Zero Tolerance (video game)
Encyclopedia
Zero Tolerance is a 1994
video game developed
by Technopop
and published by Accolade exclusively for the Sega
Mega Drive/Genesis video game console
. It was one of the only Mega Drive/Genesis first person shooters. Due to the limitations of the hardware, the player's view of the 3D
environment was restricted to a fraction of the screen, with the player's HUD
, a map of the surrounding area, and the player character
's ID card comprising the rest of the screen space. Still, it featured impressive visual effects for its time and especially for the Genesis, a system with hardware that lacked much of the necessary scaling and rotation technologies normally needed to create even the most rudimentary appearance of 3D environments (such as rival Super NES' built-in "Mode 7
" technology and "Super FX Chip" add-on). In fact, the smoothness and speed at which Zero Tolerance ran was said to rival many of the lower-end versions of Doom available at the time, most notably the one for the Super NES.
and subsequently colonised the Solar System
. The extrasolar settlements, research outposts, mines, commercial colonies, and spacecraft and space station
s throughout the Solar System are protected over by a mighty, interstellar military conglomerate named the Planet Defense Corps.
When Europa-1, the flagship of the Planet Defense Corps, is attacked by an unknown yet lethal aggressor of apparently extraterrestrial nature, the Planet Defense Corps call in Zero Tolerance, an elite strike squad of five speciality-trained commando
s. A recording of the last transmission from Europe-1 reveals extensive fire damage to the warship, almost total casualties and otherworldly creatures hunting the few remaining survivors of the attack. Also, the nuclear cooling system of Europa-1 has been damaged by small arms fire, and core breach caused by overheating will destroy the starship in a matter of hours.
As a member of the Zero Tolerance squad, the player is ordered during the crisis briefing to infiltrate Europa-1 before it explodes. His mission is to completely eliminate the mysterious alien aggressor from within, and also the transformed humans of Europa-1 they have "infected", in the next few hours to erase all evidence of the attack and the alien intruders.
However, nothing prevents the player from heading straight towards the exit without killing all of the enemies. If this is done, the player is simply not given any passwords until the entire area is finished.
Once a character is killed that character will be listed as "deceased", and becomes unavailable for playing. The player can choose from a total of five different characters; once they are all deceased the game is over.
. As such, Haile has extensive specialty training in explosives, demolition, ballistics, bomb defusal, and countermeasures. Haile's hot-headed nature is often a cause for concern for his fellow soldiers, he has received a small number of disciplinary actions from his superiors, and he is also something of a mystery to even those who serve under him in the Zero Tolerance squad: Haile's personal profile is classified, and much of his background is considered top secret. Nonetheless, Haile's tenacity and efficiency is beyond question, and this coupled with the fact that he has a recorded 100% mission success rate has earned Haile the rank of Captain of the Zero Tolerance squad.
. Although her specialty is in communications and communication technology, she is nonetheless a highly decorated servicewoman with extreme physical prowess, hearing and eyesight, traits which have enabled her to quickly rise through the ranks, and eventually she received the rigorous extreme combat training fitting of a member of the Zero Tolerance squad; in her case sniper
shooting. Ishii is a highly accurate marksman who can consistently hit a target with a size of 2 centimetre (0.78740157480315 in) at 100 metres (328.1 ft); accuracy at such targets is 100%.
before becoming the team doctor and surgeon for the Zero Tolerance squad. Since his speciality is as a medic
, Wolf can make the best out of medicines, medical apparatus, first aid kits and pharmaceuticals and can patch himself up better than most. Being a member of Zero Tolerance, Wolf does also have a combat speciality in extensive small firearms training, and he is an expert pistol shooter.
. Ramos has lightning-quick speed and studied extensively in over fourteen different martial arts. This means he is best character in situations where no firearms are available, and is capable of quickly dispatching an opponent with his bare fists.
Even though it was overshadowed by the other big first-person shooters of its day, most notably Doom, it is a cult favorite and there is still currently a large presence of Zero Tolerance fans amongst the retro gaming community. The game, as well as its unfinished sequel, have been deemed by developer Technopop to be publicly distributable as freeware
.
announced a game titled Zero Tolerance: City Under Fire for PS2
and Xbox
. Technopop
's former president and owner of its assets, Randel B. Reiss, made a statement in which he held the copyright
for the title Zero Tolerance, and also announced that he was working on an updated version of the classic Zero Tolerance under the same title which was being developed for the PSP
; the statement alleged trademark infringement
on Reiss' trademark
and sent a "cease and desist
" notice to Eidos Interactive in using the title Zero Tolerance. Eidos later renamed their game Urban Chaos: Riot Response
. There have been no further updates on the PSP version of the game Reiss had said to have been in development.
