Laser Arena

Last updated
Laser Arena
Laser Arena Coverart.png
Developer(s) Trainwreck Studios
Publisher(s) ValuSoft
Engine Quake engine
Platform(s) PC (Windows)
ReleaseSeptember 2000 (NA)
Genre(s) FPS
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Laser Arena is an FPS PC game designed to simulate laser tag. Play modes include Free for All (Deathmatch), Team Match, Duel, Domination, and Mega Target. Players have three "health canisters", and every hit diminishes one of them. After three hits, the player counts as "dead" and has to respawn after a delay. The game is based on a heavily modified Quake engine, [1] [2] [3] and despite being a budget-title, features some elements that were unique at the time of release. For example, the game models "Lasertag Grenades" which emit a vast number of shots in all directions, tagging every player in the vicinity.

The "Mega Target" game mode is rather novel in that it requires players to hit three targets strewn across the playing arena, before they are allowed to enter a "core" in which they shoot a final target to score a point. As an added element, automated defense turrets shoot at enemy players, and some can be converted to fight for player's team by shooting at a sensor above the turret. This disables the turret for a few seconds and, if it's a convertible turret, makes it fight for player's side until an enemy deactivates/converts it again.

The game does not feature different weapons, instead the player can collect powerups that increase the firing rate or the hit damage (thus reducing an enemy's energy canisters by two instead of one) for a limited time.

The graphics engine offers Glide, OpenGL, and software rendering. Multiplayer supports up to 8 players either competitively or against bots via LAN or GameSpy. Although not officially supported, the game is moddable, and a single mod named "LaserArena Enhanced" exists, improving textures and sounds as well as adding some useful keybinds that were not available in the original game.

Related Research Articles

<i>Quake</i> (video game) 1996 video game

Quake is a first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by GT Interactive. The first game in the Quake series, it was originally released for MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows and Linux in 1996, followed by Mac OS and Sega Saturn in 1997 and Nintendo 64 in 1998. In the game, players must find their way through various maze-like, medieval environments while battling monsters using an array of weaponry. Quake takes inspiration from gothic fiction and the works of H. P. Lovecraft.

<i>Rise of the Triad</i> 1995 first-person shooter video game

Rise of the Triad: Dark War is a first-person shooter video game, developed and published by Apogee Software in 1995. The player can choose one of five different characters to play as, each bearing unique attributes such as height, speed, and endurance. The game's story follows these five characters who have been sent to investigate a deadly cult, and soon become aware of a deadly plot to destroy a nearby city. Its remake was designed by Interceptor Entertainment and released by Apogee Games in 2013. The shareware version of the game is titled Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins.

<i>Tekken Tag Tournament</i> 1999 fighting video game

Tekken Tag Tournament is the fourth installment in the Tekken fighting game series. Tekken Tag Tournament was released as an arcade game in 1999, before becoming a North American and European launch title for the PlayStation 2 in 2000. The arcade version ran on the same Namco System 12 board with a 32-bit engine as Tekken 3, while the ported home console version received upgraded graphics. A sequel, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, was released in 2011. A remastered version of the game titled Tekken Tag Tournament HD was released for the PlayStation 3 in November 2011, as part of Tekken Hybrid.

<i>Star Wars</i> (1983 video game) 1983 video game

Star Wars is a first-person rail shooter designed by Mike Hally and released as an arcade video game in 1983 by Atari, Inc. It uses 3D color vector graphics to simulate the assault on the Death Star from the 1977 film Star Wars. There are three connected gameplay sequences: combat against TIE fighters in space, flying across the surface of the Death Star, and the final trench run. The sequence repeats with added complications and the Death Star regenerating for each. The player's X-Wing fighter has a shield which only protects against damage a certain number of times, then the next hit ends the game. Speech synthesis emulates actors from the film.

<i>Serious Sam: The Second Encounter</i> 2002 video game

Serious Sam: The Second Encounter is a 2002 first-person shooter game developed by Croteam and published by Gathering of Developers. It is the successor to Serious Sam: The First Encounter and the second game in the Serious Sam series. Taking place immediately after The First Encounter, it follows the soldier Sam "Serious" Stone, whose spaceship crashes back to Earth on his way from ancient Egypt to Sirius, requiring him to seek the Holy Grail to continue his journey. As Sam, the player traverses linear levels, either enclosed or set on open plains, and battles increasingly large waves of enemies with an expanding arsenal. The gameplay builds on that of The First Encounter while adding additional weapons, more enemy types, and platforming elements, and additionally contains the Seriously Warped Deathmatch mod by A Few Screws Loose.

<i>Movie Battles</i> 2003 video game

Movie Battles II (MBII) is a team-based multiplayer mod for the 2003 third and first-person shooter game Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. It is a successor of the Movie Battles mod for Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. The primary purpose of the mod is to allow players to experience setpiece battle scenes from the Star Wars films and the Star Wars expanded universe. The gameplay is similar to that of the base game, but builds upon it with several new elements. The mod has been lauded for providing one of the best lightsaber combat experiences out of any Star Wars game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photon: The Ultimate Game on Planet Earth</span>

Photon was the name of the first commercial lasertag arenas. The company also came out with a home lasertag game, and there were various media tie-ins: a TV show also called Photon and a series of novels by Peter David.

