The Untouchables

"Untouchable like Eliot Ness, the track hits your eardrum like a slug to your chest"

If you’ve seen the 1987 movie The Untouchables, then you realize that Eliot Ness is a first class hero: a young man thrust into the role of a vigilante dispenser of justice. But even if you haven’t seen the film, you still probably are aware of the few short years this country spent under a code of laws known as Prohibition. While the motivation behind these laws was the improvement of society, they had the opposite effect. The alcohol trade allowed underground smuggling and organized crime to flourish. The gangs of Chicago in particular, led by Al Capone, were a threat against which the common people could not defend themselves, and with whom the police were in bed. In the end it was the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 that brought about the demise of these gangs, as their primary source of income was eliminated.

The Untouchables focuses on a more direct effort to take down these gangs: Eliot Ness’s attempt to gather evidence of Al Capone’s crimes so he could be tried. Note that in reality Capone was never tried on such counts as smuggling, extortion, or other typical mob-related actions. No, his imprisonment came when he was convicted of tax evasion. Nevertheless, Eliot Ness attempted to put Capone behind bars.

Your journey in this game will take you through seven different levels, each one very different from the next. There are a number of areas in which you must shoot your way past various toughs and gangsters while they return fire at you; sometimes you will be actively trying to reach a goal while you do this, while in other instances Eliot is simply dispatching the baddies for the fun of it, apparently. The plot which dies the seven levels together isn’t really explored in the game (though it makes a lot more sense if you’ve seen the movie). All that’s granted to you as you transfer between levels is a newspaper clipping with such generic headlines as “Eliot Ness Wins Fight With Mob.” To understand how little a reward that is, you also get a newspaper clipping if you die--and usually a more entertaining one, like “Time Runs Out for Eliot Ness.” Some levels can be puzzled out with just a basic knowledge of what Prohibition was--at one point, for example, you are shooting bottles of liquor as they are brought into the United States. But where the plot of the movie is adapted straight into the game, many elements are confusing, since you have no understanding of the characters or their back stories.

The different levels are well-designed enough that even though Eliot is doing many different things, the controls are pretty constant throughout, and you almost fail to realize the various types of action being incorporated into the game. Still, different levels include elements of side-scrolling and on-rails shooters, as well as platformer-style missions. My favorite of the levels falls into a totally different category and can best be compared to a sniper game like Silent Scope, in which you must shoot one of Capone’s hostage-taking thugs in the hat. Again, however, the circumstances in the film which led to this are barely touched upon in the game, and I could imagine it being somewhat senseless to the kind of uncultured lout who hasn’t seen this Oscar-worthy picture. Even so, it emphasizes the type of variety found in the game’s levels.

The huge holes in the story are quite annoying. However, in an action game, especially a pretty limited NES title, I hardly expected a great deal of plot. The main sticking point with this offering from Altron is the very limited depth of the game. There is little opportunity of pleasure after you have mastered each level and beaten the game once, so the replay value of the title is essentially nil. Especially since Untouchables is short and not especially challenging, this really brings down the value of the game.

Another unnerving thing about this game is that is all seems to take place in the Wild West. Now, maybe this is my imagination, but didn’t 1920s Chicago have, well, trains and cars and stuff? Perhaps the designers were looking to highlight the “lone ranger” feel that Westerns carry with them. Nevertheless, the environments look pretty good, so unless you’re a stickler for historical accuracy in your video games, you’ll be pleased. It’s impossible to be so generous about the character sprites, they’re just ugly. Many of the enemies seem to be nothing more than a hat stuck on top of a trenchcoat. At least their guns are well-characterized; the shooting in this game (and there’s a lot of it) comprises the vast majority of the sound, along with a little bit of suspenseful music which changes themes slightly depending upon the level. The bare-bones effects work really well here and seem the perfect accompaniment to Ness’s desperate efforts.

After completing this game, one feels as if it was hurried along a little too quickly to cash in on the obvious licensing appeal and the additional sales the hype of the film would garner. What is included in the title is definitely worthwhile material, and had it been expanded upon and polished to perfection, the game could have been great. Based on the plot they put into this game, Altron figured it would only appeal to those who had seen the movie, and if so they were right--the only great interest of this release comes in remembering a pretty entertaining film. For others, it will offer an hour or two of amusement and little more.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 02/09/03, Updated 04/10/03