The Chaos Engine Longplay (Amiga) [50 FPS]

Developed by The Bitmap Brothers and published by Renegade in 1993
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This week, my channel finally reached 2,000 subscribers, so I decided to celebrate this by recording one of my favourite Amiga games of all time, the original, non-AGA version of The Chaos Engine!
In my Amiga CD32 longplay and review, I noted that the more vibrant colour palette used to take advantage of the AGA chipset wasn't to everyone's liking. The version featured in this video is the (OCS/ECS) version I played on my Amiga 500 back in the day, and I personally think the original, more subdued colour-scheme is a much better fit with the game's steampunk setting. In any case, you can now compare the two versions and make up your own mind as to which looks best.
Set in a fictional, alternate timeline, a mad scientist and inventor known as Baron Fortesque creates a machine of near limitless power, the titular Chaos Engine. This machine turns on it's creator and tears a hole in the fabric of time and space, spawning mutated abominations and corrupting the land itself. A group of six mercenaries for hire are enlisted to sort out of the mess by fighting their way to Fortesque's mansion, finding a way inside and shutting the machine down for good.
Upon starting a new game, the player(s) must choose which of the six characters they want to be. Each has different skills, abilities and weapons, so it pays to select a pair of characters who's abilities compliment one another.
On the subject of character selection, another of the game's standout features is the CPU-controlled ally that takes the place of the second player in a single-player game. It would have been all to easy to make a solo player face the game alone, but the inclusion of the AI companion really is a stroke of genius, especially considering how well it functions. It's not perfect, but it is remarkably adept at shooting enemies, avoiding projectiles and, somewhat annoyingly, excellent at hoovering up loot and power-ups.
The game is divided into four separate worlds, each of which is divided into four levels. The exit to each level can be opened only by activating a series of power nodes which the player must discover. One of my favourite features is the way that some levels have multiple exits, each of which will put you in a different starting point in the next level. Discovering how (and where) these additional exits can be opened is a real challenge and gives the game significant replay value, usually rewarding attentive players with extra cash and power-ups for their perseverance.
The game features a loot system whereby any booty collected is pooled to a shared kitty (indicated bottom-centre) and is divvied up based on each player's efforts. This allocation of loot based on individual performance introduces an element of competition to the mix with each player scrambling to kill the most enemies, collect more loot and activate more nodes than their companion.
At the end of second and last level in each world, the spoils of war can be used to purchase upgrades and new abilities for each player. Purchasing "skill" unlocks upgrades to other attributes, including speed, stamina and weapon upgrades. With limited cash available, players must make their choices wisely if they're to succeed.
As is typical with Bitmap Brothers games, the presentation, artwork (Dan Malone) and audio (Richard Joseph) is nothing short of stunning. This is one of the first games that I can remember that featured dynamic music and ambient sound effects. Listen closely and you can hear bird-song in the trees of the forest world, while pipes rumble, hiss and gurgle with pressurised steam in the workshops.
Combined with excellent game mechanics, solid controls and tons of replay value, The Chaos Engine simply oozes quality from every pore and remains one of the Amiga's most endearing classics.
#retrogaming

[@stevjohnson6557]

This was so far ahead of its time. The artwork and music was insane. I absolutely loved this game.

[@skylined5534]

My brother and myself had a thought a year or two back... this premise would make for a great film!

[@ashleyobrien4937]

so did I with mine....although, at the time, back in 1998, when we were playing this and other AMIGA classics like SPEEDBALL I was taking Dextropropoxyphene a drug so good, they banned it....@@skylined5534

[@GTX-lq2gj]

R.I.P Richard Joseph. He was a Genius. First dynamic music in game history in this amazing game.

[@JMDAmigaMusic]

Not the first (hostages did come before) , but first very good implemented one

[@JMDAmigaMusic]

I think Richard used a custom version of the MOD format adding a command at the end of a pattern sequence that called a function in the game to decide - depending on location and events - what to play next

[@englishwithphil42]

Agreed, this is amazing. These European games were absolutely amazing because of their music

[@leventaltntas4110]

this is the best of amiga,I see

[@leventaltntas4110]

@@englishwithphil42 this game is absolutaly wonderful.but you say just for music..its gameplay is in complete harmony with sounds...rarely you encounter this.and chaos engine.wonderfull as all aspects even today.wonderful to be played even today.but even if you dont experianced it you must be lacking something...

