Burn Cycle

Last updated
Burn Cycle
Burn Cycle cover.png
CD-i cover art
Developer(s) TripMedia
Publisher(s) Philips Interactive Media
Director(s) David Collier
Producer(s) David Collier
Programmer(s) Graham Deane
Artist(s) Olaf Wendt
Writer(s) Eitan Arrusi
Composer(s) Simon Boswell
Platform(s) CD-i, Mac OS, Windows
ReleaseOctober 1994
Genre(s) Interactive film
Point-and-click adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Burn Cycle (stylized as Burn:Cycle) is a 1994 point-and-click adventure video game for the CD-i that incorporates full motion video and is set in a surrealist cyberpunk world. The game follows Sol Cutter, a computer hacker and data thief, whose latest theft causes a virus named Burn Cycle to be implanted in his head. The game features a two-hour countdown timer to defuse the virus, with the player jumping back and forth between a fictional ingame virtual reality world known as the Televerse in order to destroy the Burn Cycle virus and solve the mystery of its creation.

Contents

The game was re-released for personal computers in 1995. In 1996 Philips Interactive Media announced that all of their CD-i games would be ported to the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation during the third quarter of 1996, starting with Burn Cycle. [1] However, these ports were never released.

Gameplay

The game is generally played in a first-person point and click style, similar to games like Myst and The 7th Guest. This is interspersed with various minigames, puzzles, and skill sequences, which the player must complete to progress. Failing certain minigames or puzzles, like the opening escape from the Softech building, will cause a game over.

At any point, the player can bring up a menu showing the remaining time before the Burn Cycle virus wipes Cutter's mind, which decreases in realtime during gameplay. From this screen, the player can save the game anywhere, and Cutter gives hints and additional information in monologue as to where to go next. When the timer reaches zero, the virus will activate, killing Sol Cutter.

The amount of time on this clock can be extended by trading for treatment drugs with Zip, an underground cybertechnology dealer at the Zero Sum Bar. Various electronic tools and keys can be collected throughout the game's world, which can either be traded or used to progress the story. The goal of the game is to fully cure Cutter of the Burn Cycle virus, and figure out why he was infected with it in the first place.

Story

Sol Cutter is a former corporate operative and current small-time data thief in an unnamed metropolis who acts as a courier for stolen data using a hard drive surgically implanted in his brain. As the game opens, Cutter is on a job; breaking and entering into the corporate offices of SoftTech, his former employers, when a shock blasts him across the room. Cutter realizes his mind has been infected with a virus called Burn Cycle which will kill him in two hours. With the help of his girlfriend Kris, who is guiding him from outside the complex, Cutter barely escapes, but Kris is shot in the back and killed.

Cutter makes his way to into the city and withdraws funds from a virtual bank (which doubles as a new age style church). Realizing that his hotel room is being watched, Cutter instead makes his way to the Zero Sum Bar to deal with Zip, his friend and colleague who is strung out on "Rushing", or experiencing digitally augmented highs and adrenaline rushes. Cutter recruits Gala, a former acquaintance who Cutter recognizes from his time infiltrating a revolutionary movement where she was a member. Gala doesn't recognize him as he was undercover and his face had been surgically altered. With her help, Cutter is able to get into his hotel room and get his belongings and other tools, along with a mysterious object called a holo-sphere. With few options left and the Burn Cycle clock continuing to count down, Cutter makes his way to Doc, an underground brain surgeon for help. Gala tags along, hoping to recruit Doc to her cause.

Once at Doc's place, Cutter is examined. While Doc goes over the data, Cutter places the holo-sphere into a scanner and unlocks a symbol of a dragon tattoo which sparks a flashback of Cutter's time as an operative. Cutter witnessed innocents being executed by his partner, the sadistic Deally, and this is revealed to be the reason why he left the company and became a thief, after realizing his bosses ordered the murder. Doc explains Cutter that his memories are being deleted due to the biochemical digital virus inhabiting his brain and if the clock runs out he will be effectively braindead. The only hope he has to live is to download his consciousness completely into the Televerse, the virtual world in which most of the planet does business. Once inside Cutter must seek Vielli, the CEO of Cortex, a rival multinational to SoftTech, who might have the cure. Cutter's mind is downloaded, but his code is fractured in the process.

Inside the Televerse, Cutter must track down the rogue pieces of his code, personified by a man, a strange golden Buddha and Kris. Once absorbing each piece back into himself he is finally able to enter Cortex where Vielli is waiting. Vielli explains that SoftTech were the ones who hired him to steal their own data, intending to infect him with the Burn Cycle virus knowing that he would have to seek out Vielli. Vielli, who is revealed to have died and exists solely as a program, has perfected the process for downloading consciousness into the Televerse, but also uploading it into any body, effectively inventing the code for immortality. Vielli helps Cutter to cure the Burn Cycle virus, but Deally appears at Doc's in the real world, killing both Doc and Gala and telling Cutter that he will kill Cutter's body, stranding him in the Televerse, unless Cutter brings him the upload code.

