Shattered Horizon
Encyclopedia
Shattered Horizon is a first-person shooter
video game developed and published by Futuremark Games Studio. The game was released on the Steam digital distribution service on 4 November 2009. On 19 November 2009, Futuremark Games Studio and Steam released three Guest Passes each to owners of the game. These passes can be granted to other players to try out the game for three days through Steam, in lieu of a formal demo for the game.
where players fight in zero gravity
surrounded by the broken remains of Earth's orbital infrastructure
and billions of tons of rocky debris thrown into orbit by a huge explosion on the Moon.
In Shattered Horizon, players have complete freedom of movement
. They can make full use of the space setting and zero gravity to set up tactics and strategies that would be impossible in games constrained by gravity.
The game's designer states that without gravity players will experience gameplay that is both familiar to fans of the FPS style and yet different from any game they have played before.
Fragments of the Moon settle around the Earth and become known as the Arc, named after the dramatic shape they draw across the night sky. With Earth surrounded by debris, there is little chance of rescue or return for the thousands of people stranded in space.
The International Space Agency's (ISA) astronauts and scientists trapped in the battered International Space Station are given the task of apprehending those responsible for the catastrophe. Weapons are among the last supplies sent to the station before the supply route from Earth is cut. The Moon Mining Cooperative (MMC) finds itself facing serious charges after only barely surviving the cataclysm. Cut off from Earth, they see the ISA as a threat to their very existence.
The two sides are drawn into an armed conflict. Desperate battles are fought over strategic locations and the scant supplies from Earth that make it through the shroud of debris. Control of the Arc now means the difference between survival and death in the cold of space.
tools 3DMark
and PCMark
. The development is self-funded.
The developers of Shattered Horizon have stated in interviews that their goal was to "make something that hasn't really been done" and that entering into game development was discussed within the company for long before it was publicly announced.
The game was first shown to press at Games Convention
2008 in Leipzig
. GameSpot
's first look preview notes that the game has "a really great premise" and that the gameplay "promises to benefit" from said premise. A more advanced build was shown to press at Gamescom
2009, where GameSpot found that "Shattered Horizon is an intriguing online shooter that seems poised to grab attention" and that "the controls in Shattered Horizon are remarkably easy to grasp".
Eurogamer
's hands-on preview from the game's closed beta test reported that "Shattered Horizon is intuitively playable and immediately comprehensible". The preview notes an attention to detail and the developer's intent to make the setting true to real space, and concludes that "assuming Futuremark can sustain its developmental momentum, this will be one shooter that should be able to reach a stable orbit around the homeworld of gaming interest."
Play Magazine
published a detailed preview of the game that praised the game's graphics and ambitious game design: "the lofty goal of representing FPS combat in realistic zero gravity environments has been achieved". The preview made special mention of the game's setting and back story, concluding with a challenge to the developer, "Let’s build a franchise".
In March 2011, the Last Stand pack was made available as downloadable content
. This expansion adds in single player and online co-op, as well as a new game mode.
GameSpot rated Shattered Horizon 7.5/10, praising the handling of zero-gravity movement, atmospheric environments and the unique and deep combat mechanics, but citing the system requirements (particularly the requirement of DirectX 10) and the lack of multiplayer game modes, levels and tutorial or bot support as its major setbacks.
Post-launch, developer Futuremark Games Studio addressed some of the common criticisms by releasing several free updates to the game. The Moonrise map pack released February 16, 2010 added four new levels, the Firepower weapons pack released May 5, 2010 introduced new weapons and grenades and the Last Stand pack released March 17, 2011 introduced single player options with bots and a new game mode. Of the 29 reviews collected by MetaCritic, 28 are dated as reviews of the initial version of the game that launched on November 4, 2009 and do not take into account the subsequent updates.
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...
video game developed and published by Futuremark Games Studio. The game was released on the Steam digital distribution service on 4 November 2009. On 19 November 2009, Futuremark Games Studio and Steam released three Guest Passes each to owners of the game. These passes can be granted to other players to try out the game for three days through Steam, in lieu of a formal demo for the game.
Gameplay
Shattered Horizon is a first-person shooterFirst-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...
where players fight in zero gravity
Weightlessness
Weightlessness is the condition that exists for an object or person when they experience little or no acceleration except the acceleration that defines their inertial trajectory, or the trajectory of pure free-fall...
surrounded by the broken remains of Earth's orbital infrastructure
Space debris
Space debris, also known as orbital debris, space junk, and space waste, is the collection of objects in orbit around Earth that were created by humans but no longer serve any useful purpose. These objects consist of everything from spent rocket stages and defunct satellites to erosion, explosion...
and billions of tons of rocky debris thrown into orbit by a huge explosion on the Moon.
In Shattered Horizon, players have complete freedom of movement
Six degrees of freedom
Six degrees of freedom refers to motion of a rigid body in three-dimensional space, namely the ability to move forward/backward, up/down, left/right combined with rotation about three perpendicular axes...
. They can make full use of the space setting and zero gravity to set up tactics and strategies that would be impossible in games constrained by gravity.
The game's designer states that without gravity players will experience gameplay that is both familiar to fans of the FPS style and yet different from any game they have played before.