[@fl00d69]

Bitmap Bros made iconic Amiga games. The sound design is peerless.

[@kraftwerk974]

When it's Bitmap Brothers you know it will range from excellent to awesome 👈

[@RalphZ80]

For my money this soundtrack is still one of the best ever, and the best of Richard Joseph's many great compositions. The theme for The Workshops (World 2) still plays in my head whenever I see or read anything Steampunk.

[@doomniel]

Amazing music, probably the best in an amiga game, the closest ones would be turrican, turrican 2 and the secret of monkey island. Considering that most games only had a main theme, each of these 4 games had lots of amazing soundtracks. No doubt Richard Joseph and Chris Huelsbeck are the main composers for the amiga, and in the top 10 of the commodore 64.

[@pilouuuu]

A real masterpiece, probably one of the very best on the Amiga. Everything works in a perfect conjunction: graphics, gameplay, music, and sounds.

[@LeShark75]

A pure classic, the best version.

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

The Chaos Engine Longplay (Amiga) [50 FPS]: Despite a smaller colour palette, the original OCS version of this classic Amiga shooter still has the edge over it's AGA sibling! A big thank you to all of you who have subscribed to my channel - I finally broke the 2,000 barrier! As always, read the video description for my review!

[@Gtfallofyer]

Al82: Retrogaming Longplays & Reviews N.

[@youuuuuuuuuuutube]

Sometimes limitations are needed to boost your creativity. In this case the 32 color limitation was the catalyst. Once they went 256 colors, it became fugly.

[@JarlStaubhold]

My best buddy and I were a co-op death machine. We were a well oiled machine and masterd alot of 2 player games. This we loved so much back in the AMIGA times.

[@PaintBeforeAssembly]

Good lord, this play through makes the game look much easier than I remember it being. Kudos.

[@Midwinter2]

A beautiful game: fast, smooth, great sprite graphics and an outstanding soundtrack.

[@christianp.232]

A real blast from the past... over 20 years ago I played this on a Amiga 1200 with Competition Pro's and my best friend Andy.... I miss these times !

[@LeShark75]

When I get something to eat in the house I always comment with "Food!" every time I pick something up. The Wife still has no idea what I'm on about Lol.

[@bipbipbopbop]

I love the artwork in this game. A joy to play.

[@JMDAmigaMusic]

Dan Malone, very good illustrator - did work also on 8 buit (antiriad c64)

[@jimbotron70]

​@@JMDAmigaMusicHe's still in activity.

[@Debbiebabe69]

All the times I played through this game, I never managed to get the cpu controlled character to last past the second level of the first world.... Only MANY years later did I find out you should always use the preacher as he dodges bullets rather than trying to tank them.... Love the move where you use the preachers heal right before exiting the level so you dont have to spend cold hard cash healing!

[@Microbex]

The graphic outlast every current pixel game. Bitmap brothers was deus ex.

[@Nutzer_1524]

I have played this game in the years and 1993 and 1994 and I had a lot of fun. This game ist simply genius.

[@BOOGY110011]

amazing! so much memory's!!! I've played it with my older brother when I was 11. I always was Player 2 as guy in a glasses. thank you!!! very personal!!! my heart feels like when i fall in love for first time... nostalgia.

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@Kyntteri]

Am I the only one that prefers this "duller" color palette over the AGA version?

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

Nope - I prefer this version as well :)

[@OneRoomShed]

Me too. This is the best version.

[@svenmeling6053]

I agree! Gives the game a grittier feel, which suits the atmosphere and style well.

[@VastyVastyVoid]

Same here. The sepia tint just twings that steampunk vibe.

[@Lenriak]

More colours would have been fine, just not the vibrant colours seen in the AGA version.

