Requiem: Avenging Angel
Encyclopedia
Requiem: Avenging Angel is a first-person shooter
developed by Cyclone Studios
and published by 3DO
and Ubisoft
in April 1999.
and Christianity
for its influences, as well as the more usual sci-fi sources as found in other games. The background story to the game is set in Heaven
. Looking down upon the Earth
, upon his creation, the Lord
was not entirely satisfied. The angel
s could see this, as they could see how his creation was ravaged with greed, corruption and stupidity. And although most angels decided to wait for God's guidance and wisdom, some did not, and took it upon themselves to descend onto Earth and interpret God's presumed desires. These rebellious angels became known as The Fallen.
In the mid 21st century, The Fallen, led by Lilith, have already taken control over humanity's leaders - suppressing the populace with a totalitarian regime, and pushing humanity towards the completion of the Leviathan, humanity's first interstellar craft. With this craft, humanity will be able to reach for the stars, and touch Heaven itself, something which God cannot allow. If The Fallen succeed in creating the Leviathan, God must instigate Armageddon
himself, fulfilling the Fallen's desires.
The game places the player into the role of Malachi, an angel and servant of God. The player's task is to stop the machinations of the Fallen, to stop the creation of the Leviathan and to avert the apocalypse. And so the player must leave the realm of Heaven, and travel through the realm of Chaos, and onto Earth itself.
, and adding an extra dimension to the gameplay. It was also one of the first games to feature a bullet time
feature, slowing down time to allow the player to dodge bullets, and highlighting the game's then advanced animation system.
The game's weaponry mirrors those of many first-person shooters, featuring many "stock" weapons as found in other games; from the humble pistol to the rocket launcher, and ultimately, the railgun. One of the player's powers is the ability to possess an enemy, and to have complete control over him. This allows access to various other weapons which could not be used via the player character.
Like Half-Life, Requiem did away with explicit mission scenarios, and instead placed the player within a seamless interlinked world, without the discontinuity caused by long level-loads. The majority of the game is set in mid 21st century Earth, and thus many of the locations visited in game are stylised versions of everyday locales, including a bar, a hospital and a power plant, among others.
effect, when a player can avoid bullets and subsequently kill multiple enemies by slowing down the time for a period of few seconds during gameplay.
This feature later became hugely popular especially among first-person shooters.
, in a review by Charlie Brooker
. Brooker praised the game's variety of well-designed character models, and its advanced animation system, stating that the game had "impressive character models that move in all kinds of unpleasantly believable ways". The game achieved a "recommended" award and was given 89% by the publication.
IGN
claimed that the level design was boring and uninspired, and although the game had a competent single player experience, multiplayer was lacking. It gave the game 6.7/10, a "passable" rating. GameSpot
commends the game's innovative angelic powers available for use, comparing them favourably with the force powers in Jedi Knight. However, it states that although the game has several attractive features, in the end, it was just a typical shoot 'em up with no groundbreaking elements, awarding the game a rating of 7.3/10.
All the publications agreed that Requiem was not as good as the universally acclaimed Half-Life, released 6 months prior. The game also lacked prerelease hype, especially in comparison to its contemporary, Xatrix's Kingpin: Life of Crime
. Released at a similar time to Requiem, Kingpin had generated a lot of hype within the gaming world, and had also amassed some media controversy over its graphic depiction of violence and swearing. The lukewarm reception, coupled with the lack of prerelease hype in comparison to the competition, meant that Requiem never saw commercial success. It would be the last game that Cyclone Studios would ever release before 3DO's demise.
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
developed by Cyclone Studios
Cyclone Studios
Cyclone Studios was an American video game developer and publisher based in the San Mateo, California.It developed several titles for the 3DO Console and later PC.-Early Works:Cyclone Studios was founded in December 1993 by Helmut Kobler and Ron Little...
and published by 3DO
The 3DO Company
The 3DO Company , also known as 3DO , was a video game company...
and Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
in April 1999.
Background
Requiem draws heavily upon the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
for its influences, as well as the more usual sci-fi sources as found in other games. The background story to the game is set in Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
. Looking down upon the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, upon his creation, the Lord
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
was not entirely satisfied. The angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s could see this, as they could see how his creation was ravaged with greed, corruption and stupidity. And although most angels decided to wait for God's guidance and wisdom, some did not, and took it upon themselves to descend onto Earth and interpret God's presumed desires. These rebellious angels became known as The Fallen.
