Eradicator

Отчасти шутер от первого лица, отчасти экшен от третьего лица - своеобразная помесь Hexen: Beyond Heretic (1995) и Duke Nukem 3D (1996). Как и в первом, на выбор изначально доступны три героя (ещё одного можно будет открыть после первого прохождения игры) с тремя основными характеристиками и разными способностями, присутствуют пазлы, как простые, так и состоящие из целой цепочки тех или иных действий, решение которых может быть критично для выполнения миссий или прохождения дальше, структура уровней запутанная. О сходстве со вторым напоминают общая стилистика и частично разрушаемое окружение, при этом ядро у игры собственное, не id Tech и не Build. Сюжет - традиционно для тех лет - незамысловат: в окрестностях планеты Ioxia произошла некая катастрофа, сопровождаемая бунтом местного населения, который, судя по всему, и послужил причинам таковой. Данная каменно-техногенная глыба является критическим для всей вселенной источником редкого металла под названием "mazrium". Одному из героев предстоит отправиться в эпицентр недавнего происшествия и разобраться, что к чему. Предусмотрена возможность переключаться на вид от первого или третьего лица, есть mouse look, инвентарь с различными расходуемыми предметами. В общей массе предлагается преодолеть порядка двадцати двух уровней, часть из которых будет отличаться в зависимости от выбранного героя. Среди них нашлось место и нескольким секретным - для доступа к ним потребуется нахождение специальных карт. Набор противников достаточно разнообразен, хотя и представлен преимущественно различными "механическими" субъектами. Стандартно для жанра имеется набор из нескольких видов оружия, чуть больше десятка штук, часть из которых уникальна для конкретного персонажа. Из расходников примечательным аспектом можно назвать возможность призыва дронов "широкого спектра", снабжённых различным вооружением (ракеты, лазеры), среди которых, в частности, нашлось место радиоуправляемым устройствам. Да, перехватывать под своё управление враждебных киборгов, а также камеры слежения тоже можно, а местами и нужно. Для любителей сетевых баталий имеется кооператив, а также несколько карт для deathmatch. CD-Audio сопровождение вроде бы и ничего - на уровнях играет мрачный ambient, в меню метал, - но чем-то особенным не выделяется, как и графическая составляющая: в основном преобладают техногенные коридоры, в отличие от собратьев по жанру, что к тому моменту поддерживали по крайней мере SVGA / 640x480, здесь разрешение экрана жёстко ограничено вариантом 320x200. Не особо спасает ситуацию и редкое вкрапление трёхмерных элементов. Подытоживая, можно сказать следующее: Eradicator - по-своему самобытный и уникальный представитель жанра, который, как и ряд других проектов, вышедших в диапазоне 1994-1996 годов, оказался в тени более продвинутых и понятных широким массам работ, в данном случае Duke Nukem 3D. Из-за специфики геймплея присутствует определённый входной барьер, который не каждому придётся по нраву; в этом смысле игра схожа с проектом Raven Software - CyClones (1994). В то же время для тех, кому удастся его преодолеть, этот тайтл может стать одним из любимых.

A game that was innovative and in many ways ahead of its time, A very solid and capable old school FPS with clever level design. Unfortunately this game massively overshadowed by Duke Nukem 3D and Quake.

As a zoomer, "MarphitimusBlackimus" brought me here back since i was in high school

Eradicator is a very intense shooting game. Pros: +Level editor. +Two shooting modes: FPS and TPS. +You can select three unique characters. They start from different levels. After you beat the game, the fourth character will appear. +There are a lot of weapons and items in the game. The forcewall can be used as a footboard if you want to reach a higher place. +The PIP technology is amazing. It let you control some special weapons manually. I like to send a roving mine to recon unknown areas. By the way, you even can control enemy battle robots! +Your map is already displayed the location of all secrets. The only thing you should do is to find their switches. +Collect enough keycards will unlock a bonus level. Cons: -No level selection feature. -Sometimes, my character will stuck at a gap in the wall.

I had the big box version of this game from when it was new, I loved the ♥♥♥♥ out of this game back in the 90's. It's fun as hell and had some good level designs that made it more interesting than most of the raycast games of the time.

Eradicator is an Authentic, Retro Shooter no one played, and its far better than most of the recent Retro-fps imitators. When it came out, it was up against some serious competition with Duke 3D and the graphical powerhouse that was Quake. This game received lukewarm reception from critics at the time, not because its a bad game. But because it didn't do enough new things in a genre that was changing at lightning speed. The irony is that what this game did, is what recent FPS games have been trying to bring back. I actually had the opportunity to play this back in the 90's. I got it on deep discount. This was before DosBox, so I actually had to reboot my PC into DOS to play it. As much as I loved playing the game, that was quite an annoyance back then. So I forgot about it for over a decade until it was re-released. With the convenience of dosbox, its great to be able to play this again, and finally beat it. This game runs like a dream, and really feels like all the other FPS games I grew up with like Doom and Duke. It just feels natural to play this game. Lets just get the CONS out of the way. It has an old school engine similar to the build engine which makes looking up and down a little weird looking (incorrect perspective). Its aesthetically nostalgic, but can cause some motion sickness. When in 3rd person mode, aiming is more difficult than it should be. The low resolution does make distant objects hard to make out. Also, secrets are absurdly hard to find. Some people have complained that there is only one music track through the whole game. Although I can see their point, it is a phenomenal ambient track. And I would argue one of my favorite background tracks from any game in the era. It may only be one track, but even after hours of playing, I don't think I will ever get sick of it. Now, lets talk about the good. The movement is amazing and fluid. The gun-play is incredibly satisfying and exciting. Many of the guns are incredibly fun and satisfying. There are a few too many guns imo, but most people won't find that a problem. The challenge is appropriate. It never feels cheap, but expect to take a few tries on the harder levels. It also has save anywhere functionality, which helps. There are 4 characters (1 secret unlocked after beating game) 3 of which have their own unique starting level. The puzzles are interesting without being frustrating, and the bos battles are more exciting than most fps games from the time. I also think the game is an appropriate length. I don't think its too long, but its also not particularly short. I would argue that this game was underappreciated on its release because it wasn't trying to include revolutionary new features. It is very much a time capsule to a moment that only lasted a few years. More people should honestly give it a try.

6/10

Anybody that's a fan of Star Wars Dark Forces or Duke Nukem 3D will fall in love with this game and should consider purchasing. 3 characters to play with each having its own starting location and a bonus one after you beat the game. Before you even start though I would recommend pressing F11 since the game is really dark and will be almost impossible to see anything within certain areas. Even though there are some frustrating time events to go through, which will require you to learn the map precisely I would still say the guns/gadgets feel really nice to use and the enemy designs are all very well made. Too bad though not a lot of people know this even exists. Strongly recommend this one!

4/10

2023.... WTF did I just play!?