Vielli instead uploads Cutter into a spare body (an attractive female) and charges him with smuggling Vielli's physical head (along with the upload code) out of the country. Cutter is ambushed at his hotel room by Deally with a team of agents. Deally reveals that he was the one who murdered Kris, prompting Cutter to kill him. He manages to shoot his way out and escape, but must leave Vielli's head behind.

Cutter is attempting to flee the country when Vielli contacts him and reveals that his head didn't contain the upload code, but rather an augmented copy of the Burn Cycle, which wipes out SoftTech overnight. Vielli congratulates Cutter and gives him an infinite number of bank accounts which can be accessed anywhere in the world, mentioning that he may approach Cutter again if he needs his services. Cutter in voice-over muses that he wonders what his new body will look like with an all over tan.

Development and promotion

The game, written by Eitan Arrusi for TripMedia, London, features live action characters. Arrusi and Darius Fisher were the director and assistant director, respectively. The FMVs and in-game graphics were shot on a blue screen, as backgrounds are composed of 3D renders. The effect is that navigation through Burn Cycle's environments cues a 3D walkthrough, while interaction with characters or the activation of scripted events prompts the loading of overlaid camera footage, sometimes even with complete scene changes.

The game's live action cast are credited as follows:

The 1995 re-release for personal computers was preceded by an early use of marketing a video game through the Internet. The official Burn Cycle website featured original content set in the game's world that was intended to serve as a precursor to the events depicted in the game. The site also featured various promotions and allowed visitors to sign up for an e-mail list that sent out hints for the game. [2] The website was hosted at http://burncycle.com/ (Archived).

Soundtrack

Burn Cycle features a largely techno soundtrack, composed and performed by the partnership of Simon Boswell and Chris Whitten. The game came packaged with a soundtrack CD that could be played on the CD-i or on any conventional CD player. Some of the songs on the soundtrack are remixed with dialogue from the game's voice actors.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Burn:Cycle Theme"9:27
2."Karmic Church"4:07
3."Flying"4:59
4."System Software"6:49
5."Buddha's Voice"4:46
6."Into the Televerse"7:08
7."Psychic Roulette"5:11
8."Zip"7:55
9."Kris VR"4:29
10."A Beautiful Relationship"4:21
11."Meltdown"6:04

Reception

The CD-i version of Burn Cycle has been viewed as one of the most prominent titles on its system, [9] [10] with Electronic Gaming Monthly awarding it "Best CD-i Game of 1994" in their Buyer's Guide, [11] and GamePro calling it "just what the CD-i needed". [12] The magazines lauded the game's audio and cinematics. [12] [13] GamePro gave it a 5/5 score for three categories (graphics, sound, and fun factor), rating control at 4.5. [12] 1UP.com, impressed by its futuristic setting and storyline, referred to Burn Cycle as "one of the best showcases of the console's strengths." [9]

The PC release received a mixed response from critics. Allgame praised the variety of characters and locations, but stated that the game's graphics were "extremely crude looking and hurtful to the eyes". [14] PC Gamer commented that "the blend of puzzles, arcade action, mysteries and cyberspace won't be too interesting"; the game's cyberpunk atmosphere and music were listed as positive aspects. [7] In contrast, Game Revolution criticized the soundtrack for being "just bad industrial". The website nonetheless considered Burn Cycle "well-balanced" and its environments "carefully planned", giving the game an A− along with Entertainment Weekly . [8] [5]

Next Generation reviewed the CD-i version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Newcomers to gaming will be amazed at Burn:Cycle's beauty. Experienced arcade thrashers will wonder what the fuss is about." [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Rise of the Robots</i> 1994 video game

Rise of the Robots is a fighting game released by Time Warner Interactive in 1994. Originally developed for the Amiga and DOS by Mirage's Instinct Design, it was ported to various video game consoles, including the Super NES, the Mega Drive, and the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. The game includes a single-player mode in which the player assumes the role of the ECO35-2 Cyborg, as he attempts to stop the Supervisor who takes over Electrocorp's facilities in Metropolis 4.

<i>The 7th Guest</i> 1993 video game

The 7th Guest is an interactive movie puzzle adventure game, produced by Trilobyte and originally released by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in April 1993. It is one of the first computer video games to be released only on CD-ROM. The 7th Guest is a horror story told from the unfolding perspective of the player, as an amnesiac. The game received a great amount of press attention for making live action video clips a core part of its gameplay, for its unprecedented amount of pre-rendered 3D graphics, and for its adult content. In addition, the game was very successful, with over two million copies sold. It, alongside Myst, is widely regarded as a killer app that accelerated the sales of CD-ROM drives. The 7th Guest has subsequently been re-released on Apple's app store for various systems such as the Mac. Bill Gates called The 7th Guest "the new standard in interactive entertainment".

