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A.P.I Review:	FORSAKEN
Developer:	Probe	OPTIONS:	SCREENSHOTS: No.1   No.2   No.3
Distributor:	Acclaim	1-2 Player
Game Type:	3D First Person Shooter	Password
Review Date:	June 1998	Analog Compatible

Setting the Scene

In the year 2113 humanity destroyed itself when it sought to harness the
Universe's most powerful and dangerous energy source. The Earth as we
know is was destroyed and laid barren by an uncontrolled fusion
reaction, declared as condemned by the High Senators of the Imperial
Theocracy. Earth is now Forsaken and it's open season on any remaining
resources for the exploitation by the scum of the universe, are you up
to the challenge of pillaging a dead world or will you just be another
blood spot on a wall?

In Forsaken you are a ruthless mercenary who's only purpose in life is
to pillage the remains of condemned planets, fighting your way through
military droids and other mercenaries in order to salvage as much as you
can before you are violently killed. 

The 3D graphics and 360 degree of movement in Forsaken are very
reminiscent of the Descent series, Forsaken could quite easily be
mistaken for Descent 3 and could comfortably wear the name without
arousing too much suspicion. 

However, having said that, Forsaken is a big step forward from Descent,
brilliant graphics, excellent and interesting level design and a wide
range of very deadly weapons make Forsaken a worthy game in it's own
right. 

Forsaken has been parallel released with the Nintendo 64 and PC versions
and when compared to these 2 superior ports the Playstation version will
simply not hold up. However, if we choose to ignore these other versions
and treat the Playstation version as a stand alone it will fare very
well on all counts.

Genre

You sit in the cockpit of your hoverbike vehicle, traveling though a
series of levels, shooting a bunch of bad guys and collecting treasure,
weapon power-ups and other goodies. To categorize Forsaken into a genre
it would have to be 3D First Person shooter, unique in the sense that
you have 360 degrees of movement which begs the comparison with the
classic, Descent, but sets it apart from the current dirge of DOOM
clones like Duke Nukem and Disruptor.

Graphics

The first thing that hits you about the graphics in Forsaken is the
smoothness. While not the fastest running game in the genre Forsaken is
definitely the smoothest I have seen on Playstation.  

The usual visual glitches and slowdown are mostly absent in this game,
no clipping, very few visible polygon edges, and no slowdown no matter
how much action is going on. You will see the occasional white polygon
edge appearing but to put this in perspective the problem is nowhere
near as evident as Tomb Raider 2 so is relatively non-existent.

The background and texture mapping in the game is complemented
brilliantly by some very impressive and unprecedented light sourcing
effects. Shoot your Pulsar (basic weapon) down a darkened corridor and
the bolt will light the way for as long as you can see, explosions also
light the surrounding area as do missiles, flashing fluorescent lighting
and lit control panels. 

Another very impressive feature of the graphics is the numerous and
multiple explosions you view when things... well, explode. Not only does
the surrounding area light up but the explosions actual look realistic,
complete with radiating shock wave and burning shrapnel, very nice.

It is all too easy to compare the Playstation version to the Nintendo or
PC version of Forsaken, and if we do the Playstation version will not
score very well, however, as a Playstation game the graphics in Forsaken
are quite probably the best in the genre at the moment.

Sounds and Effects

With a soundtrack provided by "The Swarm", Forsaken continues the
tradition of providing a thumping techno soundtrack to accompany the
swift action in the game. Reminiscent of the WipEout soundtrack the
music changes with the levels and manages to maintain the frantic pace
of the action. 

The standard effects in the game are all appropriate and well done and
keep up the quality of the rest of the game. Sounds for the various
actions in the game like doors opening, weapons firing, explosions,
debris falling, enemy droids flying by are all excellent but the
outstanding aspect of the game is the sounds your own bike makes. The
propulsion sounds of your bike increase in volume and pitch depending on
how you are flying and add the feeling of realism as you hover around
avoiding enemy fire.

Playability

The gameplay in Forsaken is not really all that original, the concept
has been seen before and without looking deeply into this game you could
be forgiven for thinking that Forsaken is just another DOOM or Descent
clone. It's not really, while on the surface it is a simple clone, there
are several features in the game that set it apart from the rest. 

The first thing you'll notice is that you get to choose from over 10
different mercenaries to play, each with different statistics and
abilities such as Acceleration, Speed, Handling, Shields, and Hull
strength. These abilities effect both how your bike flies and survives
against the constant onslaught from the drones and other enemies in the
levels, as well as the speed at which you travel.

There are several difficulty modes to choose from which determine the
toughness and number of enemies present in the levels. Less experienced
players will welcome this feature since it means that they will be able
to progress through the levels without the frustration of being killed
every 5 minutes. Likewise, more experienced gamers will choose the
higher levels since it means more carnage, more shooting and a lot more
death!

