READERS REMEMBER PAUL WOAKES

i picked up Mercenary pretty much on the day it came out, the reviews had been smashing, but somewhat confusing. i don’t think i really understood how it worked. soon as you crash land you are transported to a complete and real world, the vectors may be transparent, but in my head i could see it all. it was a complete and real world. such pleasure was given, yet i have never have seen an interview or even a photo of Paul Woakes, but he will forever be in my dreams.

Back In time sime

that his games are still technically impressive in terms of scale is amazing. some of us like exploring an open world and having a lot of freedom and he was one of the first programmers to make that possible. michael reed

Good old C&VG had some well-connected sources and so the team produced a real early report on Mercenary that forever established its mythic status. it didn’t hurt the atari image either, he was obviously fond of it. a man that could think out of the box and who will be sorely missed. northway

so sorry to hear of his passing. i whiled away countless hours in Mercenary on the ZX spectrum. it felt like a living world in how you could receive messages from the inhabitants of the city, and could be chased for stealing a ship or shooting down some of the structures. and all in slick 3D. Daredevil flying under bridges, exploring underground complexes and flying up to the base in the sky to explore more. i used to walk home from school looking forward to playing it again. graham Plowman

so sad to hear. this is why media like retro gamer is so important to document and celebrate the legends like Paul and their work. i remember being transfixed by Backlash when i saw it running on an amiga. anthony Bull