Dark Arena
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (November 2006) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
| Dark Arena | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Majesco Games |
| Publisher(s) | Graphic State Games |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy Advance |
| Release date | January 18, 2002 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
Dark Arena is an first-person shooter (FPS) computer game for the Game Boy Advance. It was the first FPS game announced for the Game Boy Advance, but it was the fourth released.
[edit] Critical reception
Dark Arena was often panned by critics primarily due to poor enemy AI and uninspired level design, but was also praised for having many nice touches often not included in pseudo-3D FPS, such as a sniper rifle with zoom functions and a guided missile. Many people regarded it as a Doom clone, but many fans of Dark Arena state that it had many realistic touches, such as a small diner, soldiers' barracks, and a swimming pool.
[edit] Story
The story of the game is not unlike that of Doom:
A training facility for soldiers was built on a small, isolated island. Genetic splicing was performed to create Genetically Engineered Organisms (GEOs), and when the security failsafes failed, the GEOs quickly took over the base. Then, Angelina Bradshaw (the main character) and her special operations team went to eradicate the threat, but they were pushed back into the center of the base, and Angelina is the only one left alive. She then knows that she has to reach a hangar on the outskirts of the island before a nuclear bomb goes off as a last resort to destroy the creatures. If the player plays on the Easy difficulty, Angelina dies in the hangar (The "Bad Ending"). If the player uses the medium, she barely escapes (The Medium Ending), and the Hard difficulty will have her escape with ease (The Good Ending).
[edit] Weaponry
There are no hitscan weapons in Dark Arena — bullets do not reach their destination immediately as in other games.
Note: Because of conflict in weapon names between the manual and game, both names for a weapon are listed. It will be: Manual Name/Game Name. If there is only one name listed, there is no name conflict between the game and the manual.
- Pistol/Hand Laser
- The player always starts a level armed only with the pistol. Like many games, being the first weapon the player acquires it has unlimited ammo but does very little damage
- Pump-Action Shotgun/Combat Rifle
- The Shotgun fires three pistol shots at once. However, in spite of the fact that it is supposed to be a shotgun, the three shots usually stay in close proximity to one another to a great distance.
- Laser Bolt Gun/Bolt Gun
- The Bolt Gun is Dark Arena's take on an autorifle. It fires pistol shots at a very rapid rate, although the exact rate seems to vary.
- Plasma Blaster/Energy Cannon
- The Plasma Blaster is Dark Arena's equivalent to Doom's Plasma Gun. It fires shots that are at least three times as powerful as pistol shots, but ammo for it is hard to come by.
- Mini-V Rocket Launcher/ Rocket Launcher
- The Rocket Launcher is a powerful weapon with a slow rate of fire and very hard-to-come-by ammo.
- Guided Shoulder Missile/Guided Missile
- The Guided Missile is one of Dark Arena's more interesting weapons. The missile is controlled from a first-person point of view. Uses the same launcher as the standard Rockets. (There is an easily discoverable error where if you pause the game while in the first person guiding perspective, the interface goes haywire)
- Night Scope Sniper Gun/ Zoom Scope
- The Sniper Gun removes depth shading and fires very powerful shots. Ammo for it is a precious rarity.
- Combat Energy Cannon/Energy Cannon
- The Energy Cannon is Dark Arena's take on a BFG. It has to be charged for several seconds before being fired, but it deals out devastating carnage with a very large blast radius. It uses the same ammo as the Plasma Blaster.
- Mines
- These are throwable bombs that cannot be thrown through doors. These do high damage, but are very hard to use. They explode when the weapon is changed.
