The Warp Pipe - 23/11/08
By Matt K - Sun Nov 23, 2008 8:56am
I find it a little amusing looking back on the list of games in this series, remembering that I played many of them on a poorly constructed Pentium 233 with a first series 3DFX card (Diamond Monster 3D) and a terrible 17” monitor that couldn’t handle anything above 800x600 without producing a headache inducing whirring sound, or on a TV that only accepted mono input – and didn’t really care that much. Fast-forward to today, where there’s a decent sized HDTV next to me, and I’m typing this article up on a computer that’s barely two months old. Ah, to be young and penniless again.The Tin Anniversaries – Part IV
) Still waiting for my beer, Barney |
Valve Software’s first game had a fairly tumultuous developmental journey, but it redefined what audiences wanted from their first person shooters from that November day forward. With an amazing single player mode, fantastic multiplayer and overwhelming customisability, Half-Life is really the quintessential PC game, and arguably the best action game to ever grace the format.
On the single player side of things, you control Gordon Freeman, a physicist who works at the secret Black Mesa Research Facility. An experiment Freeman is participating in goes awry, creating a resonance cascade which opens various inter-dimensional portals, causing an influx of hostile alien species. Things get worse when the US Government gets involved, and sends Special Forces units in to clean up the facility and silence the survivors. Half-Life’s single player introduced so many things that became common place in shooters; scripted events to provide in-your-face action, never removing control from the player during story deposition, and continuous progress through the world with minimal load-times. The game creates an amazing atmosphere from the moment you step on the tram.
Initially, Half-Life’s multiplayer was merely okay. The level creator Worldcraft was included with the game, and several good maps began to appear over time. Once Valve released the Half-Life SDK, the floodgates opened, and user mods began to rule the roost. Counter-Strike quickly became the most popular mod, though others such as Team Fortress Classic, Deathmatch Classic, Natural Selection, The Specialists, Action Half-Life and Day of Defeat had popular followings. Some of these mods were developed further internally at Valve after the mod teams were hired by the company.
Half-Life was tremendously popular at release and remains so – the game and its mods are still actively played today. The game carries a Metascore of 96 and sold over 8 million copies. Two official expansions were released for the PC in Opposing Force and Blue Shift, both of which were developed by Gearbox Software (who also ported the game to the PlayStation 2 with a further expansion Half-Life: Decay). It took six years for Valve to release a sequel, but Half-Life 2 was equally amazing. The Half-Life story continues through sporadic episode releases, with the third Half-Life 2 episode expected next year.
) Allow me to pick your brain |
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter had been one of the first early third party success stories on the Nintendo 64, and Acclaim was eager to get a follow up out as soon as possible. The plan for a quick-fire sequel fizzled after GoldenEye 007 set a new standard for first person shooter multiplayer on consoles, resulting in almost a 12 month delay, but also had a side effect of adding a significant increase in the cartridge size through falling prices.
Players control Joshua Fireseed, the latest Turok (presumably, Turok is like The Phantom, a title passed between generations) who has been recruited to take out the latest evil alien threat, the Primagen. The Primagen isn’t too happy that it’s been sealed by the Energy Totems, and sends a bunch of goons to knock them out. It’s up to Turok to eliminate these forces and put a stop to the Primagen’s evil plans. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil was a fairly solid Nintendo 64 FPS, but beautiful graphics and some memorable weapons pushed it over the line. Perhaps the most memorable thing about the game is the Cerebral Bore weapon, a small drill-like device that homes in on your enemies and relieves them of their brains in a delightfully bloody display. The game also has a reasonably good multiplayer component, with several different play modes for four people.
At the time, the reception for Turok 2 was unanimously positive – the game carries a Metascore of 90%, and it sold roughly 2 million copies. Over time, fondness for the game faded – Edge Magazine even went so far as to retract their 9/10 score in their 100th issue special. Playing the game in the modern day is especially difficult; first person shooter mechanics have evolved beyond what Turok 2 has to offer, the level design is confusing and the frame rate is remarkably bad. After Turok 2, the series had one final success in the multiplayer only Turok: Rage Wars, before descending into madness with Turok 3: Shadows of Oblivion and shooting itself in the foot with Turok: Evolution. Disney now controls the rights to the franchise, and has released the remarkably average Turok earlier this year.
