Genre: Action / Shooter
Developer: Cheshire Engineering
Publisher: Activision
Year: 1983
Platform: Intellivision
The Dreadnaught Factor casts the player as the lone pilot of a nimble spacecraft, tasked with defending the planet against giant enemy dreadnaughts hurtling toward a volatile energy field. Each massive ship must be disabled before it enters firing range, or it will devastate the player’s home planet. The game employs a top-down scrolling perspective across multiple runs past each dreadnaught.
Players may make repeated passes over each dreadnaught, targeting structural elements like engines, bridge sections, and missile silos. Strategically disabling these components slows the ship’s advance and reduces its firepower. Bombs and lasers must be used judiciously to inflict maximum damage under time constraints. Each destroyed ship is replaced by another of greater size and resilience.
Difficulty levels range from Basic to Impossible, affecting the number of dreadnaughts, their speed, and aggressiveness. Players start with multiple craft and earn additional ones by destroying dreadnaughts, providing some margin for error through each advancing wave. The most advanced difficulty levels demand precision and planning, as mistakes can be costly in the heat of battle.
