"8 Bits Die Hard" by Red Brand

8 Bits Die Hard
Red Brand
score: 5/10

The demoscene in Holland has been in a pretty bad state for quite a while now: there are just a few groups left, with only Xenon & Focus actually making an impression in the last 5 years. Compare that to countries like Germany or Sweden and it's clear that things are looking very bleak. Worse still, there has been virtually no 'new blood' coming in.

So imagine my surprise when on this year's Primary Star an until then unknown Dutch group competed with a fast intro, a tune and most importantly, a demo. Even better: both of its members can really be considered newcomers, although one of them apparently is also in 'Raccoon'. Not that I've ever heard of that group either ..

On to the demo then. Simply put, for a debut it's a pretty decent effort. The highlight is the intro which really gets you in the mood with a nice semi-digitized-graphics effect. After that the other 2 parts and especially the loader are a tad disappointing, but overall it shows a certain promise. I wouldn't go so far as to say that they are 'our' future, but with the addition of a good graphician and a little more originality, they might come a long way.