1994 in video gaming
-Events:*Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.*"Project...
video game developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by Technopop
Technopop (developer)
Technopop, Inc. was an American videogame developer, founded by Randel B. Reiss in 1990. It was the first independent American developer for the Sega Genesis, and responsible for most of the early development tools to that system....
and published by Accolade exclusively for the Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
Mega Drive/Genesis video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. It was one of the only Mega Drive/Genesis first person shooters. Due to the limitations of the hardware, the player's view of the 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
environment was restricted to a fraction of the screen, with the player's HUD
HUD (computer gaming)
In video gaming, the HUD is the method by which information is visually relayed to the player as part of a game's user interface...
, a map of the surrounding area, and the player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
's ID card comprising the rest of the screen space. Still, it featured impressive visual effects for its time and especially for the Genesis, a system with hardware that lacked much of the necessary scaling and rotation technologies normally needed to create even the most rudimentary appearance of 3D environments (such as rival Super NES' built-in "Mode 7
Mode 7
Mode 7 is a graphics mode on the Super NES video game console that allows a background layer to be rotated and scaled on a scanline-by-scanline basis to create many different effects. The most famous of these effects this can create is the application of a perspective effect on a background layer...
" technology and "Super FX Chip" add-on). In fact, the smoothness and speed at which Zero Tolerance ran was said to rival many of the lower-end versions of Doom available at the time, most notably the one for the Super NES.
Plot
In the future, mankind has made great advances in interstellar travelInterstellar travel
Interstellar space travel is manned or unmanned travel between stars. The concept of interstellar travel in starships is a staple of science fiction. Interstellar travel is much more difficult than interplanetary travel. Intergalactic travel, or travel between different galaxies, is even more...
and subsequently colonised the Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
. The extrasolar settlements, research outposts, mines, commercial colonies, and spacecraft and space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
s throughout the Solar System are protected over by a mighty, interstellar military conglomerate named the Planet Defense Corps.
When Europa-1, the flagship of the Planet Defense Corps, is attacked by an unknown yet lethal aggressor of apparently extraterrestrial nature, the Planet Defense Corps call in Zero Tolerance, an elite strike squad of five speciality-trained commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
s. A recording of the last transmission from Europe-1 reveals extensive fire damage to the warship, almost total casualties and otherworldly creatures hunting the few remaining survivors of the attack. Also, the nuclear cooling system of Europa-1 has been damaged by small arms fire, and core breach caused by overheating will destroy the starship in a matter of hours.
As a member of the Zero Tolerance squad, the player is ordered during the crisis briefing to infiltrate Europa-1 before it explodes. His mission is to completely eliminate the mysterious alien aggressor from within, and also the transformed humans of Europa-1 they have "infected", in the next few hours to erase all evidence of the attack and the alien intruders.
Gameplay
Zero Tolerance is made up of 40 levels spanning three separate areas: the space warship Europe-1, an abandoned merchant freighter, the heavily fortified central command building for the Planet Defense Corps, and the sub-basement areas of that building. The object of the game is to kill all of the enemies on a level and then proceed to the exit, which is either a staircase or elevator leading down to the next level.However, nothing prevents the player from heading straight towards the exit without killing all of the enemies. If this is done, the player is simply not given any passwords until the entire area is finished.
Once a character is killed that character will be listed as "deceased", and becomes unavailable for playing. The player can choose from a total of five different characters; once they are all deceased the game is over.
Link cable support
The game supported connecting two Mega Drives via a special link cable using the second joypad ports for a multiplayer mode. The cable was originally supposed to be shipped along with the game. However this was changed in a last-minute decision and a coupon for ordering a free cable was added instead.Characters
Zero Tolerance features five different characters from which the player can choose to play, each one being a member of a crack commando squadron of the Planetary Defense Corps, an elite group codenamed Zero Tolerance. Each individual character has a unique ability which has a slight effect on gameplay, as well as different items they start with at the beginning of the game. All characters are named after the game's developers.Captain Scott Haile
Codenamed "Psycho", and an imposing physical specimen, African-American Haile was an institutionalised pyromaniac as a youth, and originally made out his military career with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal of the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. As such, Haile has extensive specialty training in explosives, demolition, ballistics, bomb defusal, and countermeasures. Haile's hot-headed nature is often a cause for concern for his fellow soldiers, he has received a small number of disciplinary actions from his superiors, and he is also something of a mystery to even those who serve under him in the Zero Tolerance squad: Haile's personal profile is classified, and much of his background is considered top secret. Nonetheless, Haile's tenacity and efficiency is beyond question, and this coupled with the fact that he has a recorded 100% mission success rate has earned Haile the rank of Captain of the Zero Tolerance squad.