[@scorpioone3932]

Great game when it came out , way ahead of its time

[@pauledwards8008]

Really takes me back as part of a Christmas package with the console in 1996 think

[@VHSTvRetro]

Przeszedłem tę grę całą na Amidze 500 w ferie zimowe 1997 z moją siostrą. CRACOV POLAND !!!

[@v509-cassiopeiae3]

In 1993 this was highest quality of gaming. Everything was over the top. Graphics, Sound, dynamic Music, Artstyle, Gameplay.

[@V8AmericanMuscleCar]

What a flashback to my childhood... ❤❤❤❤❤

[@dunckeith]

Fantastic game

[@LK-gl3rj]

Oh memories of my youth! Awesome music and... Wouldn't this make a great remake?!?!?!?!

[@ikitclaw3299]

Loved the game, I was shite at it but my brother carried me through most of it

[@darkuser9992]

Love this game... Always played as Brigand and Thug...

[@gitman3486]

No-one ever talks about how this is clearly a large chunk of the inspiration for the zybourne clock

[@1x5x7]

Played this the first time back in 2009. Just randomly saw gameplay from it in another video and the nostalgia hit me like a blast.

[@Alfred19780426]

good old days

[@pedroroggla8129]

it aged so well, ypu can still play it to this day and have lots of fun

[@techspud7934]

Played this to death on the Amiga and then on the Amiga emulator. Your playthrough is almost exactly the way I do it, but I've got to admit I use the exploit of infinite Party Power in World 1 Level 4. I never liked the CPU player as a kid as I wanted all the powerups for myself, so I'd start a two player game and kill the second player, hence the Party Power exploit as it helped a heck of a lot. Great game, excellent music and typical awesome Bitmap Brothers style of graphics. Thanks!

[@georgebest9871]

What a game!

[@lazarusblackwell6988]

The Amiga pc was really something special :)

[@jochenf788]

Wahnsinns Spiel. Absolut top damals

[@JStar1337]

Played this al lot with my brother on AMIGA... we beat the game many times. Good memorys

[@sammymcfone8281]

Thank you for letting the intro playout. My friend didnt believe me about how much better the ammy was than the snes with sound.... :) He thought they were equal.. lol: Doesnt now. )

[@thirtythirty9054]

good old times

[@Fisarro]

Awesome game, played on CD 32 with my brother.

[@raalaa121]

Awake at 4am playing this at my cousin's house because he had it on megadrive and I had a snes

[@howell_124spider]

Long live the Amiga. Still got my 1200. Epic game.played it the death. Sounds like Patrick Stewart. Player activated. 🤘

[@Brunosmith85]

There bringing out the amiga 500 mini and this game and speedball 2 will be included on it. My childhood gaming Brought back :) 😀

[@theNeathBoy]

This game was fun, played it for hours

[@englishwithphil42]

Thank you for posting this, now I remember that I am still to beat this game, 27 years after.

[@robertdeniro7800]

Thanks so much for this video, it bring me so many years back. Thanks man.

[@Experternas]

such a good looking game. i remember this as a premium among my discs.

[@LPetal86]

Very interesting to see these playthroughs for a system I've never seen much of, here on the other side of the pond. The graphics and animation I dare say are of the caliber of SNK's Metal Slug. That's basically what this reminds me of. A top-down Metal Slug. I like the subtly unsettling soundtrack that Amiga games can be known for. Very ominous.

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

The Amiga was one of the most popular gaming computers of it's day in Europe, and The Chaos Engine is one the best-loved games for the system; it still holds up well today ☺

[@LPetal86]

@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays Yeah it's one of those things that because I didn't hear of it when growing up, have discovered through KZbin and various gaming sites. I tried to run an emulator for the Amiga 500 but it is a bit of a different beast in setting up, so I couldn't figure out how to get the mouse working. It's a real shame we didn't pay more attention over here in the States because we really missed out on some gems like The Chaos Engine and other titles like Apidya. The tech demos for Amiga are impressive as well.

[@eileennoise9515]

What a great game and great computer Amiga, i would have been 8 years old...

[@lutherburgsvik6849]

The intro music is so nineties, it's great.

