Loaded (video game)

Last updated
Loaded
Loaded Coverart.png
North American PlayStation box art
Developer(s) Gremlin Interactive
Publisher(s)
  • PAL: Gremlin Interactive
Composer(s) Patrick Phelan
Platform(s) PlayStation, Saturn
ReleasePlayStation
Sega Saturn
Genre(s) Shoot 'em up
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Loaded (released as Blood Factory [2] in Japan) is a science fiction-themed top-down multidirectional shooter developed by Gremlin Interactive. Loaded was released on December 15, 1995 on the PlayStation, and was ported to the Sega Saturn the following year. The game had origins in DC Comics as well as the more adult-orientated Vertigo Comics, and there was a small graphic novel based on the game. The six playable characters of the game are a combination of villains, anti-heroes, psychopaths, perverts, mutants, and flamboyant murderers. They are, however, the best hope to stop the intergalactic supervillain nicknamed F.U.B. and save the universe. The characters were created and designed with contributions from Garth Ennis of Vertigo Comics and Greg Staples of 2000AD.

Contents

Loaded includes macabre humor, over-the-top violence and gore, and lighting effects, but was often criticized for repetitive gameplay. Later in the same year a sequel was released with mildly improved graphics: Re-Loaded .

Plot

F.U.B. was once a catering officer with the Sector Marines. F.U.B. (which stands "Fat Ugly Boy") was once on a barren desert front during one of the relatively obscure skirmishes of the last 40 years. Not wanting to let "the boys" down and unable to find any meat, F.U.B., cooked his own legs and served them up in a rich broth. Despite it being the best dish he had ever created, F.U.B. was given an unconditional discharge and asked never to show his face again. F.U.B. replaces his legs with, hydraulic-powered replacements. He undertakes a radical appearance; wearing furry dice, smoking Havana cigars and painting a target on his portly belly.

The six playable characters have notable differences and derangements, but what they have in common is that they are all psychotic criminals who have been setup by F.U.B. and are now serving sentence on an inhospitable prison planet, the planet Raulf. F.U.B. has even taken on a new identity, working his way up the ladder by murder, and is now the warden of Raulf.

The player (or two of the game's six characters, in two player mode) must escape Raulf, chase F.U.B. and engage on a bloody odyssey across the strange worlds of the galaxy to exact revenge on F.U.B. The supervillain, however, sees it as a challenge, and to this end he creates a machine that can toy with the very fabric of the universe, manipulate matter, and even open doorways to other dimensions. With this machine, F.U.B. plans to hold the universe for ransom and sets up a prison break on Raulf to set things in motion. If he can defeat a group of the most feared individuals in the galaxy who are armed to the teeth and wanting revenge, he figures he can defeat anyone. [5]

Playable Characters

Mamma: A very large psychologically disturbed man with the mind of an infant. He wears a diaper, bonnet and bunny slippers and can only say "mamma". Mamma's weapon is the plasma gun and his bomb is the Ripple Grenade, used when Mamma creates a wave through the ground that instantly kills a large amount of foes around him. This attack can travel through walls and doors.

Fwank: Featured on the cover of the game, Fwank is a man donning a bank bag over his face with the bag painted, making him resemble a clown. He carries around his teddy bear and a mood-shifting balloon (Green for "Chuckly", Yellow for "I Need Space", and Red for "I Wouldn't Ask If I Were You"). Fwank's weapon of choice is a cannon that fires Neutron Spheres, and his bombs are Homing Teddies, a floating armada of teddy bears that eviscerate nearby foes. This attack can kill enemies stationed directly behind a door, but can not travel through walls and doors. However, the teddies can follow Fwank and stay in use longer to attack incoming enemies.

Bounca: A former bouncer turned mercenary. He is about as large as Mamma, wearing a muzzle and a tuxedo. His weapon is a missile launcher and his bomb is the Frag Missile, a randomly-moving burst of shrapnel. This attack can not travel through walls and doors.

