Forsaken (video game)
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| Forsaken | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Probe Entertainment Iguana UK |
| Publisher(s) | Acclaim |
| Platform(s) | Windows, PlayStation, Nintendo 64 |
| Release date | JP September 02, 1999 NA April 30, 1998 EU June 03, 1998 |
| Genre(s) | First Person Shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature (M) |
| Media | music by The Swarm |
| System requirements | P166 (P133 with 3D Card), 16mb RAM, 4x CD-ROM, Windows 95 or higher, includes all vista packages and xp |
Forsaken is a 3D first person shooter video game. The PC version was developed by Probe Entertainment (UK) and distributed by Acclaim Entertainment (USA). The PC version was released on April 30, 1998. Forsaken was also released on the Playstation and Nintendo 64.
Similar to Descent, Forsaken had a strong following due to its "six degrees of freedom" game-play, but suffered in popularity to the conventional ground-based 3D first-person shooter games because of its challenging nature.
Contents |
[edit] Story
In the distant future, the advancement of science has exceeded humanity's ability to control it. During a subatomic experiment, an accident causes an uncontrollable fusion reaction, utterly destroying the surface of the planet Earth.
One year later, Earth has been classified as "condemned" by the ruling imperial theocracy, meaning that it is now legal for anyone to to salvage anything left on the planet. Mercenaries from all over come to raid the dead planet, forced to battle not only each other, but the robot sentinels that the government has left behind.
[edit] Development history
The game was developed by Probe Entertainment during the 1996 - 1998 period as the company became amalgamated into its parent company (Acclaim). At that time, Microsoft's newly bought and re-branded rendering engine (DirectX) had just started to dominate PC development.
The game was heavily technology driven at the beginning and was titled ProjectX. This was changed to Condemned when the story elements were added although it was later changed to Forsaken due to a potential naming conflict.
Due to the heavy technology focus of the game it was often bundled with hardware to show off the cards and was used as a benchmark for many years after the initial release of the game.
Although the title's actual gameplay contained no violence graphic enough to warrant an ESRB rating of "M for Mature," it was so rated for an introductory cutscene which depicted death scenes much gorier than those shown in-game.
[edit] Supported platforms
Forsaken was released for PC, PSX, and N64 in 1998. The PC and PSX versions were developed in-house by Probe staff, but the N64 was outsourced to Iguana UK (also known as Acclaim Studios Teesside), another company recently purchased by Acclaim.
The PC version supported most of the popular 3D cards available at the time. At this point in DirectX development, it was still common to include special configuration options depending on the card.
[edit] Gameplay
Forsaken is primarily a multiplayer first-person shooter. The game may be played in singleplayer or multiplayer modes. The game is based on a 3D-engine that allows unlimited 360-degree movements. This concept is similar to the Descent series. According to a GameSpot review, "Forsaken is, at its core, a Descent clone. But stunning graphics, a dazzling array of weapons, and above-average level design make the whole thing seem fresh."[1]
[edit] Singleplayer
The singleplayer-mode has four difficulty modes: easy, normal, hard and total mayhem. Each has progressively stronger enemies and less ammo to spare. Due to the near-impossible challenge presented by the latter mode, Acclaim provided the patch 1.00 that (among other things) decreased the difficulty of the game dramatically. There are 15 levels which have to be completed by the player — sometimes within a time limit — and occasionally include a huge end-boss against which the player must exhaust a fair amount of ammunition while dodging excessive retaliatory fire. In order to complete a mission, different efforts must be made by the player such as finding the exit or activating triggers to open locked doors. The primary objective is to destroy the enemies within a level. The enemies are static (turrets launching homing missiles, drones, other mercenaries, etc.), though not all will be spawned at the start of a level. Each level includes a hidden crystal, and once all are collected a secret map is unlocked.
[edit] Multiplayer
Multiplayer feels similar to Quake and Unreal Tournament, anti-gravity notwithstanding. There are six different types of multiplayer games: Free For All (deathmatch), Team Game, Capture The Flag, Flag Chase, Bounty Hunt, and Team Bounty Hunt. There are various sub-options for each.
[edit] Weapons
- Primary weapons
The primary weapons are mostly directed energy weapons. Primary weapons are powered by "Power Pods"; the player starts at level 1, and through the collection of Power Pods can reach level 3. Power pods primarily control firing rate, though in the case of the pulsar they also affect weapon behavior.
- Pulsar - Default weapon; a well-balanced, double-barreled pulse cannon that causes medium damage. When not enhanced by a power pod, the two barrels alternate at a much slower rate.
- Trojax - A slow-firing, variable-charge weapon which fires a blue ring at its target. At the lowest setting it does about twice the damage of a pulsar, while a fully-charged shot will kill almost anything short of a boss enemy.
- Suss-gun - A short range, machine gun-like weapon that fires many weak bullets over a wide area with a 'pepper spray' effect. It is one of two weapons which uses its own specialised ammunition.
- Transpulse - A low to medium damage weapon, the Transpulse energy blasts can bounce off walls and target the nearest enemy. They cannot, however, change direction mid-flight.
- Pyrolite - A short range, heavy damage flamethrower weapon. The flames bounce off walls around corners, but unlike the Transpulse do not "track" enemies. It remains functional underwater. It also uses its own specialised ammunition.
- Laser - Instant hit weapon causing medium damage. It will overheat and stop firing if used continuously for long periods of time.
- Secondary Weapons
- Mug - Default missile; a slow-moving, unguided rocket that causes minimal damage.
- Solaris - Heat-seeking missile that causes medium damage. Comes in packs of three.
- Gravgon - Tactical missile that creates a gravity "force field" on impact, trapping its target for a short period of time.
- Scatter - Homing missile which causes its target to drop its weapons upon impact.
- MFRL - Short for Multiple Fire Rocket Launcher. Fires a stream of miniature, fast-moving, low-power, unguided rockets.
- Titan - Slow moving missile which acts as a 'giant cluster bomb'. Upon impact, smaller missiles emerge and fly towards any enemy targets, inflicting huge damage.
- Mines
- Purge Mines - Small mines causing minimal damage. Comes in packs of three.
- Pine Mines - Mines which fire mug missiles at enemy targets. They can also detonate like mines if an object impacts them, and explode at about twice the power of purge mines. Comes in packs of three.
- Quantum Mine - Single mine which causes medium to strong damage upon impact.
[edit] Soundtrack
The Swarm (by Dominic Glynn) performed and produced the Forsaken sound track which features dynamic drum & bass and electronica tracks.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Jeff Gerstmann (May 25, 1998). Forsaken 64. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
