Forsaken (video game)

Forsaken is a 3D shooter in the style of Descent (1995), featuring similar weapons, power-ups, having missiles and mines being labeled "secondary weapons", and involving 3D movement of a vehicle through several tunnels. It is set on a futuristic Earth that, in 2113, had all of its life destroyed as a result of a shockwave from a science accident. The goal of the game differs between formats. In the PC and PlayStation versions, the player acts as someone trying to obtain the planet's lost treasure, while in the Nintendo 64 release, the goal is to kill looters finding the treasure. There are also elements of Quake. The single-player 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 four modes, Acclaim provided the patch 1.00 that (among other things) decreased the difficulty of the game dramatically. There are 22 missions, each requiring the player to either destroy all enemy ships in a maze of tunnels, or achieve a certain target, such as completing within a time limit and/or at a specific percentage of enemies murdered. Similar to Starfox 64 (1997), different paths appear depending on which targets were achieved. 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. Up to 16 players can join in on the PC version, four on the Nintendo 64, and two for the PlayStation. Also on the Nintendo 64 version, a maximum of three computer players can join. The PC version also has the ability to record demos. == Development ==

The game was developed by Probe Entertainment during the 1996–1998 period as the company became merged into its parent company (Acclaim). At that time, Microsoft's newly bought and re-branded rendering layer (DirectX) had just started to dominate PC development. Fergus McGovern headed the development team. The game was heavily technology driven at the beginning and was titled ProjectX. This was changed to Condemned but canceled as part of Acclaim's general withdrawal of support for the system. Due to the heavy technology focus of the game, it was often bundled with hardware to show off the graphic cards, and was used as a benchmark for many years after its initial release. The Swarm (Dominic Glynn and Stephen Root) performed and produced the Forsaken soundtrack which features dynamic drum and bass and electronica tracks. An album featuring many of the original tracks and remixes was released on No Bones Records. Various employees of Acclaim Studios Teesside, the developer who worked on the Nintendo 64 port of the game, made plans for a sequel to Forsaken, which were permanently scrapped when Acclaim closed the studio down in 2002. == Reception ==

The game received favorable reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. Lighting effects were highlighted in reviews of all versions. Martin Kitts of N64 Magazine called the lighting effects the best on the Nintendo 64, "giving heated battles a pleasant lava lamp effect, with shots and explosions bouncing around the room in slow motion." An issue later, the magazine gave Forsaken 64 eight out of ten, saying, "With luck, programming of this calibre can become an expectation for all N64 titles developed across multiple formats." Dan Toose of Hyper gave the game 92% and said: "Unless someone pulls some wonder game out of the bag at E3, this one looks like it's going to be the all-formats game of the year. If you like action shooter games, this is a must-have". Kitts gave the N64 version 87% and compared it to Quake and Descent (1995), as well as 2D shooters such as R-Type (1987) and Axelay (1992). He called it the best "serious" Nintendo 64 title since GoldenEye, and "a game that, although not for the fainthearted, holds a genuinely rewarding experience for those who are prepared to persevere". Fatt also said that the PlayStation version's "sharp environmental detail and spectacular real-time lighting effects are just window dressing for a poorly devised game. Unfortunately, bland enemies, derivative gameplay, and squeaky, unappealing sound effects (laser fire on helium—anyone remember Atari's Phoenix?) run rampant." Next Generation said in its July 1998 issue that the N64 version was "solid, enjoyable stuff with not a hint of originality to cloud the fun"; and called the PlayStation version "a decent title. Probe has mixed together the best elements of Descent and Quake and added some pretty tricky enemy AI, resulting in a game that shines, although in slightly different ways, on each platform." An issue later, the magazine called the PC version "a good game that will provide a nice distraction until players get their hands on the big guns like Sin, Half-Life, and Duke Nukem Forever." ==Notes==