Sierra Games

Project Firestart

Last updated: October 19, 2026

Overview

Project Firestart is a science-fiction horror action-adventure for the Commodore 64, developed by Dynamix and published by Electronic Arts. MobyGames dates the US release to March 1989.12 The player is Jon Hawking, an agent sent to the research ship Prometheus, which has stopped answering after a genetic-engineering experiment went wrong. He has to find out what happened, recover the science logs, look for survivors and set the ship to self-destruct before time runs out.345 Jeff Tunnell directed it, and Tunnell and Damon Slye designed it.2

The game predates Sierra’s 1990 purchase of Dynamix. It was one of the last games Dynamix made for Electronic Arts before the studio moved to Mediagenic (Activision) in 1989.36 SierraVault covers it because the vault’s inclusion criteria take in Dynamix’s complete catalog, including work done before the acquisition. The real publisher was Electronic Arts, not Sierra.1

Reviews were good, particularly in Britain: Zzap!64 gave it 91% and The Games Machine 87%.748 Commercially, though, it sank with little promotion.39 It has since been reassessed as an early form of survival horror. IGN credited it as the first game to achieve “the kind of fully formed vision of survival horror as we know it today”, and The A.V. Club argued that it “provided the genre’s formula” three years before Alone in the Dark.1011 Jimmy Maher of The Digital Antiquarian thinks such claims overstate its case, while still calling it “a formative work”.3

Story Summary

The command summary card sets up the premise. Project Firestart began on February 13, 2066, aboard the research ship Prometheus. The System Science Foundation, an agency of the United System States, financed it to produce “strong, durable laborers” who could help miners work selected moons and asteroids. Now the Prometheus no longer responds, and the player has been assigned “to clean up the mess”.5 The Games Machine repeated the 2066 date from the documentation.8 Not every source agrees: C64-Wiki quotes a report by Hawking dated 12 September 2061, and Wikipedia uses 2061.1213

Reviewers placed the ship near Titan,411 which C64-Wiki identifies as a moon of Saturn.12 On board, Hawking finds the crew dead and the corridors overrun by the project’s creatures, which Zzap!64 described as “experimental aliens” that “have gotten loose”.4 Two people survive. The Games Machine described them as “two scientists held in suspended animation”: a scientist named Mary, and Annar, whom Zzap!64 called “treacherous”.84 Hawking learns the rest from computer terminals and logs scattered around the ship.311

Wikipedia lists six possible endings. They depend on whether Hawking rescues Mary, leaves with the science logs, survives a confrontation with Annar and calls for rescue.13 Computer Gaming World advised players not to set the self-destruct “until you’ve saved the girl”.14

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

Project Firestart is played with a joystick in port 2. The stick moves Hawking and aims his laser, and the button fires. When questions such as “Open Door?” or “Use Elevator?” appear at the bottom of the screen, the joystick picks the answer.512

  • Keyboard commands: C changes weapons, D opens the disk menu (format, save, load, restart), I shows the inventory and P pauses.5 C64-Wiki adds M and S to switch music and sound effects.12
  • Screen: health, laser charge, a clock that becomes the self-destruct countdown, and a text line for questions, dialogue and messages.512
  • Saving: up to five games can be saved on a disk the player has formatted from within the game.5

The card’s notes set firm limits. Hawking cannot carry more than two lasers, cannot move and fire at the same time, and cannot drop or replace a laser until it is drained.5 Computer Gaming World called the last rule a “Catch 22” that “defies logic”, and suggested firing an unwanted weapon into the air until it was empty.14

Structure and Progression

The Prometheus has four levels of rooms, corridors and lifts. The documentation includes sketch maps of each.1445 Zzap!64 listed the cargo hold, engineering complex, terrarium and observation deck among the areas.4 Security passes found on the ship open restricted rooms and lifts.8

  • Time limit: Maher describes a two-hour limit in real playing time. If it runs out, warships standing by destroy the Prometheus with Hawking aboard.3
  • Pacing: Tunnell told IGN, “I didn’t want it to be that much of an action game.” By IGN’s account, the monsters do not show themselves until about 15 minutes in.9
  • Cutscenes: the game cuts away to animated scenes of the hero or the creatures, a technique Zzap!64 compared to “movie-style cuts, fade outs and montages”.48
  • Healing: first-aid boxes work only once. The medical lab heals faster and more completely.14

Puzzles and Mechanics

The card advises searching every body, however “mangled” or “disgusting”, because weapons and security passes are not “going to jump out at you”. It also says to find the radio and keep in touch with home base, and to use the computer access points for information unavailable elsewhere.5 Computer Gaming World’s hints were to check the storage room, “listen to the girl’s ideas” and radio mission control for help.14

Combat is costly. The creatures take “five or six laser blasts” to destroy, and the reviewer advised closing doors behind you and outrunning them.14 The A.V. Club noted that the weapon’s rate of fire drops as its charge runs down, and that the lights fail late in the mission.11 Maher pointed out the game’s limits: there is no line of sight, so no real stealth, and rooms load one at a time from the Commodore 64’s slow disk drive.3

