PowerSlave

Infobox VG
title = Powerslave/Exhumed


developer = Lobotomy Software
publisher = Playmates Interactive Entertainment (US)
BMG Interactive (Europe)
distributor =
designer = Brian McNeely ("Game Design / Direction")
Ezra Dreisbach ("Programmer")
engine = Build (PC)
SlaveDriver (console)
version =
released = 1996
genre = First-person shooter
modes = Single player
ratings = ESRB: Mature
platforms = Sega Saturn, PlayStation
PC
media = CD-ROM
requirements =
input =

"PowerSlave" ("Exhumed" in European territories and "Seireki 1999: Pharaoh no Fukkatsu" in Japan; the US title itself being a clear reference to the Iron Maiden album "Powerslave" which features Egyptian art on its cover), is a first-person shooter, developed by Lobotomy Software and published by Playmates Interactive Entertainment. It was released in 1996 in the US, for Sega Saturn, PlayStation and the PC.

Synopsis

"PowerSlave" is set in an area around the ancient Egyptian city of Karnak in the late 20th Century. The city has been seized by unknown forces, with a special crack team of hardened soldiers sent to the valley of Karnak, to uncover the source of this trouble. However on the journey there, the player's helicopter is shot down and the player barely escapes. The player is sent in to the valley as the hero to save Karnak and the World. The player finds himself battling hordes of evil creatures including mummies, Anubis guardians of the dead, scorpions and evil spirits. The player's course of action is directed by the spirit of King Ramses, whose mummy was exhumed from its tomb by these evil creatures.

Gameplay

Throughout the game, gameplay follows a standard first-person shooter formula. Familiar elements from the genre, such as collecting keys to open doors in a level, are present.

As the game progresses, the player picks up a number of artifacts which in turn gives himself new abilities. Such abilities include being able to jump higher, levitate, breathe underwater, walk in lava, walk through force fields and jump further to reach previously inaccessible areas of the maps. In a similar fashion, there are a number of key symbols (Power, Time, War and Earth) that can open sealed doors in previously visited areas.

Each map is connected together by a world-overview map in a similar manner to "Super Mario World".

It should be noted, however, that this non-linear system only applies to the console versions.

Weapons
* Machete: Standard melee weapon
* Pistol: Standard handgun
* M-60: Machine gun
* Amun Mines: Grenades
* Flamethrower: close combat weapon
* Cobra Staff: Shoots magical homing snake missiles
* The Ring of Ra: Unleashes deadly red, bouncing fireballs (only Saturn and Playstation versions)
* The Sacred Manacle: Shoots partly-homing blue lightning flashes

Artifacts
* Sandals of Inkumpet: Increase jump height
* Sobek mask: Breathe underwater for 50 seconds without damage
* Shawl of Isis: Allows the player to slowly float down after jumping
* Protective anklets: Allows the player to walk on swamp without damage, and lava with little damage
* Kilmaat scepter: Opens green forcefields on contact
* Horus feather: Allows the player to levitate after jumping

Secrets

Throughout the game, there are eight pieces of a radio transmitter. These must be assembled in order to receive the "good ending", whereby the player become an immortal, rather than being buried with the dead, only to be excavated years later.

Hidden in the games are 23 Team Dolls, each for someone who worked on the game. The rewards are different for each version.

The PlayStation exclusively has Dolphin and Vulture modes. Dolphin mode allows the player to swim faster and jump out of water and is unlocked after 10 dolls. Vulture mode, unlocked after 14 dolls, allows the player to continually jump in midair, thus giving the feel of flying. These effects are visible by hieroglyphs in the top left corner (symbolized by a dolphin and a vulture).

The Sega Saturn rewarded you with Lobo-flight mode for collecting all of the Team Dolls, by restarting the game with the completed save. This allowed the player to fly, very similar to swimming, but in midair. Also, on only the NTSC Sega Saturn version, collecting all 23 dolls in the gives the player access to the hidden game "Death Tank".

Owners of "Duke Nukem 3D" on the Saturn can access the sequel, "Death Tank Zwei", if they have a save game of "PowerSlave" or "Quake" saved on either the system Backup RAM or a RAM cart.

Game versions

Console

The first version of game to be released was on the Sega Saturn, shortly followed by a release on the PlayStation, with tweaked gameplay, added arcitecture, some different levels, and other changes. Both these versions are based on Lobotomy Software's SlaveDriver Engine and feature a true 3D world, similar to "Quake". It is worth noting that the same engine was used to power the Sega Saturn versions of "Duke Nukem 3D" and eventually "Quake".

