The Omega Virus


Milton Bradley, 1992, 1-4 players, ages 10-adult. This game is an absolute hoot! It's an electronic game where the players try to disable a computer virus that has taken over a "Battle Sat" space station in an attempt to destroy the earth. The "electronic" part of the game is the talking Battle Sat computer and the Omega Virus itself. You enter your movements into the computer console and the computer tells you what you did or didn't find, and is more than occasionally interrupted by the taunting and sneering of the Omega Virus ("You'll never find me, human scum!"). Your goal is to find all of the access keys necessary to freely move around the space station and the three different pieces of hardware necessary to fight and destroy the virus. Once you have all these you have to search around until you find the virus and then attempt to destroy it. The really unique part of this game is that it is played out in real time. Depending on the number of people playing and the difficulty level you select, you will have between 15 and 30 minutes to complete your mission. All the while the computer is counting down the minutes and pleading for help (and the virus is laughing at the computer's whining pleas and everyone else). I'm not sure how much staying power this game will have (I suspect the novelty wears off pretty quickly), but it's worth playing at least a couple of times. It's really easy to pick up and get playing, and kids (of all ages) should get a big kick out of it.


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