Vox: A female DJ that uses sound and music technology to kill foes in the game. She is the only female character in the game. Her weapon is the Hail Flail and her ultra bomb is the Sonic Blast, a burst of lethal sound waves. This attack can travel through walls and doors.

Butch: A homely man that wears ladies' dresses in combat and dislikes those that find it funny. Butch's weapon is a flamethrower and his bomb is the Explosive Ring, the release of fireballs in all directions. This attack can travel through walls and doors. Instead of splattering enemies into a bloody heap, the flamethrower and the Explosive Ring actually chars enemies' bodies on contact.

Cap'n Hands: A pirate-like character with freakishly large hands and forearms, but an exposed ribcage. His head is human, he is a bounty hunter with a cyborgnetic body that is old and out of date he chooses to keep it for unknown reason. His weapons are a pair of flintlocks and his bomb is the Vortex Bomb, a curtain of dark energy that shreds enemies to pieces. This attack can travel through walls and doors.

Gameplay

The game features levels across fifteen different worlds and has six playable characters: Mamma, Fwank, Bounca, Vox, Butch and Cap'n Hands. Two characters may be selected in co-operative mode to complete the game. A mission briefing plays at the start of every mission, aided by a full motion video sequence. Loaded's gameplay is almost identical to that of Gauntlet , [6] which requires the player to move room to room killing everything in sight, everything of which will try to kill the player also. Score can be increased by looting the bloodied remains of enemies. There are some puzzle and exploration elements, and power-ups and ammo can be found. The levels progress by collecting keycards capable of unlocking doors. The player can zoom in to their character by pressing R2, or zoom out by pressing L2. At the end of each level, the game tallies the player's greed factor, accuracy and body count on a 0–100% scale in order to give the player's career prospects (ranging from as low as "social worker" to as high as "genocidal maniac", etc.) and final score.

Development and marketing

Loaded was developed by Gremlin Interactive, a British software house based in Sheffield which had previously had a successful run in developing games. Loaded and its sequel Re-Loaded would be among the last games developed by Gremlin Interactive, before it was acquired by French giant Infogrames for £24 million, and the studio in Sheffield closed. Development took place over less than a year. [7] The game was published in North America by US-based Interplay.

A demo of Loaded was included on a demo disc bundled with the PlayStation in Europe. [8]

The main character design and graphics were done by a host of comic book illustrators like Les Spink and Greg Staples (of 2000AD fame). Interplay collaborated with DC Comics to create a 12-page novella illustrated with the game's artwork to promote it and introduce the characters and the game premise. [9] The book was published bundled with DC's works at the time and DC signed adult-orientated Vertigo Comics star Garth Ennis to write it. The novella is now considered a collector's item. [10]

The game was released for the Sega Saturn over a year after the PlayStation version appeared. Asked to explain this delay, Interplay producer Jeremy Airey stated, "A year ago, we were worried if the Saturn was even going to do well. As of late, [Saturn sales] have picked up. Also, when we started doing Loaded [for the] Saturn, it looked horrible. With the new Sega libraries, Loaded looks and plays good." [7]

Soundtrack

Loaded features 21 compositions by Neil Biggin, plus 2 tracks by Patrick (Pat) Phelan and 2 more by Pop Will Eat Itself (Kick to Kill and RSVP). The game was specially designed so that it could be placed inside a CD player and used as an audio CD (skipping Track 1 which contained the code for the game). This would then enable the listener to play the full soundtrack - including many hidden tracks and two of which were complete tracks from the Amiga CD32 version of Zool 2 (Mount Ices and Mental Block's house), another game by Gremlin. There are 25 audio tracks in total on the CD, the hidden tracks were brief demos and were never used in-game.