<i>Fired Up</i> (video game) 2005 video game

Fired Up is a vehicular combat game available on the PlayStation Portable. The game features a single-player campaign and a multiplayer mode which supports up to eight players. The game features demos of Wipeout Pure and MediEvil: Resurrection. Fired Up also features game sharing and downloadable content. It is derived from the 2002 PlayStation 2 online game Hardware: Online Arena.

<i>Sub-Terrania</i> 1994 video game

Sub-Terrania is a 1994 multidirectional shooter developed by Danish studio Zyrinx and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis. The game takes place in the future, where a deep-space mining colony has been invaded by an unknown alien race. The player assumes the role of a lone pilot who must defeat the alien forces and rescue the trapped miners. During the course of the game, the player controls a rotatable craft with thrusters that is constantly subject to gravity and the craft's inertia. Using the ship's "rotate-and-thrust" capabilities, the players must aim, shoot, dodge and carefully maneuver their way through the hazardous landscape while constantly taking gravity and refueling needs into account.

<i>Nerf Arena Blast</i> 1999 video game

Nerf Arena Blast is a first-person shooter developed by Visionary Media, Inc. and published by Hasbro Interactive, released under their Atari Interactive label. The game, based on Nerf, was touted as a "family-friendly version of multiplayer combat games like Quake III: Arena and Unreal Tournament", and was supported by Hasbro Interactive until that company gave its rights and properties over to Infogrames. The cutscenes were animated by Mondo Media alongside them doing the in-game art.

<i>Mars Matrix</i> 2000 video game

Mars Matrix: Hyper Solid Shooting, or simply Mars Matrix, is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade game developed by Takumi and released in 2000. The game was published by Capcom and run on their CPS-2 arcade system board. Mars Matrix was later ported to the Dreamcast video game console in 2001. The arcade version uses a horizontally aligned monitor, despite being a vertically scrolling game.

DeFRaG is a free software modification for id Software's first-person shooter computer game Quake III Arena (Q3A). The mod is dedicated to player movements and trickjumping. It aims at providing a platform for self-training, competition, online tricking, machinima making, and trickjumping. Hence it constitutes an exception among other Q3A mods.

<i>Kiloblaster</i> 1992 video game

Kiloblaster is a fixed shooter video game trilogy written by Allen Pilgrim and published by Epic MegaGames in 1992 for IBM PC compatibles. Based on Namco's Galaxian from 1979, there are a few differences such as allowing greater player movement, much faster enemy movement, power-ups, enemies that take more than one hit, and allies to assist in battle.

<i>Space Lords</i> 1992 arcade video game by Atari Games

Space Lords is a video game released in arcades by Atari Games in 1992. It is a first-person perspective space combat video game.

Heavy Unit is a horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by Kaneko and published by Taito in 1988. It was ported to the PC Engine by Taito and was released on December 22, 1989. There was also a Mega Drive port by Toho entitled "Heavy Unit: Mega Drive Special" released on December 26, 1990. The player takes control of a star ship that can transform into a mecha by obtaining a specific type of power up.

<i>Challenge ProMode Arena</i> 2000 video game

Challenge ProMode Arena is a freeware modification for id Software's first-person shooter computer game Quake III Arena (Q3A). CPMA includes modified gameplays that feature air-control, rebalanced weapons, instant weapon switching and additional jumping techniques. It also supports the unmodified vanilla Quake III (VQ3) physics, multi-view GameTV and demos, enhanced bots artificial intelligence, new maps, highly customisable HUD and many other features.

<i>MechWarrior: Living Legends</i> 2009 video game

Mechwarrior: Living Legends is a free, fan-created multiplayer-only game based in the BattleTech universe - originally a total-conversion mod for Crysis, it's since become stand-alone - running on Crysis Wars, and using CryEngine 2 as its engine. It's one of the few mods based on the BattleTech universe to have been sanctioned by Microsoft—who currently owns the rights to the Mechwarrior video-game franchise—and additionally received pre-SDK support and sanctioning directly from Crytek, producers of the games' engine. On December 26, 2009, an open beta was released via BitTorrent and other distribution methods. Because the project changes the play-style and feel of the game it is originally based on so completely as to be unrecognizable in comparison, it is billed as a "full-conversion" mod, since little to no trace of the original game's art or play-style exists any longer within MW:LL. It was created by American developer Wandering Samurai Studios.

<i>Dino D-Day</i> 2011 video game

Dino D-Day is a multiplayer team-based first-person shooter video game developed and published by American studios 800 North and Digital Ranch. It was released for Microsoft Windows on April 8, 2011.

Robocraft is an online vehicular combat game developed and published by Freejam Games. The game is set on different planets, with players constructing robots to fight with and against others in battle. The game features contained garage bays in which players can build various functional vehicles with basic block-based parts, such as cubes and wheels, along with weapons that can be used for combat. The initial alpha build was released in March 2013, and gained over 300,000 players by the following year. It officially released out of beta on August 24, 2017.

References

  1. Game announcement "LaserArena Game", Shacknews, November 16, 2000
  2. Demo release "Laser Arena Demo", Shacknews, November 29, 2000
  3. LaserArena Enhanced Mod "Laser Arena Homebase", Playspoon, June 15th, 2011