William Shatner's TekWar
Encyclopedia
William Shatner's TekWar is a 1995 first-person shooter
computer game, derived from the TekWar
series of novels written by William Shatner
. It was designed using the Build engine
.
The premise details an ex-cop who is hired to be a hitman whose mission is to exterminate drug dealers who peddle "tek". The two most distinguishable features are the hub-based level system (all the levels are interconnected by a subway station), and the fact that all of the non-player character
s (NPCs) in the game (enemies, policemen, civilians) are shootable. When the player draws his gun, policemen shout: "Freeze! Drop your gun!" before they start shooting at the player. When a policeman or enemy is killed, their ammo can be picked up. When the player aims at a civilian, he/she ducks and screams: "Please, don't shoot!" When any NPC is shot, a blood spot appears on the wall behind it. If an NPC is shot with one of the stronger weapons in the game, they will explode into gory bits.
The games narrative took place using cutscenes at the beginning and end of each level, featuring Shatner himself as the narrator.
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...
computer game, derived from the TekWar
TekWar
Tekwar is a series of science fiction novels officially authored by William Shatner and co-written by uncredited science-fiction author Ron Goulart, published by Putnam...
series of novels written by William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
. It was designed using the Build engine
Build engine
The Build engine is a first-person shooter engine created by Ken Silverman for 3D Realms. Like the Doom engine, the Build engine represents its world on a two-dimensional grid using closed 2D shapes called sectors, and uses simple flat objects called sprites to populate the world geometry with...
.
The premise details an ex-cop who is hired to be a hitman whose mission is to exterminate drug dealers who peddle "tek". The two most distinguishable features are the hub-based level system (all the levels are interconnected by a subway station), and the fact that all of the non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s (NPCs) in the game (enemies, policemen, civilians) are shootable. When the player draws his gun, policemen shout: "Freeze! Drop your gun!" before they start shooting at the player. When a policeman or enemy is killed, their ammo can be picked up. When the player aims at a civilian, he/she ducks and screams: "Please, don't shoot!" When any NPC is shot, a blood spot appears on the wall behind it. If an NPC is shot with one of the stronger weapons in the game, they will explode into gory bits.
The games narrative took place using cutscenes at the beginning and end of each level, featuring Shatner himself as the narrator.
External links
- TekWar at Moby Games
- CD-ROM Game info at Tekheadz