Oni (video game)

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This article is about the computer game. For other uses, see Oni (disambiguation).
Oni
Box art for European PC version of Oni
Developer(s) Bungie Studios
The Omni Group (Mac OS X port)
Publisher(s) Gathering of Developers (PC); Rockstar Games (PS2), Feral Interactive (Mac - Rest Of World), MacSoft (Mac - North America)
Designer(s) Brent Pease
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, PS2, Mac OS 9, Mac OS X
Release date January 2001[1]
Genre(s) Third-person shooter, Beat 'em up
Mode(s) Single-player
Rating(s) ESRB: T
ELSPA: 15+
Media 1 CD
Input methods Keyboard and mouse, gamepad

Oni is a third-person action game developed by Bungie West, a division of Bungie Studios, and released in 2001. It was Bungie West's first and only game. It broke new ground by blending third-person shooting with hand-to-hand combat, resulting in a unique, yet familiar game for third-person shooter enthusiasts. Due to difficulties in debugging and the general unplayability of a fighting game over anything with higher lag than a LAN at that time, multiplayer was omitted from the released version.

The game's universe is heavily influenced by Masamune Shirow's manga series Ghost in the Shell.[1] The main characters Konoko and Commander Griffin bear strong physical resemblance to Shirow's main characters Motoko Kusanagi and Daisuke Aramaki.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay and features

In Oni, there are several ballistic and energy cell weapons, including handguns, rifles, and rocket launchers. A full list includes:

  • Campbell Equalizer Mk4 - A standard TCTF pistol.
  • Hughes Black Adder SMG - An illegal machine pistol manufactured by Syndicate factories, similar to an Uzi 9mm.
  • SML3 Plasma Rifle - A rifle which fires a ball of plasma encased in a magnetic field.
  • Phase Stream Projector - A handgun which fires a continuous stream of non-lethal energy, knocking enemies off their feet.
  • SBG "Superball Gun" Man-Portable Mortar - A grenade launcher which fires cluster grenades which bounce along the ground before exploding.
  • Van de Graaff Pistol - A taser-like device which uses the principles of a Van de Graaff generator to temporarily stun enemies.
  • Scram Cannon - A rocket launcher which fires eight small homing missiles with each blast that indiscriminatly "scramble" towards any available targets.
  • Mercury Bow - A "bow" (essentially a sniper rifle) which fires frozen bolts of mercury at targets.
  • Screaming Cannon - An eccentric weapon which "births" a lifeform from an alternate dimension that deplete a target's health rapidly.
  • Wave Motion Cannon - A huge gun which can only be wielded by Konoko when she is in "Overpower" mode and Barabas which fires streams of energy or bouncing grenades.
Screenshot (PC)
Screenshot (PC)

As well as the aforementioned weaponry Oni features hand-to-hand combat. Since the player is only allowed to carry one gun at a time and ammunition can be scarce, hand-to-hand combat is much more valuable throughout the game. The heroine has punches, kicks, throws, and flips at her disposal, as well as special combos and "super moves" that are unlocked as she progresses through levels. The various moves are executed through varying combinations of attack, directional, and/or jump keys. Each enemy class also has its own set of moves.

The main character, Konoko, can use the entire level as her combat arena. She can explore and move about freely, instead of being confined to a small arena and fighting a small group of enemies (as in the case in many console games of that era).

The game allows Konoko to explore 14 levels of varied sizes, ranging from medium-sized to large, entire-building levels. Bungie hired a professional architect to design the buildings for authenticity. When released, one criticism often leveled at the game was that of the sparse, bauhaus nature of the levels, citing a lack of malleable in-game objects and an overall sterile feel.

The animation engine implements a method of interpolation which tweens key frames, enabling the characters to execute combat moves smoothly. Frame slippage, however, is a common problem when multiple NPCs (non-player characters) are performing attack moves in the vicinity of Konoko.

[edit] Plot

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[edit] Characters and Settings

The story takes place on or after the year 2032,[2] shortly after the establishment of a political entity named the World Coalition Government (WCG). This entity currently controls 80% of the world's land area that is livable (the rest, under the guise of wilderness reserves, is toxic), and was created as a solution to the world's economic problems.

The Technological Crimes Task Force (TCTF) is a paramilitary law-enforcement agency within the WCG. When the WCG came to power, they blamed abuse of technology for the world's previous difficulties (in particular biological weapons; the game's manual draws parallels between the use of technological terror in-game and similar attitudes to nuclear weapons in the mid-twentieth century). The TCTF serves to oppose this abuse, to prevent a return to these difficulties (or so say the WCG politicians). In truth, the TCTF is a kind of secret police - they enforce the law, but more for the suppression of loose technology and the government's opposition than for the public good.