Reception

The original release for PlayStation met with mostly positive reviews. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly compared it favorably to Smash TV and cited the multiplayer mode as the game's most enjoyable feature. [11] Major Mike of GamePro deemed it "a simple premise taken to absurd heights: From the wacky characters to the overblown carnage, the game is generally a blast to play. While it lacks some of the strategy of similar-minded titles like Doom , the action hardly ever lets up." He also extensively praised the graphics, particularly noting the strong details, zoom feature, and light sourcing effects. [18] While they complimented the animated environments and four-player option, Maximum had an overall subdued reaction to the game, saying it is much more repetitive than similar games such as Alien Breed and The Chaos Engine . [16] A reviewer for Next Generation also commented on the repetitiveness, saying that the 15 levels look different but all play the same. However, the review was generally complimentary, commenting on the "blistering pace" of the gameplay, smooth and detailed graphics, light-sourcing effects, and soundtrack which "is among the best we've heard in years". [14]

Most critics commented that the Saturn version successfully replicated the graphical effects and other technical aspects of the PlayStation version, [12] [13] [15] with a notable exception in Tommy Glide of GamePro, who said the graphics are not as smooth and do not zoom as easily. [19] However, Next Generation and Dan Hsu and Crispin Boyer of Electronic Gaming Monthly said that Loaded was not as good as it seemed in the wake of its original release on the PlayStation, and that the game's graphics, soundtrack, and shock value were not enough to keep the mindless gameplay from quickly becoming boring. [12] [15] In a reassessment roughly a year after the PlayStation version's release, Next Generation lowered its score to three out of five stars (the same as the Saturn version). [20] Hugh Sterbakov of GameSpot and Rad Automatic of Sega Saturn Magazine agreed that the game is mindless and repetitive, but held that in the field of simplistic shooters it is a success. [13] [17]

Electronic Gaming Monthly editors named the Saturn version a runner-up for Best Music of 1996 (behind Wipeout XL ). [21]

Loaded was a commercial success, with the PlayStation version shipping 250,000 copies the week of its release. [22] In the USA alone, the PlayStation version sold over 140,000 copies. [23]

Legacy

Less than a year after the original game was released, a sequel was released also for the PlayStation and MS-DOS entitled Re-Loaded , developed and published by the same companies.

Related Research Articles

<i>Hexen: Beyond Heretic</i> 1995 video game

Hexen: Beyond Heretic is a fantasy first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software and published by id Software distributed through GT Interactive on October 30, 1995. It is the indirect sequel to 1994's Heretic, and the second game in Raven Software's "Serpent Riders" trilogy, which culminated with Hexen II. The title comes from the German noun Hexen, which means "witches", and/or the verb hexen, which means "to cast a spell". Game producer John Romero stated that a third, unreleased game in this series was to be called Hecatomb.

<i>Virtua Cop</i> 1994 video game

Virtua Cop is a 1994 light gun shooter game developed by Sega AM2 and designed by Yu Suzuki. It was originally an arcade game on the Sega Model 2 system, and was ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995 and Windows in 1996. The Saturn version included support for both the Virtua Gun and Saturn mouse, as well as a new "Training Mode" which consists of a randomly generated shooting gallery.

<i>Street Fighter Alpha 2</i> 1996 video game

Street Fighter Alpha 2, known as Street Fighter Zero 2 in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 1996 fighting game originally released for the CPS II arcade hardware by Capcom. The game is a remake to the previous year's Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams. The game features a number of improvements over the original, such as new attacks, stages, endings, and gameplay features. It was followed by Street Fighter Alpha 3.

<i>Battle Arena Toshinden</i> 1995 fighting video game

Battle Arena Toshinden is a fighting video game developed by Tamsoft and published by Takara for the PlayStation. Originally released in 1995, it was released internationally by Sony Computer Entertainment, followed by 1996 ports for the Sega Saturn, Game Boy and MS-DOS. It was one of the first fighting games, after Virtua Fighter in 1993 on arcade and console, to boast polygonal characters in a 3D environment, and features a sidestep maneuver which is credited for taking the genre into "true 3D."

<i>X-Men: Children of the Atom</i> (video game) 1994 video game

X-Men: Children of the Atom is an arcade game that was produced by Capcom and released on the CP System II arcade hardware in 1994 in Japan and in 1995 in North America and Europe.