Captain Satoe Ishii
Codenamed "Soba", Ishii, a Japanese-American servicewoman, is a former captain in the radio operator division of the special forcesSpecial forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
. Although her specialty is in communications and communication technology, she is nonetheless a highly decorated servicewoman with extreme physical prowess, hearing and eyesight, traits which have enabled her to quickly rise through the ranks, and eventually she received the rigorous extreme combat training fitting of a member of the Zero Tolerance squad; in her case sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
shooting. Ishii is a highly accurate marksman who can consistently hit a target with a size of 2 centimetre (0.78740157480315 in) at 100 metres (328.1 ft); accuracy at such targets is 100%.
Major Justin Wolf
Codenamed "JJ Wolf", Maj Wolf is also an imposing physical specimen of Scandinavian origins, has a highly decorated former career with the Army Medical CorpsMedical Corps (United States Army)
The Medical Corps of the U.S. Army is a staff corps of the U.S. Army Medical Department consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an MD or a DO degree, at least one year of post-graduate clinical training, and a state medical license.The MC traces its earliest origins...
before becoming the team doctor and surgeon for the Zero Tolerance squad. Since his speciality is as a medic
Medic
Medic is a general term for a person involved in medicine, especially emergency or first-response medicine, such as an emergency medical technician, paramedic, or a military member trained in battlefield medicine. Also the term is used toward a Nurse in pre-hospital care and/or emergency...
, Wolf can make the best out of medicines, medical apparatus, first aid kits and pharmaceuticals and can patch himself up better than most. Being a member of Zero Tolerance, Wolf does also have a combat speciality in extensive small firearms training, and he is an expert pistol shooter.
Major Tony Ramos
Codenamed "Weasel", Maj. Ramos, before becoming a Zero Tolerance commando, originally came from another squadron in special forces who specialised in counter-terrorism, reconnaissance, and sabotage. As such, Ramos is a specialist in infiltration, information gathering, stealth and evasion. Despite his specialist training in these non-combat specific areas, and also despite Ramos' slight physical build and his glasses, Ramos is not to be underestimated on appearance; Ramos is actually the best trained commando of the Zero Tolerance squad in hand to hand combatHand to hand combat
Hand-to-hand combat is a lethal or nonlethal physical confrontation between two or more persons at very short range that does not involve the use of firearms or other distance weapons...
. Ramos has lightning-quick speed and studied extensively in over fourteen different martial arts. This means he is best character in situations where no firearms are available, and is capable of quickly dispatching an opponent with his bare fists.
Major Thomas Gjoerup
Codenamed "Basse", Maj. Gjoerup is the electronics expert for the Zero Tolerance squad. Basse is also a specialist in security and surveillance systems, reading of schematics and blueprints, radar, and electronic mapping, scanning, and guidance systems. An army psychiatrist has deemed Basse the most psychologically unstable of all the members of the Zero Tolerance squad. Basse has received multiple disciplinary actions for insubordination, refusal to follow orders and conduct unbecoming an officer.Legacy
Zero Tolerance was widely considered an enjoyable game with great visuals and a unique addition to the Genesis' library.Even though it was overshadowed by the other big first-person shooters of its day, most notably Doom, it is a cult favorite and there is still currently a large presence of Zero Tolerance fans amongst the retro gaming community. The game, as well as its unfinished sequel, have been deemed by developer Technopop to be publicly distributable as freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
.
2005 trademark issues with Eidos
In October 2005, Eidos InteractiveEidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
announced a game titled Zero Tolerance: City Under Fire for PS2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
. Technopop
Technopop (developer)
Technopop, Inc. was an American videogame developer, founded by Randel B. Reiss in 1990. It was the first independent American developer for the Sega Genesis, and responsible for most of the early development tools to that system....
's former president and owner of its assets, Randel B. Reiss, made a statement in which he held the copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
for the title Zero Tolerance, and also announced that he was working on an updated version of the classic Zero Tolerance under the same title which was being developed for the PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
; the statement alleged trademark infringement
Trademark infringement
Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees...
on Reiss' trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
and sent a "cease and desist
Cease and desist
A cease and desist is an order or request to halt an activity and not to take it up again later or else face legal action. The recipient of the cease-and-desist may be an individual or an organization....
" notice to Eidos Interactive in using the title Zero Tolerance. Eidos later renamed their game Urban Chaos: Riot Response
Urban Chaos: Riot Response
Urban Chaos: Riot Response is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox...
. There have been no further updates on the PSP version of the game Reiss had said to have been in development.
See also
- FreewareFreewareFreeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
- List of commercial games released as freeware
- First person shooter