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Gunmetal (PC)
Encyclopedia
Gunmetal is a first person shooter video game for the PC
. It was developed and distributed by Mad Genius Software
in 1998.
The player takes on the role of a newly-hired security guard for the Nataka Corporation, a multi-planet organization patterned loosely after mid-20th century Conglomerates
such as Siemens A.G., Sara Lee or General Electric
.
The game starts with the outpost suddenly being attacked by enemy forces from Network 53, a branch of the Argus Industrial Corporation and a long-standing ally. Later, the Argus Corporation starts creating a destructive virus, the Keller virus.
The Keller virus quickly assumes control of all other Remote-Piloted Vehicles (RPV's) and many other electronics nearby. As the player was not in the Headquarters while the infection attacked, he is not affected. Following this, the war against the Keller virus takes place. A sole remaining technician named Pamela Lang helps the player travel to where he is needed.
After completing some levels, the player gets to the Keller core, which is the Argus base, in which the player finds the Keller core Protection program. After defeating which, the player goes inside the dead body of the Protection program and destroys the Keller core.
-specific levels, and one easter egg. The easter egg is located in the pilot's lounge. It is a side scroller game called "Gandhi Kong." The player plays Gandhi, using the principles of passive resistance to save a village
from a marauding ape
.
Between each level the player is told a bit about the challenges in the upcoming level. They are then sent to an upgrade area where they can buy, sell and trade weapons, ammo and ship types to plan for the next level. A limited amount of credit is given at the start of the game, but by picking up destroyed enemies or earning "good employee" bonuses
, the player can eventually afford a wide range of weaponry.
was developed by Mad Genius
and was not, as many at the time suspected, a Doom clone. It includes realistic lighting, spotlights, direct sunlight, and partial reflectivity (for reflections in pools and other details). At the time, very few video games had all these features. It also featured original digital music.
Gunmetal supports the full range of multiplayer options available in 1998. As many as eight players over a LAN
or the Internet
can play at once. It also has a split-screen
, two-player variation. The split-screen mode works in Net games as well.
The goal of Gunmetal is not fully revealed until the player completes the final level. Upon beating the ultimate enemy of both Nataka and human-kind, the player is awarded "Employee of the Month" and is given a video taped congratulation from the President of Nataka.
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. It was developed and distributed by Mad Genius Software
Mad Genius Software
This website now sells VPS hosting, nothing to do with game development.Mad Genius Software, Llc was a Canadian video game developer created in 1995 by Geoffrey Mark, Mike Jackson, and Keith Gillard in Vancouver, British Columbia. By the time the company dissolved in 1999 it had developed,...
in 1998.
Story
The game takes place 300 years in the future. The world is completely controlled by corporations, and the concept of nation is unknown.The player takes on the role of a newly-hired security guard for the Nataka Corporation, a multi-planet organization patterned loosely after mid-20th century Conglomerates
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
such as Siemens A.G., Sara Lee or General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
.
The game starts with the outpost suddenly being attacked by enemy forces from Network 53, a branch of the Argus Industrial Corporation and a long-standing ally. Later, the Argus Corporation starts creating a destructive virus, the Keller virus.
The Keller virus quickly assumes control of all other Remote-Piloted Vehicles (RPV's) and many other electronics nearby. As the player was not in the Headquarters while the infection attacked, he is not affected. Following this, the war against the Keller virus takes place. A sole remaining technician named Pamela Lang helps the player travel to where he is needed.
After completing some levels, the player gets to the Keller core, which is the Argus base, in which the player finds the Keller core Protection program. After defeating which, the player goes inside the dead body of the Protection program and destroys the Keller core.
Production
Gunmetal has 26 published levels, three secret levels, four deathmatchDeathmatch (gaming)
Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
-specific levels, and one easter egg. The easter egg is located in the pilot's lounge. It is a side scroller game called "Gandhi Kong." The player plays Gandhi, using the principles of passive resistance to save a village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
from a marauding ape
Ape
Apes are Old World anthropoid mammals, more specifically a clade of tailless catarrhine primates, belonging to the biological superfamily Hominoidea. The apes are native to Africa and South-east Asia, although in relatively recent times humans have spread all over the world...
.
Between each level the player is told a bit about the challenges in the upcoming level. They are then sent to an upgrade area where they can buy, sell and trade weapons, ammo and ship types to plan for the next level. A limited amount of credit is given at the start of the game, but by picking up destroyed enemies or earning "good employee" bonuses
Employee benefit
Employee benefits and benefits in kind are various non-wage compensations provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries...
, the player can eventually afford a wide range of weaponry.
Game Engine
Gunmetal's game engineGame engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
was developed by Mad Genius
Mad Genius Software
This website now sells VPS hosting, nothing to do with game development.Mad Genius Software, Llc was a Canadian video game developer created in 1995 by Geoffrey Mark, Mike Jackson, and Keith Gillard in Vancouver, British Columbia. By the time the company dissolved in 1999 it had developed,...
and was not, as many at the time suspected, a Doom clone. It includes realistic lighting, spotlights, direct sunlight, and partial reflectivity (for reflections in pools and other details). At the time, very few video games had all these features. It also featured original digital music.
Gunmetal supports the full range of multiplayer options available in 1998. As many as eight players over a LAN
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
or the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
can play at once. It also has a split-screen
Split screen (computer graphics)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
, two-player variation. The split-screen mode works in Net games as well.
The goal of Gunmetal is not fully revealed until the player completes the final level. Upon beating the ultimate enemy of both Nataka and human-kind, the player is awarded "Employee of the Month" and is given a video taped congratulation from the President of Nataka.