Future Wars

Future Wars

Infobox VG
title = Future Wars


developer = Delphine Software International
publisher = Delphine Software International
distributor =
designer = Paul Cuisset
engine = "Cinematique" [ [http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Cine Cine - ScummVM ] ]
version =
released = 1989
genre = Adventure game
modes = Single player
platforms = PC (DOS), Amiga, Atari ST
media = Floppy disk, CD-ROM
requirements =
input = Mouse

"Future Wars" (original name "Les voyageurs du temps: la menace", aka "Time Travelers: the menace", aka "Adventures in Time") is an adventure game from Delphine Software International, released in 1989. The game is mainly the work of Paul Cuisset (story and programming) and Eric Chahi (graphics).

The game was supposed to be the first of a series of adventure games revolving around time traveling (the series was supposed to be called "Les voyageurs du temps", aka "Time Travelers") but later episodes were never made.

tory

The player starts the game as a window cleaner who is in the middle of cleaning the outside of a skyscraper, which is evidently part of a bustling metropolis, however the player can only see the surrounding scenery (a cityscape at sunset) by observing the reflection in the glass windows of the skyscraper. The year is 1989, which when Future Wars was first retailed could be reasonably understood as being present-day.

The window cleaner the player controls is a figure dressed in white overalls who is standing on an electric elevator platform attached to the outside of the building. The game begins with another character referred to simply as 'Ed the boss' opening a window directly above the players character, only to reprimand him for slacking by banging his fist against the window ledge and appearing to be shouting a fair amount of verbal abuse with some vigor. (The game is entirely mute throughout apart from some background music and the occasional sound effect).

The game takes the player to the middle ages, where the hero has the chance to jeopardize an alien plot to plant a long-delay time bomb and where he meets Lo'Ann, a special agent from the future sent there to do just that. The player is then taken to 44th century - Lo'Ann's home-age to meet the council. After a minor mishap and subsequently having to make his way through ravaged city of Paris II, the hero eventually gets aboard a shuttle that would take him to the council's home city, only to be kidnapped by Crughons - the aliens. Later, he is accused of collaboration with those aliens and only saved from execution in the very last minute. He and Lo'Ann then travel to cretaceous period to foil aliens' yet another attempt at planting the time bomb. Failing to arrive on time, the hero must board an alien spaceship and travel to their headquarters to neutralize the bomb from there. The game ends when, after succeeding in detonating the bomb long before the humans even appear on the surface of the earth (and providing quite a convenient explanation for the extinction of dinosaurs), the hero returns to 44th century to fight further battles against the cruel alien race.

Gameplay

"Future Wars" was played by left-clicking for character movement, and right-clicking for character actions. The actions available in the right-click popup menu were: Operate, Examine, Take, Use and Inventory. Use had a subcategory which enabled the player to drag and select the items in their inventory.

While compared to many modern adventure games, such as Myst, "Future Wars" might seem antiquated and crude, but it was in fact the forerunner of its day and possessed a standard of graphics that was unprecedented for its time and indeed is still enjoyed today, even if only for its nostalgic value.

Gameplay challenges

The gameplay of "Future Wars" wasn't ideal - the game suffered from an extremely linear story coupled with the fact that quite often, items found at certain stages of the game would be used much later. As the game didn't exactly give hints about the missing items, a player progressing through the game without the help of a walkthrough was forced to restore the game from some arbitrary earlier moment to check for any missing objects. Some objects in the game spanned only a few pixels, so to find them, the player would often have to resort to pixel hunting. The fact that the game used a "realistic" approach to examining on-screen objects, so descriptions varied depending on how far from an item player was at the time, didn't help either. All that meant that the game could be quite challenging despite its seemingly simple, linear story.

Adding to the difficulty, the game also featured a few time-based puzzles as well as arcade sequences, which could pose difficulties for less arcade-savvy players.

Track listing

# "Time Travellers" - 2:41
# "Alien's Rock" - 2:07
# "Future Sound" - 2:06
# "Rock'n Rocket" - 2:02
# "Sweet Sensation" - 3:00
# "The Cold Ice" - 2:49
# "Metaphysical Choirs" - 2:36
# "Heart Of The Country" - 2:00
# "Bad Travel" - 2:38
# "Nasty Story" - 0:42
# "Blue Spinning Wheel" - 2:17

Credits

The following are the credits as displayed during the end-game sequence of the Amiga version of the game:

;Design: Paul Cuisset;Programming: Paul Cuisset;Graphics: Eric Chahi;Music: Jean Baudlot

;Sound effects:Antoine O'Heix;Delphine Studio Midi: Marc Minier;Technical help: Philippe Chastel, Jesus Martinez;Digitized sound sampling: Philipe Chastel, Paul Cuisset, Antoine O'Heix, Jesus Martinez;Cinematique interpreter: Paul Cuisset

;Many thank to: Philippe Delamarre, Emmanuel Lecoz, Michael Sportouch, Peter Stone, Matthew Tims, Patricia Vermander

The IBM PC version was credited to Daniel Morais.

CD-ROM version

A CD-ROM version that was for DOS was later released by Sony Electronic Publishing. It had remastered music for each of the themes that were played at different locations.

References

External links

*moby game|id=/future-wars|name="Future Wars"


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Future Wars — Les Voyageurs du temps Les Voyageurs du temps La Menace Éditeur Delphine Software Développeur …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Veterans of Future Wars — (VFW) was an organization formed as a prank by Princeton University students in 1936. [cite web|url=http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Veterans of Future Wars/ |title=Veterans of Future Wars |accessdate=2008 04 02 |work=Museum of… …   Wikipedia

  • Future Wars: Time Travellers — Les Voyageurs du temps Les Voyageurs du temps La Menace Éditeur Delphine Software Développeur …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Wars of Alexander the Great — Alexander fighting Persian king Darius III. From Alexander Mosaic of Pompeii, Naples, Naples National Archaeol …   Wikipedia

  • Wars of the Roses — The Wars of the Roses (1455–1485) were a series of dynastic civil wars fought in England between supporters of the Houses of Lancaster and York. Although armed clashes had occurred previously between supporters of Lancastrian King Henry VI and… …   Wikipedia

  • Wars of national liberation — National liberation movement redirects here. For specific groups known by that name, see National Liberation Movement. Flag of Mozambique, currently one of the poorest and least developed countries in the World, independent from Portugal since… …   Wikipedia

  • Wars of the Three Kingdoms — The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (sometimes known as the Wars of the Three Nations) formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in Scotland, Ireland, and England between 1639 and 1651 after these three countries had come under the… …   Wikipedia

  • WARS Trading Card Game — Infobox Game | subject name= WARS Trading Card Game image link= image caption= designer= publisher= Decipher players= 2 ages= 12+ setup time= playing time= Approx 1 hour complexity= strategy= random chance= Some skills= Card playing Arithmetic… …   Wikipedia

  • Wars of Scottish Independence — The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of… …   Wikipedia

  • Wars of the Roses, Causes of —    Civil war erupted in fifteenth century England for many interrelated reasons. While Tudor and Elizabethan commentators found the chief cause of the conflict in the 1399 deposition of Richard II and its attendant break in the legal line of… …   Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”