<i>Secret of Evermore</i> 1995 video game

Secret of Evermore is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in North America on October 1, 1995, and in Europe and Australia in February 1996. A Japanese release was planned to follow the North American release by a few months but was ultimately cancelled.

<i>Space Ace</i> LaserDisc based videogame

Space Ace is a LaserDisc video game produced by Bluth Group, Cinematronics and Advanced Microcomputer Systems. It was unveiled in October 1983, just four months after the Dragon's Lair game, followed by a limited release in December 1983 and then a wide release in Spring 1984. Like its predecessor, it featured film-quality animation played back from a LaserDisc.

<i>Super Street Fighter II Turbo</i> 1994 video game

Super Street Fighter II Turbo is a fighting game released for the arcades by Capcom in Japan on February 23, 1994, in North America on February 23 and March 26, 1994 (beta) and in Europe in March 1994 (beta). It is the fifth installment in the Street Fighter II sub-series of Street Fighter games, following Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers. Like its predecessor, it ran on the CP System II hardware.

<i>Resident Evil 2</i> 1998 video game

Resident Evil 2 is a 1998 survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation. The player controls Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, who must escape Raccoon City after its citizens are transformed into zombies by a biological weapon two months after the events of the original Resident Evil. The gameplay focuses on exploration, puzzles, and combat; the main difference from its predecessor are the branching paths, with each player character having unique storylines, partners and obstacles.

<i>Fade to Black</i> (video game) 1995 video game

Fade to Black is an action-adventure game developed by Delphine Software International and published by Electronic Arts Studios. It is the sequel to the 1992 video game Flashback. The game was released for MS-DOS with full Gouraud-shaded 3D graphics, and PlayStation with fully textured 3D. A version for the Dreamcast was released in 2018 by JoshProd, rebranded as Fade to Black: Flashback 2.

<i>Dragons Lair II: Time Warp</i> 1991 video game

Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp is a 1991 laserdisc video game by the Leland Corporation. It is the first true sequel to Dragon's Lair. As with the original, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp consists of an animated short film that requires the player to move the joystick or press a fire button at certain times in order to continue. It takes place years after the original Dragon's Lair. Dirk has married Daphne, and the marriage has produced many children. When Daphne is kidnapped by the evil wizard Mordroc in order to be forced into marriage, Dirk's children and his mother-in-law are clearly upset by the abduction of Daphne, and Dirk must once again save her.

<i>Thief: The Dark Project</i> 1998 video game

Thief: The Dark Project is a 1998 first-person stealth video game developed by Looking Glass Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. Set in a medieval gaslamp fantasy metropolis called the City, players take on the role of Garrett, a master thief trained by a secret society who, while carrying out a series of robberies, becomes embroiled in a complex plot that ultimately sees him attempting to prevent a great power from unleashing chaos on the world.

<i>Rayman</i> (video game) 1995 video game

Rayman is a side-scrolling platform video game developed and published by Ubi Soft as the first installment of the Rayman series. It was originally released in September 1995 for the Atari Jaguar, Sega Saturn, and Sony PlayStation. The player controls Rayman, a hero who must restore balance to his colourful world from the evil Mr. Dark.

<i>Tomcat Alley</i> 1994 video game

Tomcat Alley is an interactive movie FMV video game developed by The Code Monkeys for Sega CD. It was the first Sega CD game to feature extensive full screen, full motion video. It was later released, with higher quality video, for Windows-based PCs. A 32X version was also in development, but never released.

<i>Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger</i> 1994 video game

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger is the third main game in Chris Roberts' Wing Commander science fiction space combat simulation video game series, developed and released by Origin Systems in December 1994. It was a departure from previous games in the series in that it uses extensive live action full-motion video to add an interactive movie-style presentation to the space combat gameplay, emphasized by its advertising slogan, "Don't watch the game, play the movie!". The game's more than two hours of video featured a number of prominent movie stars including Mark Hamill as Colonel Christopher "Maverick" Blair, Malcolm McDowell as Admiral Tolwyn, John Rhys-Davies as James "Paladin" Taggart and Thrakhath nar Kiranka, and Tom Wilson as Todd "Maniac" Marshall.

<i>X-Men 2: Clone Wars</i> 1995 video game

X-Men 2: Clone Wars is a 1995 platform game developed by Headgames and released by Sega of America for the Mega Drive/Genesis as a sequel to the 1993's X-Men. The game is based on the adventures of the Marvel Comics superhero team, the X-Men. A sequel, titled X-Women, was cancelled.