Besides some changes in the levels (extra rooms in one version that's not in another, added architecture on the PlayStation), the levels Amun Mines, Heket Marsh, Set Palace, Cavern of Peril, and Kilmaat Colony are almost completely different between the two versions. There are exclusive powerups on the Sega Saturn such as the All-Seeing Eye, Invisibility and Weapon Boost. Also exclusive to the Sega Saturn is the ability to bomb-boost, which is similar to rocket jumping in other FPS games.

Sprites were represented in 2D, similar to games such as "Doom" and "Duke Nukem 3D". The game features coloured dynamic lighting too, but only in the Saturn version.

Level progression is non-linear, letting the player go to any previous unlocked level at any time. Extra exits to new levels and parts of levels are only accessible after getting the many different abilities, very similar to the "Metroid" series. This adds more of an exploration aspect that's not traditionally seen in FPS games.

Tweaks in the PlayStation version include more detailed levels (but the game lacks the colored lighting from the Sega Saturn), some completely redesigned levels, sharper graphics, more stable platform jumping, reworked puzzles, and better random powerups (making health and ammo more plentiful). The lasers from the Sega Saturn were replaced with blue ball launchers, and the bouncing balls were replaced with merely normal fireballs, however. A weird oddity though, is that on the Sega Saturn, the Protective Anklets make the player completely immune to acid, instead of lowering the damage to the player on the PlayStation.

PC

The PC version of PowerSlave is quite different compared to the console versions. These differences are noticeable by playing the two versions. Here is a list as follows:
* The PC version is running on the Build engine, licensed from 3D Realms. The version used is a slightly earlier version, written sometime before "Duke Nukem 3D".
* The HUD interface is different; featuring an ammo counter, lungs (oxygen levels) for swimming and animated mana and blood vessels
* Players have usable Mana energy that can cast spells once the spell has been acquired (e.g. collecting a torch allows the player to use energy to illuminate dark areas).
* Ammo is not universal. Instead of blue orbs usable for all weapons, separate ammo is needed.
* Some sprites are different (e.g. M60 machine gun), sprites are larger and more animated in general
* Audible words are used for the player compared to grunts in the console versions (most notably, the character shouts, "Son of a bitch!" when attacked.)
* Grenades are used instead of Amun mines.
* Mummies fire a "white skull" attack, or a partly-homing red one, that when hit, turns the player into a mummy momentarily, additionally with the most powerful weapon in the game (mummy staff).
* Checkpoints are placed throughout the level by indication of golden scarabs; saving is automatic between levels
* Red spiders are used instead of blue scorpions (also known as Terranians).
* The light sourcing from the Slavedriver engine is not used; the Build engine's own light sourcing is used instead; the game also uses a kind of "fake" dynamic lighting where sectors light up as projectiles or "glowing" objects in general pass through
* Levels are conducted in a more linear format rather than the free progression of the console editions. Players can save their progress after completing a level, and can replay previously completed levels, but later stages may only be played after completing the level prior. There is no use in replaying earlier levels, though
* The Manacle of Power fires a lighting cloud above the enemy, rather than firing lighting bolts from the player's hands as in the console versions.
* Most of the artifacts from the console versions are not present in the PC version (except the Sobek Mask, which is a spell)
* The Saturn version's powerups are included as spells (invisibility, invincibility and double damage)
* The Ring of Ra weapon is not included
* Weapons pause to reload after a certain number of shots fired
* Some enemies have different death animations when killed by fire/grenades, bosses have longer death animations
* There are extra lives instead of health extensions as in the Saturn and PSX versions
* The Amnit enemies are not included, instead there is the giant Ammut miniboss which has ramming and biting attacks

Notes

*Voice narration in the game was performed by Don LaFontaine, aka "The Voice-Over Guy".
*A sequel was planned for the PlayStation, but the company was disbanded before it could be released.
*At one point, the PC version was to be released by 3D Realms as one of their games to show off the power of the Build engine. During this time, the game was known by its working title "Ruins: Return of the Gods". Apogee Software released screenshots of the early working version with a slideshow of another of its published titles, "Mystic Towers". 3D Realms eventually dropped the title, which was then picked up by Playmates Interactive Entertainment and published as it is known today.

The red spiders (terranians) were present in the Saturn Version as well as the PC version. The blue scorpions only appeared in the Playstation version.

External links

*moby game|id=/powerslave|name="PowerSlave"
* [http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/saturn/satduke.htm Interview with PowerSlave's Developer]
* [http://www.shinforce.com/saturn/reviews/Powerslave/index.htm Review of Saturn Version]
* [http://www.whipassgaming.com/genesisreviews/powerslave.html Information on PowerSlave including team doll locations and Death Tank]