Morphonic Lab 12 Invitro

'Metamorph' by Checkpoint.

It seems that size-limited intros are very fashionable currently. What with 'Muda' redefining 96 kilobytes at the end of last year, the Dead Hackers moving exquisitely within 64 kilobytes more recently. Now Checkpoint are taking a nibble at the size limited apple, with their Morphonic Lab 12 invitation, on a 64k sized plate.

I'll try to keep this brief, but I will definitely mention the cheeky Lucasfilm 'tribute' start up screen first of all.

There is a very nice effect just as the intro opens, something very newschoolish. It involves several flat-sided squares, with a sort of motion blur following them. these merge into a loose cube and separate out constantly. Sometimes right in your face. In the middle of this, appears the yellow diamond shape of the Morphonic Labs logo. It is clear a lot of effort has gone into this part of the code.

A bit of harsh red and black silhouette action follows, with some merging dots making titles. The overall look, sound and feel is stark and harsh, a style carried over from previous Morphonic Lab related productions.

The second really neat effect is an unusual twist on plasma, with a hint of shade bob and an overall effect that looks like it has been mixed with high powered electrical discharges. A variation of that effect is done in a horizontal planar or semi-tunnelly fashion.

There is a prolonged endgame, with some very swiftly zooming but not rotating Morphonic Lab diamond pattern logos. Included with this are a lot of related credits and other texts. The majority of this was done by lsl and bears his mark on the sound chip tune also. However, there are credits for mOdmate for the Lucasfilm parody at the start, Exocet and Joe Lehmann for the graphics in the main part.

Overall, this was a nice surprise from the Evoke Party. The manner of release being mildly reminiscent of the Circus Back2STage demo that I had a small part in getting to Revision 2013. The tick-boxes for acceptable performance of the Morphonic Labs remit, harsh and fast effects, sound chip music likewise, have all been completed.

Now where's the next mainstream Checkpoint demo got to?

Rating:- 80% - Compact and powerful, look forward to a bigger production next.

CiH - For Mag! - August 2013.

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