In the mid 21st century, The Fallen, led by Lilith, have already taken control over humanity's leaders - suppressing the populace with a totalitarian regime, and pushing humanity towards the completion of the Leviathan, humanity's first interstellar craft. With this craft, humanity will be able to reach for the stars, and touch Heaven itself, something which God cannot allow. If The Fallen succeed in creating the Leviathan, God must instigate Armageddon
Armageddon
Armageddon is, according to the Bible, the site of a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or symbolic location...
himself, fulfilling the Fallen's desires.
The game places the player into the role of Malachi, an angel and servant of God. The player's task is to stop the machinations of the Fallen, to stop the creation of the Leviathan and to avert the apocalypse. And so the player must leave the realm of Heaven, and travel through the realm of Chaos, and onto Earth itself.
Gameplay
The game begins in the realm of Chaos, a limbo world between Heaven and Earth. It is here that, without the use of secular weapons, the player must resort to his angelic powers to defend himself. These angelic powers were an innovative feature of the game, working similarly to the Force Powers of Jedi KnightStar Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II is a first person shooter computer game. It was developed and published by LucasArts and released on October 9, 1997. It was made available on Steam on September 16, 2009. It is based on the Star Wars franchise and is a sequel to Star Wars: Dark Forces...
, and adding an extra dimension to the gameplay. It was also one of the first games to feature a bullet time
Bullet time
Bullet time is a special and visual effect that refers to a digitally enhanced simulation of variable-speed photography used in films, broadcast advertisements, and video games...
feature, slowing down time to allow the player to dodge bullets, and highlighting the game's then advanced animation system.
The game's weaponry mirrors those of many first-person shooters, featuring many "stock" weapons as found in other games; from the humble pistol to the rocket launcher, and ultimately, the railgun. One of the player's powers is the ability to possess an enemy, and to have complete control over him. This allows access to various other weapons which could not be used via the player character.
Like Half-Life, Requiem did away with explicit mission scenarios, and instead placed the player within a seamless interlinked world, without the discontinuity caused by long level-loads. The majority of the game is set in mid 21st century Earth, and thus many of the locations visited in game are stylised versions of everyday locales, including a bar, a hospital and a power plant, among others.
Bullet time
It is barely noted but Requiem: Avenging Angel was the first game utilizing bullet timeBullet time
Bullet time is a special and visual effect that refers to a digitally enhanced simulation of variable-speed photography used in films, broadcast advertisements, and video games...
effect, when a player can avoid bullets and subsequently kill multiple enemies by slowing down the time for a period of few seconds during gameplay.
This feature later became hugely popular especially among first-person shooters.
Critical reaction
Reaction to the game by the gaming press was lukewarm. The highest praise for the game came from PC ZonePC Zone
PC Zone was the first magazine dedicated to games for IBM-compatible personal computers to be published in the United Kingdom. Earlier PC magazines such as PC Leisure, PC Format and PC Plus had covered games but only as part of a wider remit. PC Zone was founded in 1993.The magazine was published...
, in a review by Charlie Brooker
Charlie Brooker
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...
. Brooker praised the game's variety of well-designed character models, and its advanced animation system, stating that the game had "impressive character models that move in all kinds of unpleasantly believable ways". The game achieved a "recommended" award and was given 89% by the publication.
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
claimed that the level design was boring and uninspired, and although the game had a competent single player experience, multiplayer was lacking. It gave the game 6.7/10, a "passable" rating. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
commends the game's innovative angelic powers available for use, comparing them favourably with the force powers in Jedi Knight. However, it states that although the game has several attractive features, in the end, it was just a typical shoot 'em up with no groundbreaking elements, awarding the game a rating of 7.3/10.
All the publications agreed that Requiem was not as good as the universally acclaimed Half-Life, released 6 months prior. The game also lacked prerelease hype, especially in comparison to its contemporary, Xatrix's Kingpin: Life of Crime
Kingpin: Life of Crime
Kingpin: Life of Crime is a first-person shooter developed by Xatrix Entertainment and published by Interplay Entertainment in June 1999. The game begins with the player character wounded and beaten up by the Kingpin's henchmen, and the story follows his thirst for revenge...
. Released at a similar time to Requiem, Kingpin had generated a lot of hype within the gaming world, and had also amassed some media controversy over its graphic depiction of violence and swearing. The lukewarm reception, coupled with the lack of prerelease hype in comparison to the competition, meant that Requiem never saw commercial success. It would be the last game that Cyclone Studios would ever release before 3DO's demise.
External links
- Official 3DO site for Requiem at Archive.org
- Official Ubisoft site for Requiem at Archive.org