) Charred and bloody terrain is often the result of a dwarven satchel mishap |
One look at the history of Bungie Software would tell you that they’re a pretty damn fine developer, so it’s a bit of a shame to have seen them stuck in the same franchise for about 8 years (probably why most of the founders have moved on). One of their pre-Halo success stories was the Myth series, a pair of real time strategy games with a fantasy setting, but with gameplay mechanics that really set them apart from the rest of the crowd.
Myth II: Soulblighter is set about 60 years after the original game, with another bunch of undead nasties rising up and needing squashing. Basic gameplay is a bit different from the other real time strategy games of the time in that you could not build bases or units – you’d only have the troops that are given to you at the start of the mission. Combat in Myth is very skill based; players need to know what their units are capable of, and manage them effectively. One of Myth’s defining features is its advanced physics system, where every object in the game has a set weight, and collisions react realistically. What this means for you is that you’ve got to be really careful when using your ranged/projectile troops around your footsoldiers – a stray arrow can be fatal, but a misdirected dwarven satchel charge could end your game in a spectacularly gory manner.
The second Myth game saw better sales than the original, along with a similarly warm critical reception. The player community grew ever stronger, particularly after Bungie released mapmaking tools, and got behind the Myth World Cup. A number of user-made projects for Myth II were even released commercially. Myth II would be the last title in the series that Bungie would make. When they were acquired by Take 2 Interactive, the publisher traded stock in the company for the rights to the Myth series. After releasing a few Myth II products, they hired developer MumboJumbo to produce the third game, Myth III: The Wolf Age. However, the publisher decided to rush the game to gold status in time for Christmas, along with laying off much of the development team and discontinuing much of the support for the game, resulting in a much less than stellar final result. The Myth series has been dormant since.
) It really does sound quite absurd, adventure of a bear and bird! |
Rareware saw most of its best years while under the guidance of Nintendo, and the studio provided many titles which really bolstered up the lagging catalogue of the Nintendo 64. They were at their most prolific in the early part of the system’s life. Banjo-Kazooie was set to be Nintendo’s big title for the 1997 holiday season, but Rareware put forward a case for a delay into 1998 for quality reasons – and fortunately, the final product was one of the finest games they have ever produced.
The game stars a rather dopey bear and his smart-mouthed accomplice, a red crested breegull, who are on a quest to rescue the former’s sister, who has been kidnapped by the evil (and ugly) witch, Gruntilda. Basic gameplay is modelled on Super Mario 64, with players collecting jigsaw pieces and notes instead of stars and coins, but the levels are larger, and the goals are a little more varied. Rare’s trademark humour is constantly at work – there are some pretty funny exchanges between Kazooie and the various characters you meet, most of which result in battles.
Banjo-Kazooie was a big hit for Nintendo in the summer of 1998, achieving a Metascore of 92 and selling over 2 million copies worldwide. The sequel, Banjo-Tooie, was well-received but released in the twilight of the Nintendo 64’s life, and sold half as many copies as a result. After Rare’s sale to Microsoft, a third Banjo title was hotly rumoured for many years. After eight years and two handheld titles (Grunty’s Revenge and Banjo Pilot), the third main game, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was released for the Xbox 360. Polished up versions of Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie are on their way to Xbox Live in the coming months.
) Give him the breathalyser! |
Need for Speed quickly cemented itself as one of the hottest new franchises of the 32-bit era with its fast-paced, somewhat over the top racing action. The second game was a bit of a misstep due to a mostly slower and unsatisfying pace, but EA was quick to make up with Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit.
Hot Pursuit is essentially split into two parts; one with all of your usual serious racing and tournaments, and the other which focuses on your encounters with the police. The police are relentless, giving chase the moment you speed by them and trying to take you out by ramming you off course. Squad cars are scattered liberally throughout the track, so you’re constantly being monitored. The longer you evade the police, the more desperate they become, deploying roadblocks and spike traps to halt your progress. The PC version of the game ups the ante by allowing the players to control the police in a scenario where they have to stop six computer controlled cars. Network play allowed gamers to go head to head in police versus racer matches, or co-operate as the police against the AI.
The fourth Need for Speed game, High Stakes, brought more depth to the Hot Pursuit aspect of the game with more gameplay modes and police car types. Hot Pursuit II brought the formula to the sixth generation of consoles, albeit without the same level of polish. The Need for Speed series has remained one of EA’s stalwart franchises for many years, though the direction of the series seems to have changed from tightly planned courses and straight up racing to open road, highly customisable street racing.
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