The Rats (video game)
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| The Rats | |
|---|---|
 Commodore 64 title screen | |
| Developer(s) | GXT (Five Ways Software) |
| Publisher(s) | Hodder & Stoughton |
| Platform(s) | ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 |
| Release | 1985 |
| Genre(s) | Interactive fiction |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The Rats is a survival horror text adventure for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum computers. It is based on the 1974 novel The Rats by James Herbert. The game was programmed by GXT (Five Ways Software),[1] and published by Hodder & Stoughton, who were the publishers of James Herbert's book The Rats.[2] An Amstrad CPC version was planned, but was never released.[citation needed]
The game is a simulation that allows the player to strategically send emergency forces (rat exterminators, police men, fire men and eventually army troops) to areas where the rat threat has spread and provide them with equipment. Also the player can get ten available researchers to develop addition weapons, defences and super weapons to keep the rats at bay and to provide useful information to progress in the game. Should the rat threat reach beyond the London limits, the Research centre, the Government centre or Harris' apartment or if all emergency forces are lost, the game is over.[3]
In between the simulation gameplay, the game suddenly switches to the role of a playable character in a randomly chosen text adventure scenario. The player has to select one or more verbal options to perform actions to allow the character to survive against the rat threat and avoid getting killed. While it is not crucial to keep the characters alive, saving them grants the player additional reinforcements and research to aid against the rat threat. However, if one of the main characters Harris, Howard or Foskins dies, the game is over.[1]