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

PublicationDateVerdict
Zzap!64 (Paul Rand, Robin Hogg)July 198991%, Sizzler award711
The Games Machine (Warren Lapworth)July 198987%7
Power PlayJuly 198978%12
Datormagazin (Tomas Hybner)June 19898/107
ASMSeptember 19898/1212
Info (Tom Malcolm)September/October 19893.5/57
Computer Gaming World (David M. Wilson)October 1989Review, no numerical score14

Zzap!64 called it “Very Aliensesque”, and “one of the most engrossing C64 titles for months”. The review concluded: “Project Firestart is jam-packed with the sort of fast-pace, polished presentation and chilling atmosphere which make software epics. I loved it. You will too!”4 Its scan shows sub-scores of 84% for presentation, 88% for graphics, 70% for sound, 90% for hookability and 92% for lastability. The second reviewer’s one “personal gripe” was disk access, especially when restoring a saved game.4

In The Games Machine, Warren Lapworth found the sprites “blocky” and the backgrounds “bland”, but praised the cinematic scenes. He concluded that the game “quite successfully portrays what the packaging claims it is: a horror movie in outer space.”8

David M. Wilson’s Computer Gaming World review, “Quest for Firepower”, listed the game at $29.95 for the C-64/128. Wilson complained that conversations rarely affect the story, that disk sides are numbered from 0, and that restoring a saved game takes “no less than five” disk swaps.14 His verdict: “While the game may fail to satisfy devout action gamers because the pacing of the action is slow or doctrinaire role-players because of the lack of true interaction and character development, it is a suspenseful blend of music, graphics, decision-making, action, clues, plot, and even, romance.”14

Modern Assessment

Travis Fahs’s 2009 history of survival horror for IGN called Project Firestart the game that first achieved “the kind of fully formed vision of survival horror as we know it today”, and called Tunnell “the unwitting father of the modern survival horror game”.10 Writing in The A.V. Club in 2016, Alexander Chatziioannou argued that the game “provided the genre’s formula”. He pointed to its disempowered protagonist, scarce ammunition, pacing, open exploration and multiple endings, including “what may well be gaming’s first-ever escort mission”.11 In a 2011 Penny Arcade post, Jerry Holkins wrote that “Dynamix delivered the Survival Horror template in its entirety”.15

Jimmy Maher is more cautious. Such articles, he writes, “rather overstate Project Firestart’s claim to such a status at the same time that they rather understate its weaknesses”. He finds a closer descendant in System Shock than in Alone in the Dark, and concludes that the game “remains more of a formative work than a classic in its own right”.3

C64-Wiki users rate it 8.31 out of 10.12

Development

Origins

According to IGN, the game began with Electronic Arts’ famous question. Tunnell recalled: “if you remember back in the day, Trip Hawkins asked ‘Can a computer make you cry?’ We thought, ‘Well, that might be kind of hard, but maybe it could make you feel fear.’”10 He was open about the source material: “We just took some of the ideas that were in Aliens. It’s not like we were great writers or anything, we just tried to make a sci-fi game that would be scary.”9 He also said, “I didn’t look at any other games.”9 Maher places the game within Tunnell’s wider interest in “a real unfolding story”, which later led to Dynamix’s adventure games.3

Production

The project was long and hard. Maher writes that it began before Arcticfox was published and “wound up absorbing almost three years”.3 IGN puts it at two and a half years, ending in late 1988. Tunnell told IGN: “It was, without a doubt, the hardest game I’ve ever worked on… We really had no business trying to make that game on Commodore 64.”9

MobyGames lists the team:2

  • Director: Jeff Tunnell
  • Design: Jeff Tunnell, Damon Slye
  • Programming: Dariusz Lukaszuk, Paul Bowman, Richard Rayl
  • Game graphics: John Burton, Dariusz Lukaszuk
  • Spaceship design: Damon Slye
  • Sound/music: Alan McKean
  • Producer: Sheldon Safir; Associate Producer: Roland Kippenhan III
  • Package design: Lance Anderson (Triad); Package illustration: Barry Jackson

By the time it shipped, Dynamix had changed partners. Computer Gaming World reported that Dynamix signed an “Affiliated Publisher” agreement with Mediagenic on February 14, 1989, and described Project Firestart as “recently released” for Electronic Arts.6 IGN says neither Electronic Arts nor Dynamix was “invested in Project Firestart anymore”, and that it “was released with minimal hype and advertising”.9 Maher describes the break with Electronic Arts as “less-than-entirely-amicable”.3

Technical Specifications

  • Platform: Commodore 64; the C128 must be in C64 mode.5
  • Media: floppy disk only. The Games Machine reported that Electronic Arts felt “too much would be lost” if the cutscenes were cut for a cassette version.81
  • Loading: LOAD"EA",8,1 from the boot disk (Disk 0). Disks are swapped when prompted.5
  • Price: $29.95 in the US and £14.99 in the UK.144

Version History

VersionDatePlatformNotes
Original releaseMarch 1989Commodore 64Disk only; Electronic Arts, US1
UK releaseBy July 1989Commodore 64£14.99, disk only48

The release date is reported inconsistently. MobyGames and the Dynamix Wiki give March 1989, and Computer Gaming World called the game “recently released” in April 1989.1166 Maher writes that it “was finally released in 1988”.3 SierraVault files it under 1989.