[@adroharv9213]

one of only a handful of games I actually finished on the beloved amiga. Love this game. The insanely great music is just one of the great things to love about it as it's so well designed in many ways. RIP to the fantastic Richard Joseph

[@GameslordXY]

When I played this looong ago on...probably Amiga 500 or I suppose it could have been Amiga 1200,I was certain that they will never do graphically better looking game.😄

[@loupax]

I’m always surprised when I see video games as a family business. I can’t stop fighting with my brothers, and here are these guys, working together to build all time classics ;)

[@scootakuh3142]

They weren't real brothers :)

[@albertodiez4215]

The music is much better than the consoles

[@paddyoconnor5362]

awesome game awesome video! I have only owned the snes version but that was still bloody good. I love the speech in this and the sound in general is spot on. good work :)

[@rossington-x6031]

In the top 3 best soundtracks for the amiga for me.

[@alexjackson1130]

This is essentially the sequel to time warrior

[@MartinRodriguez-qk4hc]

There is currently a patch that fixes oversaturated colors in the Sega Genesis version of The Chaos Engine to make them look more like the Amiga version. The patch also fixes the speed of music when the game is running at 60 FPS, from an emulator. The PAL version of the Sega console retains the original title of The Chaos Engine. It is in this same version where the patch must be applied, which can be downloaded from the following page: www.romhacking.net/hacks/2754/ Having the ROM file, the patch can be applied from this page: www.marcrobledo.com/RomPatcher.js/ The Sega Genesis version has some unique features, such as the ability to choose between three levels of difficulty and a wider field of view (around 20%), which substantially improves gameplay, by being able to see enemies appear from a greater distance. I sincerely believe that with the application of this patch, this version now becomes the best option when it comes to enjoying this classic. Actualmente hay un parche que corrige los colores sobresaturados en la versión de Sega Genesis de The Chaos Engine para que se parezcan más a la versión de Amiga. El parche también corrige la velocidad de la música cuando el juego se ejecuta a 60 FPS, desde un emulador. La versión PAL de la consola de Sega conserva el título original de The Chaos Engine. Es en esta misma versión donde se debe aplicar el parche, que se puede descargar desde la siguiente página: www.romhacking.net/hacks/2754/ Teniendo el archivo ROM, el parche se puede aplicar desde esta página: www.marcrobledo.com/RomPatcher.js/ La versión de Sega Genesis tiene algunas características únicas, como la posibilidad de elegir entre tres niveles de dificultad y un campo de visión más amplio (alrededor del 20%), lo que mejora sustancialmente la jugabilidad, al poder ver aparecer a los enemigos desde una mayor distancia. Sinceramente creo que con la aplicación de este parche, esta versión se convierte ahora en la mejor opción a la hora de disfrutar de este clásico.

[@wayneevans3860]

amazing graphics/music/sfx-great game,The Bitmap Brothers were supreme😀

[@mountainbearoutdoors]

never did finish this,think I had a corrupted disk back in the day, great game loved it! thanks for the video!

[@FunFooFurat]

yeah this game rules. bitmaps always coolest graphics

[@daskarman]

remember playing this on the cd32 -still one of my favorite games

[@Quagaars]

Great run through of a great Bitmap Brothers game.

[@barbadoskado2769]

the music is super high energy

[@markforster6948]

Class! my childhood, favourite was preacher, least favourite thug, liked playing this as single player, 2 player mode but kill player 2 early in 1st level, never buying player 2 back

[@vsnake8466]

This is by far the best version but the AGA, SNES and Amiga CD 32 Versions are also impressive! I have them all and play them all : )

[@hiufuxthevideographer9877]

I loved this game so much when I was little ❤️

[@laurascott8415]

LOVED THIS GAME WAS AMAZING!!!!! WE SELL THE T SHIRTS

[@KubiROCKETMAN]

The Chaos Engine the is absolutely amazingly cool, i love it 😍and it's very unique👍

[@alanklajnsek4400]

Great game, great memories. Amiga was the best in games.