<i>Viewpoint</i> (video game) 1992 video game

Viewpoint is an isometric-scrolling shooter arcade game developed by Aicom and originally released in 1992 by Sammy and SNK for the Neo Geo hardware family.

<i>Everready (The Religion)</i> 2006 studio album by Tech N9ne

Everready is the fifth studio album by rapper Tech N9ne. The album was released in 2006 as a "Collector's Edition" CD that contains a second CD featuring 14 songs from Tech N9ne as well as other Strange Music artists. "Jellysickle" & "My Wife, My Bitch, My Girl" also appeared on the 25 To Life video game soundtrack, while a censored version of "The Beast" was featured on the soundtrack to Madden NFL 06, released in 2005. In 2010, the song "Riot Maker" was used by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as the official theme for their Hard Justice pay-per-view. The album debuted at #50 on the Billboard 200 with 22,000 copies sold in its first week. The song "Caribou Lou" was later certified Gold in 2012, and certified platinum later in 2017.

<i>Lost Eden</i> 1995 video game

Lost Eden is an adventure game developed by Cryo and published by Virgin Interactive in March 1995 for MS-DOS, Macintosh, 3DO, and CD-i. It is set in a world where humans and dinosaurs coexist.

<i>Spider-Man</i> (2000 video game) 2000 video game

Spider-Man is a 2000 action-adventure video game based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision using the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game engine for the PlayStation 1. The game was later ported by different developers to various systems, including the Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64 that same year, as well as the Dreamcast and Microsoft Windows in 2001.

<i>Hackers</i> (film) 1995 film by Iain Softley

Hackers is a 1995 American crime thriller film directed by Iain Softley and starring Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie, Jesse Bradford, Matthew Lillard, Laurence Mason, Renoly Santiago, Lorraine Bracco, and Fisher Stevens. The film follows a group of high school hackers and their involvement in a corporate extortion conspiracy. Made in the mid-1990s when the Internet was unfamiliar to the general public, it reflects the ideals laid out in the Hacker Manifesto quoted in the film: "This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch [...] We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals. [...] Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity." The film received mixed reviews from critics, and underperformed at the box office upon release, but has gone on to achieve cult classic status.

<i>Johnny Mnemonic</i> (video game) 1995 video game

Johnny Mnemonic: The Interactive Action Movie is a point-and-click adventure science fiction video game directed by Douglas Gayeton for Macintosh, Microsoft Windows and released by Sony Imagesoft on May 26, 1995. Based on the 1981 short story of the same name by William Gibson, the game has the player take the role of the title character.

<i>Road Rash</i> (1994 video game) 1994 racing video game

Road Rash is a 1994 racing and vehicular combat video game originally published by Electronic Arts (EA) for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. A version for the Sega CD was developed simultaneously and released in 1995 to act as a "bridge" between the 3DO version and the Sega Genesis title Road Rash 3, and the game was subsequently ported to the PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Microsoft Windows in 1996. The game is the third installment in the Road Rash series, and is centered around a series of motorcycle races throughout California that the player must win to advance to higher-difficulty races, while engaging in unarmed and armed combat to hinder the other racers.

References

  1. ↑ "Burn Cycle". Sega Saturn Magazine . No. 7. Emap International Limited. May 1996. p. 14.
  2. ↑ Gillen, Marilyn A. (August 26, 1995). "Vid Game Promos As Entertaining As Game". Billboard. p. 98.
  3. ↑ Snyder, Frank; Chapman, Ted; Kaiafas, Tasos (November 1995). "Salve Not Included". Computer Game Review . Archived from the original on December 21, 1996.
  4. ↑ "Burn:Cycle". Edge . No. 16. January 1995. pp. 72–73. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Burn Cycle - PC Review". Game Revolution. 2004-06-05. Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  6. 1 2 "Finals". Next Generation . No. 1. Imagine Media. January 1995. p. 94.
  7. 1 2 "Burn: Cycle for Windows". MobyGames . Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  8. 1 2 Strauss, Bob (1994-12-09). "Burn: Cycle | Digital Review". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  9. 1 2 Cowan, Danny (2006-04-25). "CD-i Games: The Good". 1UP.com . Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
  10. ↑ "Information Page: Burn:Cycle". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  11. ↑ "Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide". 1995.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. 1 2 3 Scarry Larry (January 1995). "ProReview: CD-i". GamePro. Vol. 66, no. 1. IDG Communications. p. 96.
  13. ↑ "Burn Cycle". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 60, no. 7. Sendai Publishing. July 1994. p. 174.
  14. ↑ Savignano, Lisa Karen. "allgame ((( Burn:Cycle > Review )))". Allgame . Retrieved 2009-01-31.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.