Plot
Shattered Horizon is set in 2049. Man is back on the Moon and the companies that took him there are reaping huge profits. Their greed soon leads to the largest mining accident in history. A catastrophic explosion throws billions of tons of rocky debris into near-Earth space, its aftershocks threatening to tear apart the Moon itself.Fragments of the Moon settle around the Earth and become known as the Arc, named after the dramatic shape they draw across the night sky. With Earth surrounded by debris, there is little chance of rescue or return for the thousands of people stranded in space.
The International Space Agency's (ISA) astronauts and scientists trapped in the battered International Space Station are given the task of apprehending those responsible for the catastrophe. Weapons are among the last supplies sent to the station before the supply route from Earth is cut. The Moon Mining Cooperative (MMC) finds itself facing serious charges after only barely surviving the cataclysm. Cut off from Earth, they see the ISA as a threat to their very existence.
The two sides are drawn into an armed conflict. Desperate battles are fought over strategic locations and the scant supplies from Earth that make it through the shroud of debris. Control of the Arc now means the difference between survival and death in the cold of space.
Development
Shattered Horizon is Futuremark Games Studio's first title. The studio was founded in January 2008 by a company known for its PC benchmarkingBenchmark (computing)
In computing, a benchmark is the act of running a computer program, a set of programs, or other operations, in order to assess the relative performance of an object, normally by running a number of standard tests and trials against it...
tools 3DMark
3DMark
3DMark is a computer benchmarking tool created and developed by Futuremark Corporation to determine the performance of a computer's 3D graphic rendering and CPU workload processing capabilities. Running 3DMark produces a 3DMark score with higher numbers indicating better performance...
and PCMark
PCMark
PCMark is a computer benchmark tool developed by Futuremark to test the performance of a PC at the system and component level. In most cases the tests in PCMark are designed to represent typical home user workloads. Running PCMark produces a score with higher numbers indicating better performance...
. The development is self-funded.
The developers of Shattered Horizon have stated in interviews that their goal was to "make something that hasn't really been done" and that entering into game development was discussed within the company for long before it was publicly announced.
The game was first shown to press at Games Convention
Games Convention
The Games Convention, sometimes called the Leipzig Games Convention and abbreviated as GC, was an annual video game event held in Leipzig, Germany, first held in 2002. Besides video games, the event also covers Infotainment, Hardware, and Edutainment...
2008 in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. 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...
's first look preview notes that the game has "a really great premise" and that the gameplay "promises to benefit" from said premise. A more advanced build was shown to press at Gamescom
Gamescom
gamescom is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is organised by the Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware...
2009, where GameSpot found that "Shattered Horizon is an intriguing online shooter that seems poised to grab attention" and that "the controls in Shattered Horizon are remarkably easy to grasp".
Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
's hands-on preview from the game's closed beta test reported that "Shattered Horizon is intuitively playable and immediately comprehensible". The preview notes an attention to detail and the developer's intent to make the setting true to real space, and concludes that "assuming Futuremark can sustain its developmental momentum, this will be one shooter that should be able to reach a stable orbit around the homeworld of gaming interest."
Play Magazine
Play (US magazine)
Play was a U.S.-based magazine focused on video games, anime, manga, film, DVD, television, comics, music and media. Published by Fusion Publishing, Inc. since 2001, Play magazine also had a separate Internet presence on its website, Play Online...
published a detailed preview of the game that praised the game's graphics and ambitious game design: "the lofty goal of representing FPS combat in realistic zero gravity environments has been achieved". The preview made special mention of the game's setting and back story, concluding with a challenge to the developer, "Let’s build a franchise".
In March 2011, the Last Stand pack was made available as downloadable content
Downloadable content
Downloadable content is official additional content for a video game distributed through the Internet. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from a single in-game outfit to an entirely new, extensive storyline, similarly to an expansion pack. As such, DLC may add new game modes,...
. This expansion adds in single player and online co-op, as well as a new game mode.
Maps
There are currently eight maps provided with Shattered Horizon, four from after the game's release with the Moonrise content pack. These maps are diverse, ranging from the damaged ISS (ISS), to a mining station on an asteroid (Moondust), to a two-faced asteroid harboring an abandoned research station (Flipside), to a sector of the Arc (The Arc). Each map is playable in either the assault, battle, or skirmish mode.Reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from selected critics, Shattered Horizon has received a score of 72/100 which indicates "mixed or average reviews".GameSpot rated Shattered Horizon 7.5/10, praising the handling of zero-gravity movement, atmospheric environments and the unique and deep combat mechanics, but citing the system requirements (particularly the requirement of DirectX 10) and the lack of multiplayer game modes, levels and tutorial or bot support as its major setbacks.
Post-launch, developer Futuremark Games Studio addressed some of the common criticisms by releasing several free updates to the game. The Moonrise map pack released February 16, 2010 added four new levels, the Firepower weapons pack released May 5, 2010 introduced new weapons and grenades and the Last Stand pack released March 17, 2011 introduced single player options with bots and a new game mode. Of the 29 reviews collected by MetaCritic, 28 are dated as reviews of the initial version of the game that launched on November 4, 2009 and do not take into account the subsequent updates.
External links
- Official website
- Teaser trailer
- Futuremark Press Release, 19 August 2008 Futuremark Games Studio unveils Shattered Horizon at Games Convention 2008
- Futuremark Press Release, 25 August 2008 Shattered Horizon joins “NVIDIA: The Way It’s Meant To Be Played” program
- NVidia Press Release, 26 August 2008 Physx Technology To Power New Game From Futuremark Games Studio, archived from the original