Speaking of levels, each one in Forsaken has obviously been well
thought out and designed. No two are the same, and even change as
you play them (meaning you must be constantly alert for new enemies as
they teleport or as new areas of the level open up). Sometimes certain
areas of the levels are not available until you pass a certain point or
kill a certain enemy and while this can sometimes be a little frustrating 
it is usually fairly obvious what action is required to complete
the levels.  On-screen hints and tips help enormously. The sheer size of
some of the levels means that the re-start points come in very handy and
my gratitude to the developers is immeasurable for putting this handy
feature in the game.

Adding more variety to the game is the mission structure of Forsaken.
Each level has different criteria you must meet before you can proceed.
Some may involve collecting items from sections of the level and some
involve quite complex puzzles that need to be solved. Whatever the
criteria, these constant changes keep you interested and adds to the 
"one more time" quality. By far the most interesting aspect of the levels 
is that you often get to fight it out with one of your peers, slugging it 
out with another mercenary, as smart and well armed as you are, this can 
be a huge challenge and a lot of fun.

The range of weapons available to you is both impressive and large. Your
basic weapon has 3 power levels that you can increase by collecting
Power Pods to increase the level. Your basic arsenal is made up weapons
like the Trojax with allows you to maintain a huge charge by holding the
fire button down and letting go when the enemy is in sight or the
Prolite - the short range but deadly flame thrower. You also have access
to a large assortment of missile weapons, from the heat seeking Solaris
to the enemy disabling Gravgon all adding to the variety of gameplay.

The next thing you'll notice is the intelligence of the enemies, while
dodging and fleeing enemies isn't really a new concept, the drones in
the game actually behave like you would expect a human to play. Also,
while some drones are quit stupid and will follow you into a tight
tunnel (and thus open themselves up to a short but lethal burst of
concentrated laser pulses) some will simply refuse to follow and wait
for YOU to emerge before doing the same to you. This mix of AI means
that not all enemies behave the same, making predicting their movements
extremely difficult and adding to the realism and challenge of the game.
To add to the variety and challenge some enemies cloak themselves and
only uncloak to shoot at you, some even have the ability to teleport to
any point in the level, most of the time, directly behind you.

Control of your craft is best achieved using the Sony Dual Analog Pad,
while the game is playable without it, you definitely have a higher
level of control with it. If you haven't got a Dual Analog yet, here is
your excuse. The controller learning curve is quite steep since all the
buttons are used throughout the game so get used to having busy hands
while playing, however, once you have learned to the control system it
becomes intuitive and you'll be cruising around and shooting the enemies
without a second thought about which button to press.

Another great feature of the game is the two-player Deathmatch. While in
the traditional Deathmatch of games in this genre you are allowed you to
pick a level and simply kill each other until you get sick of it,
Forsaken has made a competition of it. You pick your biker and go head
to head with another human player in 6 levels of carnage and mayhem. At
the end of each level you are given a summary of the match and at the
end of all levels you're given an overall summary. The only problem with
this format is that you can't choose which level you want to play but
have to follow the predetermined path. Also, 4 player Deathmatch would
have been a welcome feature but it is unlikely that the excellent
graphics and gameplay could have been maintained on the Playstation so
we're stuck with two players. 

With all this praise you would have to expect that not all the news is
good, you would be right. While mostly very minor concerns and not
adversely effecting gameplay it would be amiss to not mention them. The
first thing is that there are no multiple views available, you can't
view yourself from behind, you can't look around without actually
turning and you can't look behind you (again, without actually turning
around). More weapons would have been nice, there are 12 projectile
weapons ranging from the laser type Pulsar to Multiple Fire Rocket
Launchers and 3 mines available but as usual, more is better (maybe
Forsaken 2). 

Clutching at straws to find some more floors in the game brings me to
the Deathmatch feature. More levels, and the ability to choose which
level you could play would have added to the fun of the Deathmatch.
Saving games is also another obvious omission, the ability to save the
game to a memory card is missing and you only get a password at the end
of each level which means that you must complete the entire level before
you can record the password for the next one. Like I said, minor
complaints but I had to find something wrong.

Overall this game is literally a blast, the action is fast and
challenging most of the time. While some parts of the game have you
floating around large expanses of long corridors and rooms most of the
time there is something to shoot or kill or turn on/off and it never
gets boring.

Value for Money

With more than 10 very long and involved levels, a large variety of
enemies and many secret and hidden areas, Forsaken is likely to keep
fans of the genre interested for a considerable amount of time. While
the mission structure of the levels is very linear (you must complete
the current level to proceed to the next one) there are 5 different
levels of difficulty so even inexperienced gamers will have little
trouble finishing the game on the easiest level.

The missions and levels are also varied in their success criteria and
layout adding to the lastability of this title. Some missions are simple
"flick the switch" and "kill the boss" but most have additional
sub-missions that involve collection certain items or switching off
reactors, opening doors or completing certain tasks in a pre-determined
time period. Most levels also involve slugging it out with you fellow
mercenaries, ending each level with a mighty fight to the death against
an opponent a little smarter and tougher than the usual drones.