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Forsaken
© Acclaim
All
too often in the gaming industry, there are few innovators and far
too many imitators. A company will come out with a breakthrough title
such as Doom or Dune II, and then countless other spinoffs of these
games will be created to boost sales figures across the board.
Parallax/Interplay came out with one of these innovative titles back
in 1994 called Descent, which introduced the idea of true three
dimensional game playing to the masses. For me in particular, Descent
was a heart pounding, gut-wrenching, edge of your seat experience,
but as could be expected, a million spinoffs on the original came out
to challenge the title for its throne. With so many other clones out
there, I often found myself comparing them to the original in terms
of quality of gameplay and the initial zest of playing a style of
game I've never encountered before. Therefore, when I first began to
read about Forsaken, I immediately "shelved" it within the
derivative category along with most other games being released this
summer. That was my first mistake.
It's
been a long time (perhaps as far back as when the brilliant Quake II
was released by iD/Activision) since I've been so utterly impressed
with the technical savvy and attention to detail that a game could
exude. Designed by Probe Entertainment, Forsaken is certainly
derivative in it's style of gameplay, but fills in many of the
technical gaps created in the four years since Descent was released
to the public. In what could be considered a relative comeback after
a long string of mediocre games based off popular movie franchises,
it appears that the game's publisher, Acclaim, will have a winner on
its hands.
A mind
boggling, 3D accelerator tour-de-force, Forsaken is one of the few
titles that come to mind that I believe truly show the power and
awesome potential that cards such as the 3DFX yield for the hardcore
game playing public. With outstanding Direct 3D+ support out of the
box, Forsaken is first and foremost about visual excellence. From the
quality and generous use of real-time colored lighting effects to the
screen blistering frame rates, the cumulative effect is one of
complete immersion. Many times during the course of playing this game
I found myself head bobbing, trying to peer over a wall or ducking
from enemy fire. It's really quite an amazing effect. You'll further
appreciate this game's graphical superiority when watching the
numerous little visual goodies such as the smoke trails that follow
missles, the beautiful explosions, and the high amount of detail on
the enemy ships. I could really go on at length about how graphically
superior this title is, but no textual description or screenshots
would substitute for seeing this game running right before your
eyes.. it's that good.
While
a few other titles can claim that they are on par with the game in
the visual department, few are able to match this sort of graphical
prowess with superior gameplay, and this is where I feel Forsaken
really hits a home run. The amount of gameplay variety that's
available through the countless number of weapons and powerups should
keep most players eager to blast through the levels to both further
the ship's power and see the excellent effects associated with those
finds. In addition, the levels themselves are very challenging and
most players should find plenty of traps and surprises waiting for
them through the many types of environments. The textures and designs
of these levels are very polished.. I haven't found myself bored with
the scenery even once. The game always leaves an impression that
something fresh to see will be waiting around the corner, and it
makes things exciting and enjoyable.
Not
only are the graphics and gameplay above average, the quality of the
sound effects and voice-overs are outstanding too. The biker/bike
computer commentaries are very welcome additions to play. They give
the game real character and a humorous edge that gives Forsaken some
attitude. For those people out there who enjoyed Duke Nukem 3D for
similar reasons, you won't be disappointed with the numerous
personalities you can play with, such as the wisecracking Ex-Cop or
Rex Hardy.
Probably
one of the most welcome surprises was the quality of the enemy AI.
Ships appear to be rather human in their strategies in dodging your
fire and cornering you from all sides in group attack situations. The
enemies seem to understand the advantages that their particular
weapons yield them, and will attack you accordingly. All of these
qualities, needless to say, add up to a tremendously fun single
player gaming experience.
That's
not to say, however, that the multiplayer action of the game leaves
one unsatisfied. If anything, the quality of the multiplayer maps
along with the sheer numbers of weapons and powerups available makes
for quite an enjoyable multiplaying experience. I haven't had this
much fun playing against other opponents for a long, long time. In
fact, I might draw comparisons to the king of multiplayer gaming,
Quake, in terms of sheer excitement and replay value. It'll be
interesting to see if this game garners a good grassroots level of
support for addons and new maps, but I for one hope it does.
I
really can't say enough great things about this game, because I'm
thoroughly entertained by it, and if you enjoy playing intense,
graphically superior 3D action games, then Forsaken is a must buy.
Sure, it's a derivative concept (politically correct for clone), but
the impressive advantages that this game has over its predecessors
makes it worthy of any game player's hard earned money. Run to the
store and purchase this as quickly as possible, because I promise you
this one's going to fly off the shelves fast. |
GAME
TYPE
FPS
Space Shooter
REQUIREMENTS
P166,
200M HD, 16M RAM, 3D Acceleration
PRICE
$29.99
REVIEWER
L.S.
INFORMATION
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Published |
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Demo? |
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Release
date |
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85% |
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Quick
Summary:
A
refreshing new space shooter. |
SCREENSHOTS
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