker in Atlantic city to raise your money and prestige if you prefer.

There are countless options for building a car with no ultimate set-up. Depending on how you want to play you can have a heavily armoured tank or something much faster and smaller. You can have your big weapons on the front of the car for attacking head on, at the rear for taking out pursuers or in any other direction you wish. You can own up to 8 cars and store them in garages, so you can even have a car for every occasion.

The Bad
What Origin achieved with one floppy disk on an Apple II is impressive, but the technology still limits the game. There is no real variety in missions and the graphics on the roads are very basic and quite slow. There is hardly any traffic for the standard missions, usually just a couple of cars between cities.

The drives between cities can get dull, especially if you go the long way round. You can be following the roads along for 5-10 minutes with nothing to do.

There are very few plot missions, and they don't really give the game any storyline. The game is more about building your car and it feels as though the plot missions were added just to give you a way to win.

The Bottom Line
This is a good game for 1985 and if anyone made a modern remake, I'd go out and buy it. It's a cross between Grand Theft Auto and Privateer, years before either of them came out. Unfortunately the Apple II wasn't really capable of doing justice to the idea and the game is a bit limited as a result.

Apple II · by Pix (1172) · 2008

One of the first non-linear futuristic RPGs that was actually REALLY fun

The Good
You could do anything you want in this game. In order to earn more money you had to keep updating your cars or building your cars from scratch. There were arenas that you could test your car and your abilities in, as well as courier jobs that you could fulfill. Sometimes, while listening to the rumors in the truck stop you could find out that the FBI wanted you to do some jobs for them or the clone hospital in Boston wanted a heart delivered. Or you could sell your courier jobs to the fixer at the bar for the price of your prestige. The choice was yours. Top it off with long roads between cities filled with enemies that you could blow up and salvage and you have the makings of one of the most fun games ever made.

The Bad
Animation was bad, but understandable when considering the age of the game. Only the biggest cities contained the most services, but some were ridiculous, as Providence, Rhode Island contained only a truck stop and nothing else.

The Bottom Line
A primitive Privateer anchored to wheels and land.

DOS · by SebastianLi (52) · 2000

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Trivia

Extras

Like most of the Origin games of the 80's, the original run of Autoduel came with a little trinket; in this particular case, a mini-'automechanic' toolkit, which actually fully functional and useful tiny screwdriver, wrench, and hammer.

Richard Garriott

This is one of Lord British's few forays outside of the Ultima series, who did this one with Chuck Bueche aka Chuckles the Clown.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by SebastianLi.

Commodore 64 added by Quapil. Apple II added by KnockStump. Amiga added by Jarkko Lehtola. Atari ST added by Kabushi. Atari 8-bit added by ZZip. Macintosh added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: Ummagumma, Patrick Bregger, ZeTomes.

Game added April 12, 2000. Last modified January 16, 2024.