Infobox VG
title = Forsaken
developer = Probe Entertainment
Iguana UK
publisher = Acclaim
engine =
released = vgrelease|NA=April 30 1998|EU=June 03 1998|JP=September 02 1999
genre = First Person Shooter
modes = Single player, multiplayer
ratings = ESRB: Mature (M)
platforms = Windows, PlayStation, Nintendo 64
media = music by The Swarm
requirements = P166 (P133 with 3D Card), 16mb RAM, 4x CD-ROM, Windows 95 or higher, includes all vista packages and xp
input =
"Forsaken" is a 3D first person shooter video game. The game 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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."[cite web | url=http://www.gamespot.com/n64/action/forsaken64/review.html?sid=2544449&om_act=convert&om_clk=gsupdates&tag=updates;title;1 | title=Forsaken 64 | author=Jeff Gerstmann | work=GameSpot | date=1998-05-25 | accessdate=2007-10-05] ] 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.
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.
Weapons
;Primary weaponsThe 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. Pulsar take the form of water-drop shaped energy pulses, and glow a bright green. The orbital pulsar powerup fires pulsar pulses with other primary weapons, orbital pulsar pulses differ slightly from the regular pulsar - they shine with a red light instead.
* 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. Each trojax blast is a bright purple spiral shape. While charging the trojax a small charge indication bar can be seen slightly to the left of the cross-hair. When this charge indicator reaches it maximum limit the weapon will not get any stronger however it will continually drain weapon energy.
* 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. Each individual shot of the suss-gun will release four small pink glowing pellets, each travelling in a random direction from the front of the bike.
* 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. Transpulse are pink disk shaped bullets. Due to the fact that they have a semi-homing capability they are often removed from multiplayer games as this is commonly seen as an unfair advantage to other players.
* 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. As the name suggests - the pyrolite releases balls of fire, or if used continually a slug of fire.
* Beamlaser - Instant hit weapon causing medium damage. It will overheat and stop firing if used continuously for long periods of time. The laser takes the form of two blue beams of light which always fire at the same time (unlike the pulsar which alternate at lower energy levels). During continual use a blue bar indicating laser temperature can be seen rising in the crosshair. When this bar reaches the top the laser will cease to function giving it time to cool.
;Secondary Weapons
* Mug - Default missile; a slow-moving, unguided rocket that causes minimal damage. These have a greenish glow as they travel.
* Solaris - Heat-seeking missile that causes medium damage. Comes in packs of three. These missiles glow orange as they travel. One can know of an incoming missile because a spoken warning "incoming" will be heard, as well as the sonar beep increasing in frequency.
* Gravgon - Tactical missile that creates a gravity "force field" on impact, trapping its target for a short period of time. A common 'trick' for multiplayer games is to lay a quantum mine, and fire a gravcon missile directly next to it - This has the effect of a deadly mine that will draw all players nearby into it.
* Scatter - Homing missile which causes its target to drop its weapons upon impact. As with solaris missiles one can tell of an incoming missile.
* MFRL - Short for Multiple Fire Rocket Launcher. Fires a stream of miniature, fast-moving, low-power, unguided rockets. By holding down the fire button, the entire 50 missiles can be launched within a matter of seconds. Though an individual missile causes minimal damage, many fired at once can confuse another player and render them helpless to the attack.
* 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. The fact that one can easily out-run a titan missile gives an example of the slow speed of the missile.
;Mines
* Purge Mines - Small mines causing minimal damage. Comes in packs of three. The shine with a redish light and slowly bounce from up to down. Though often not powerful enougth to be deadly they are very useful for detering close by stalkers, or lighting dark passages.
* 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. Due to the fact that these act as other players helping one specific player they are frequently removed from multiplayer games.
* Quantum Mine - Single mine which causes medium to strong damage upon impact. Quantum mines shine with a blueish light that rotates, and bounce slowly as well as rotate. Contact with a quantum mine often results in death, and any near by players may also be severely damaged. Upon explosion a red sphericle shock wave can be seen rapidly expanding. Any player falling into the path of the quantum mine shockwave will receive damage depending on how far they are from the point of explosion.
Soundtrack
The Swarm (by Dominic Glynn) performed and produced the Forsaken sound track which features dynamic drum and bass and electronica tracks.
Notes
External links
* [http://www.forsakenplanet.tk Forsaken Planet]