The TCTF's other purpose is to monitor every WCG citizen in an Orwellian fashion. The world's cities are the only areas in the world which are lived in and the rest is completely uninhabitable, to the extent that air treatment facilities (also known as Atmospheric Conversion Centres) are necessary to keep the population alive.

As the various governments were combined under a single banner, the various criminal/terrorist organizations and rogue states did likewise. The TCTF's largest foe is a worldwide crime network called The Syndicate. The Syndicate is led by a single individual named Muro, who has been outwitting the TCTF for years.

The story's main character is a young woman codenamed Konoko (voiced by Amanda Winn-Lee), a TCTF special agent fresh out of training. Konoko is under the authority of Commander Terrence Griffin, and is teamed with a Simulated Life Doll (an android made with brain engrams which match those of a living person; in this case, Konoko) named Shinatama. The player controls Konoko for the entire story.

[edit] Story

The game begins with Konoko investigating a Syndicate warehouse after a series of Syndicate assaults on government laboratories. Inside, she finds a dead TCTF spy holding a data pad that reveals the Musashi manufacturing plant as a Syndicate front. Upon arrival at the plant, Konoko and her team are attacked by Syndicate members. After beating them back, Konoko discovers that the Syndicate is about to attack a bio-research lab elsewhere in the city. She rushes to the lab as the Syndicate begins their assault. She is able to save many of the scientists, but Muro escapes.

A few days later, the TCTF headquarters is attacked by the Syndicate. As Konoko helps to repel the attack, she discovers that Shinatama has been captured by the Syndicate, and is being interrogated somewhere in the headquarters. When Konoko finds her, Shinatama is near death, and reveals that Konoko’s real name is Mai Hasegawa. Before Shinatama can reveal any more, Griffin detonates a bomb inside her, killing her.

Konoko begins to search for clues about her past. She finds information in the Regional State Building, but it is stolen by Mukade, a skilled Syndicate ninja. Konoko chases Mukade through the city, finally killing him and retrieving the stolen data. She discovers that Dr. Hasegawa was a college professor. He fell in love with a student named Jamie Kerr. One day, they were walking in one of the wilderness zones when Jamie was poisoned by a plant in the zone. Dr. Hasegawa killed her so she would not have to suffer. He began working on a solution to this problem, with the help of Jamie’s brother, who is unnamed in the document. Konoko assumes that Jamie’s brother is Dr. Kerr, a scientist friend of hers.

Dr. Kerr tells Konoko of the results of his and Dr. Hasegawa’s research. They developed a unique organ, the Daodan Chrysalis. It is essentially a hyper-evolved clone of the body it is implanted within. If the host experiences physical trauma, the Chrysalis replaces the damaged tissue with it's own, causing a rapid regeneration as well as protection against every form of toxic material. They were able to make two Chrysalis’, each placed in Konoko and Muro as children. Before they could do more, the Syndicate attacked the facility they were working in, killed Dr. Hasegawa, and kidnapped Muro. Konoko was taken by the TCTF to keep her safe. Before Dr. Kerr can reveal more, he is killed by TCTF Black Ops; Konoko, now wanted by the TCTF, uses her newfound knowledge of herself to escape the TCTF through acid vats.

Later, she discovers that the Syndicate plans to reverse the Atmospheric Conversion Centers, causing them to spew toxins into the air instead of removing them. This would kill everyone who doesn't have a Chrysalis. The catastrophe would be initiated by a signal pulse sent through a network of orbital relays. Konoko activates the overcharged pulse before all relays are in place, thus detonating most Centres and sparing a few. After a final battle with Muro, she is shown trudging through the city's ruins.

[edit] Comic Book

A 4-issue comic book mini series was published by Dark Horse Comics. The pilot issue (#0 of 3) was packaged with the PC version of the game.

[edit] Awards

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Interview with lead engineer Brent Pease
  2. ^ Officially confirmed to be set in 2032 by Bungie.net's Oni FAQ, although this is still debated due to how tightly the events of Oni would have been packed together, and that the FAQ went up during the Bungie/Microsoft take over. According to Konoko's in-game diary, November 22 was a Monday. This is true for the years 2032, 2038, 2049, and so on.

[edit] External links

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