Veritable vertigo: A review of Acclaim's "Forsaken"

Blast the opposition with some powerful weapons

By Marc Saltzman

(CNN) -- Ever wonder why bands are reluctant to release a cover of a Beatles or Rolling Stones song? Why aren't there more remakes of classic movies like "Gone with the Wind" or "The Godfather?" The answer is simple - it's not only difficult, but it's intimidating to attempt to improve on a great thing. In other words, if you don't have anything special to add to it, why bother?

Acclaim took that chance by publishing Probe's ""Forsaken," a game that borrows heavily from Interplay's tremendously successful and revolutionary 3D shooter series, "Descent." This is the game series that was so immersive it caused some players to be physically sick with dizziness since the object was to control a small spacecraft and soar down winding subterranean corridors, while shooting at enemies and looking for a way out. The player could fly and flight in virtually any direction -- even upside down. Barf bag not included.

"Forsaken" by Acclaim
Available for PC, Playstation and Nintendo 64 (May 26). PC version requires Pentium 133 or 3D-accelerated Pentium 100 and 16 Meg RAM

Acclaim has given "Descent" a tremendous face-lift, with jaw-dropping graphics, increased frame rates, improved customizability, additional weapons and characters and better artificial intelligence.

The game takes place in the future where Earth now lies forsaken, deserted and desolate due to an accidental energy blast. News of this self-induced destruction has reached the ruling body of the multi-verse, prompting High Senators of the Imperial Theocracy to order all remaining valuables to be shipped to another system. In its place, robotic military personnel were deployed to watch over the condemned planet and protect the remains from the onslaught of scavenging space pirates, mercenaries and bounty hunters rumored to be raiding the planet. You, my friend, are one of these freeloading hoverbikers.

There are sixteen bikers to play, each with different values for speed, acceleration, handling, power, shield, and ammunition. Every colorful character has his or her own voice and catch-phrases for damage, death and power-up snagging. Additionally, players can also choose among a half dozen different voice settings for the bike's computer. Personally, I preferred the sexy female voice with the British accent to call out when I pick up new weapons, power pods and shields. All this adds personality and replayability since the same game can be played with different bike traits, voices and dialogue. (note: some of these bikers swear, so if you're a concerned parent or guardian, remember to disable the adult language option before unleashing the kiddies on the game).

"Forsaken" has incredible graphics

Players have an impressive arsenal to choose from, each with multiple settings, while rummaging through large, intestinal caverns and battling plenty of opposition. These deadly obstacles include robotic drone aircraft, relentless tanks, turrets with mini nuclear warheads, submarines and other greedy mercenaries and space pirates. It is also essential to collect gold bars for extra lives, blue crystals for bonus surprises later in the game and, of course, better weapons and power-ups.

Graphically, "Forsaken" is arguably the best-looking 3D accelerated game I've ever laid eyes on. A graphics accelerator card is not required but is strongly recommended for maximum performance and visuals. (note: a Voodoo 2 card will yield the best frame rate results). All major cards are supported, and the game allows players to select the chipset that best matches their card's manufacturer.

Most noticeable are the vivid and colorful textures, with dynamic lighting that continues to awe even after a number of hours of gameplay. Weapons can leave missile smoke trails, gas clouds, white and yellow explosions and translucent energy ripples that effect the bike's handling. The environment is also life-like with vents releasing puffs of steam, damaged machinery showering electrical sparks -- even underwater ducts liberate 3D bubbles that rise to the surface. And when the player dies, the screen blurs and illuminates, a distorted effect as if a painter has smudged the canvas with a warm, wet cloth.

As a single-player game, there are plenty of challenging levels and the enemy artificial intelligence is quite impressive. In some instances, I found some airborne 'bots will hide behind pillars and cave walls, or sneak around and plant proximity mines as an unsuspecting and fatal surprise.

For multiplayer fans, "Forsaken" needs some work. Although the game supports up to 16 players on a LAN and around five or so on the Internet, finding and launching a game over the Net cane be a real hassle. Instead of opting for a simple interface and the use of existing servers (such as Blizzard's Battle.Net or Quake 2's servers running 24/7), gamers itching for a multiplayer game of "Forsaken" will likely have to drop into a chat room (e.g. a "Forsaken" channel on IRC was my best bet) or on Kali, the IPX-simulator on Microsoft's Internet Gaming Zone and soon, on Mplayer.com. Acclaim is currently working on a new TCP/IP client-server patch designed to allow more players in an arena and to make it easier to set up a match. There are almost a dozen multiplayer maps included on the "Forsaken" CD, with a wide variety of multiplayer game types including Free For All (DeathMatch), Capture the Flag, Flag Chase, Bounty Hunt and Team Bounty Hunt.

Along with a few multiplayer issues to work out, there are also a few other small quibbles I have with the game. For one, "Forsaken" is extremely difficult, even on the normal setting, and there are two higher than that. I found myself dancing the old 'save-and-restart' shuffle a number of times so newbies, must remember to change the default to "Easy." Secondly, some of the customizable settings are in odd places.

All things considered, Acclaim's "Forsaken" is one of the most exhilarating and rewarding action shooters of the year to date, and it's pleasing to report there is considerable substance underneath all that eye-candy. The first official patch should iron out the multiplayer wrinkles as well as provide a free level editor so gamers can create their very own maps and trade them over the Internet, if they so desire.

Quite simply, if you liked Descent, you'll love "Forsaken."

Related stories:

• Review: PSX driving games shift into high gear - May 20, 1998
• Review: "MLB '99" a definite player but not quite an all-star - May 11, 1998
• EA Sports turns a Triple Play... again - March 19, 1998

Related site:

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• Official Forsaken Website

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