[@trmin8r-fin-363]

"When I was a youth I used to play Chaos Engine a lot and a lot and a lot and a lot..." (name the song)

[@leventaltntas4110]

I finished that super game.final round was very hard.but the atmosphere and gameplay made me go forward.nowhere can be foound.that is a super of amiga.can be ranked 1 or 2

[@LogrusUK]

10:06 if you'd have just took a little longer the best drumbeat in Amiga history would have been played..! LOVE THIS. Even down to the Molotov Frame Rate Rape.

[@behelit7239]

Amazing quality - thank you kindly for this upload. Found your channel today - instant sub. Do you do requests?

[@TheBrataccas]

Can definitely see the similarity in speedball

[@LogrusUK]

Damn right - a classic.

[@scootakuh3142]

I've got the SNES version on my Evercade and while it's good, it isn't anywhere near this. I'm looking forward to the A500 mini that comes out in March so I can finally relive the Amiga original :)

[@hiufuxthevideographer9877]

I miss this game

[@UberSynth]

The music was cool on this game

[@bobloerakker7010]

4 people were victims of the priest's perverse nature...

[@MinscFromBaldursGate92]

The Bitmap Brothers always had this Judge Dredd-esque feel to them.

[@ciararaf]

Hours of fun😊

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

Brilliant game this,

[@pauledwards8008]

Makes me want to get another console though some of the games were a bit basic. Gunship 2000 was another one I spent a long time on.

[@officesound]

I loved to play as a Gentleman. On max power was invincible.

[@iljavieten687]

I frickin LOVED that game!!! This was one of the few Amiga 500+ games I actually purchased....most games seemed to magically appear in my disc box...😉 Today most folks say that we were blinded by the (for the time) very good graphics and that the gameplay itself was pretty bland...that's nit absolutely untrue, it's pretty repetetive and not that "deep", BUT: it's a frickin SHOOTER!!! And some mechanics, like the slight role - play aspect and the level design were ahead of it's time!! And while the graphics were amazing back then, the game itself with it's cyberpunk backstory and the weird characters was fun, too!! When I wanted to play a game with more story, I'd pick some Lucasfilm Games Adventure or Sierra or perhaps ine of the pretty good RPGs on the Amiga, but as a shooter, especially the two player mode, this definitely was top notch!!! Tanks for the video!!!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@maciektrybuszewski9964]

Biggest mystery of Amiga gaming. What is level percentage for if you cant score 100% in every level. Or...?

[@Tricker-the-licker]

I loved this game as kid, I think I played as Thug lol.... I honestly can't remember. I never completed it hahaha, I was fucking awful at games as kid lol.... Didn't stop me from enjoying them never the less. Then again most of theses retro arcade games, usually tend to be very challenging lol...... Oh well it was still fun to play at the time.

[@raymoreton3184]

I love bitmap bros games they are increbile.

[@swilberthcampoy3569]

Estos son 2, de muchos password, que colocamos mi hermano y yo, en la sección de password para un jugador y CPU. WLDWLDWST123 THBTMPBRTHRS Que disfruten, aún más, este increible juego.

[@ohjatt9133]

QUESTION! Did anyone ever play with Preacher and Gentleman together??

[@jammerc64]

I wonder why game doesn't run at 50fps for really smooth experience. More complex Amiga games could pull that off.

[@perceptibleperception8733]

This game should be on Mobile

[@ojkolsrud1]

Is it possible to have two player on this game, where one person uses a joystick, and the other uses the keyboard? In general I don't understand why so many games just doesn't have keyboard support.

[@dinaalves2409]

Eu amo esse jogo

[@ColpoRosso]

Perfuckinfection

[@crappymeal]

This game is not as dark and scary as i remember as a kid but cool none the less

[@ripace554]

One of my absolute favourite 16-bit games. If anyone's interested, check out my (hopefully faithful) remake of The Chaos Engine theme tune here kzbin.info/www/bejne/pn2moZxjnLemo9U

[@jasonlou2013S]

I am not lying, I played this game on 1999.

[@VHSTvRetro]

NODE ACTIVATED !!! I'm from Poland.