No other versions were made. The Games Machine reported “no plans for other versions”, and IGN attributes this to the end of the Electronic Arts relationship.89

Legacy

Dynamix never made another game like it. Tunnell told IGN, “I don’t even like horror,” and said that once the game was finished, “I hardly paid any attention to that genre afterward.”9 Maher notes that Dynamix “never returned to this style of game”, but that Tunnell’s idea of narrative carried into the studio’s later adventures, beginning with David Wolf: Secret Agent.3

In 2006 a fan remake, Firestart, was released for Windows. MobyGames describes it as a first-person 3D version that keeps “the same ship layout, objectives and events”, made in two and a half months for the Retro Remakes 2006 competition.17 The Dynamix Wiki credits it to Erik Hogan.16

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

  • Not currently available. As of October 2026 we found no GOG or Steam release.

Download / Preservation

  • No legitimate store sells the game, and we link no disk images here. Release details are documented by MobyGames and Lemon64.17

Manuals & Extras

See Also

Project Firestart comes from Dynamix’s years as an independent developer, when it made 3D action games and one long-gestating horror game for Electronic Arts.3

References

Footnotes

  1. MobyGames – Project Firestart – Commodore 64, March 1989 (US); published by Electronic Arts, developed by Dynamix, package design by Triad; floppy disk, digital joystick; multiple endings. Retrieved via the MobyGames API, 2026-10-09 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  2. MobyGames – Project Firestart credits (Commodore 64) – director, design, programming, graphics, spaceship design, sound/music, producers, package credits ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  3. The Digital Antiquarian – “The Dynamic Interactive Narratives of Dynamix” (Jimmy Maher, 2018) – almost three years of development, Jon Hawking, two-hour limit, terminals, release and break with EA, survival-horror reassessment and critique, Dynamix never returning to the style ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14

  4. Zzap!64 #51 (July 1989), Project Firestart review, pp. 12–13 – Internet Archive – plot set-up near Titan, four levels, Mary and Annar, two-hour limit, sub-scores, quotes, £14.99 disk only ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  5. Project Firestart command summary card (Electronic Arts) – Internet Archive – backstory and 2066 date, loading, joystick and keyboard commands, save slots, screen features, notes and tips ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  6. Computer Gaming World #58 (April 1989), “Dynamix Joins Roster of Mediagenic Affiliates”, Inside the Industry – Internet Archive – February 14, 1989 Mediagenic agreement; Project Firestart “recently released” for Electronic Arts ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Lemon64 – Project Firestart – credits, UK price, magazine review list (Datormagazin 8/10, TGM 87%, Info 3.5/5, Zzap!64 91%) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  8. The Games Machine #20 (July 1989), Warren Lapworth, “A broken Prometheus”, p. 26 – Internet Archive – 2066 and February 13 dates, survivors, passes, cinematic scenes, verdict, no cassette or other versions ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  9. IGN – “IGN Presents the History of Survival Horror” (Travis Fahs, 2009), page 2 (Wayback Machine) – Tunnell interview quotes on Aliens, design intent and difficulty; two-and-a-half-year development; minimal promotion; no ports or sequel ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  10. IGN – “IGN Presents the History of Survival Horror” (Travis Fahs, 2009), page 1 (Wayback Machine) – “fully formed vision” claim, Tunnell as “unwitting father”, Trip Hawkins quote ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. The A.V. Club – “How a forgotten ’80s gem created the formula for video game horror” (Alexander Chatziioannou, 2016) – survival-horror argument, Titan setting, mechanics, escort mission, Zzap!64 Sizzler, commercial failure ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  12. C64-Wiki – Project Firestart – report by Hawking dated 2061, controls (including M and S), display, review scores (Power Play 78%, ASM 8/12, Zzap!64 91%), user rating ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  13. Wikipedia – Project Firestart – six endings, 2061 date, Power Play and CGW review citations ↩ ↩2

  14. Computer Gaming World #64 (October 1989), David M. Wilson, “Quest for Firepower”, pp. 17–18 – Internet Archive – price, maps, combat, two-laser rule, healing, hints, disk problems, verdict ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  15. Penny Arcade – “My Friend Wyrmidon” (Jerry Holkins, February 2, 2011) – “Survival Horror template in its entirety” quote ↩

  16. Dynamix Wiki (Fandom) – Project Firestart – March 1989 release, credits, fan remake by Erik Hogan ↩ ↩2

  17. MobyGames – Firestart (2006) – Windows fan remake, first-person 3D, same layout and events, Retro Remakes 2006 competition. Retrieved via the MobyGames API, 2026-10-09 ↩

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