Page two of the article on the zero-g shooter and the rest history on the sub-genre
The History (from 1997-present)
1997 saw the release of Terracide. I suspect will be remembered more for having some pretty cool box art. The reception to the game is varied – some thought the game was great, others thought it was average, and some viewed it as mediocre. While the graphics were praised, the controls led to many criticisms. The influence of Descent is noted in several publications.
Forsaken features some more conventional enemies compared to other zero-g shooters
Forsaken was released in 1998 and was designed as a multi-platform game; it was released for the PC, Playstation, and Nintendo 64. Descent and Descent II had both seen console released (both appeared on the Playstation), but neither seemed to have received much attention from console gamers. Forsaken did seem to get more attention on the PC and the N64 while it seems Playstation publications were less enthused with this game. I must admit, I’m not as fond of this title as others seem to be. The level design strikes me as too simple and the controls are too responsive for my taste. Like Terracide, this game was widely compared with Descent. The PC Zone, Gamezilla, Absolute Games (a Russian publication), PC Action, PC Games (German edition), Gamespot, PC Gameplay, Gamestar (another German magazine), Game Revolution, Adrenaline Vault, and Computer Games Magazine all mention Descent in their reviews.
Descent III was developed by Outrage Entertainment and published by Interplay in 1999. Outrage Entertainment was comprised of many of the team that developed Descent and Descent II; after the release of Descent II Parallax split into two separate developers: Volition and Outrage. Descent III now offered outdoor sections to break up the maze of corridors, fiendish AI, and the worst mouse-look controls I have ever experienced in a game. This game is almost unplayable with a mouse, necessitating a joystick. The response was very positive, with Gamespot writing that “it improves in almost every conceivable way on its predecessors and reestablishes the series as the premier example of the play style it single-handedly pioneered.”
Descent III featured some nice looking outdoor sections
Shattered Horizon seems to be the latest attempt to try to change or redefine the zero-g shooter. It’s a PC exclusive multiplayer shooter distributed on Steam that was released in November of 2009. In the game you control an astronaut; you’re not in any kind of vehicle, as tends to be typical in this genre. You’re just in a space suit with a gun and some grenades, navigating asteroid fields and space stations and the like. Whether this fits my definition of zero-g shooter took some thought – with most the games mentioned I could find and play myself. Shattered Horizon was not so easy – my computer cannot play it and even if it could my university does not allow access to Steam or to even play games online. Screenshots seem to suggest it has zero-gravity, by the level design is not so important. Gameplay videos were what convinced me – while the game has large open areas, the level design seems to be an important aspect to the multiplayer. You’re not just flying around a relatively barren area, sparsely populated by props to distract you. The level design is definitely more influenced by more modern multiplayer FPS games, but you’re still navigating a maze.
However, Wii gamers are also going to get a sampling of Descent as Interplay recently announced that Descent will get a port to Wiiware. This decision is a bit of surprise and seems to have come out of left field, but it’s welcome news to fans of the genre. Whether or not the Wii controls can successfully handle the game will be interesting too see. In my opinion the Wii’s motion controls are awkward enough with a traditional shooter, a sub-set of shooter frequently criticized for the learning curve may not be the best game to port to the Wii.