<i>Alone in the Dark 2</i> (video game) 1993 video game

Alone in the Dark 2 is a 1993 survival horror video game developed and published by Infogrames. It is the second installment in the Alone in the Dark series. It was ported to the PC-98 and FM Towns in 1994 and to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer in 1995 under the same name, and to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in 1996 as Alone in the Dark: Jack Is Back in Europe, and renamed as Alone in the Dark: One-Eyed Jack's Revenge in North America.

<i>Marvel Super Heroes</i> (video game) 1995 video game

Marvel Super Heroes is a fighting video game developed by Capcom. Originally released in the arcade in 1995 on the CPS-2 arcade system, it was ported to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in late 1997. The game, alongside Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, was also included in the Marvel vs. Capcom Origins collection, released digitally for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September 2012.

<i>Enemy Zero</i> 1996 video game

Enemy Zero is a 1996 horror-themed adventure video game for the Sega Saturn, developed by Warp and directed by Kenji Eno. Players assume the role of an astronaut who awakens from cryogenic sleep to find her spaceship overrun by invisible creatures who are hunting and killing the ship's crew. They must navigate through the ship in a combination of puzzle-driven exploration rendered in full motion video and first-person shooter sections rendered in real time, during which they must rely on sound to either avoid or kill the invisible enemies.

<i>PowerSlave</i> 1996 video game

PowerSlave, known as Exhumed in Europe and 1999 AD: Resurrection of the Pharaoh in Japan, is a first-person shooter video game developed by Lobotomy Software and published by Playmates Interactive Entertainment in North America, and BMG Interactive in Europe and Japan. It was released in North America, Europe and Japan, for the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and MS-DOS over the course of a year from late 1996 to late 1997. On May 24, 2015, Powerslave EX, an unofficial remake of the PlayStation version appeared on GitHub. The MS-DOS version of PowerSlave was added to the GOG store on November 19, 2020.

<i>Hercs Adventures</i> 1997 video game

Herc's Adventures is a video game released for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation by LucasArts in 1997. The overhead, action-adventure format is similar to Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Up to two players each take on the role of one of three ancient Greek heroes: Herc (Hercules), Atlanta (Atalanta), or Jason, who are on a quest to defeat Hades and save the goddess of nature, Persephone. In 2014, it was released for PSN in North America.

<i>Wild 9</i> 1998 video game

Wild 9 is a 2.5D platform video game for the PlayStation. The game was designed by David Perry, developed by Shiny Entertainment, and published by Interplay Productions; all of which were parties involved in Earthworm Jim series of video games. The game was released in North America and Europe in September 1998.

<i>The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga</i> 1997 video game

The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga is a 1997 beat 'em up video game developed by Attention to Detail and published by Eidos Interactive for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The game is based on the Marvel Comics superhero Hulk, who must traverse through a series of levels and destroy enemies with an assortment of offensive and defensive maneuvers. The game features visuals created on Silicon Graphics workstations and a plot based on the Pantheon storyline from the comics. The narrative revolves around the Hulk joining the titular superhero team and fighting such adversaries as Piecemeal, Trauma, and the U-Foes. The game was negatively received for its gameplay, controls, visuals, and music, and has been ranked among the worst superhero-based video games.

<i>Iron Man and X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal</i> 1996 video game

Iron Man / X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal is a video game published by Acclaim Entertainment and developed by Realtime Associates for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Game Boy, Game Gear, and MS-DOS in 1996. It is a one or two-player side-scrolling action game in which the player battles villains from Marvel Comics' Iron Man and Valiant Comics' X-O Manowar comic book series. It was met with negative reviews which criticized it for dull gameplay and outdated graphics.

<i>Last Bronx</i> Fighting game by Sega

Last Bronx is a 3D fighting video game developed by Sega AM3 on the Sega Model 2 mainboard. It was released in Japan in game centers in 1996. Home versions of Last Bronx were produced for the contemporary Sega Saturn and Windows systems. In Japan, Last Bronx was novelized and serialized into comics and radio drama. A VHS video documenting the motion capture process used for the game and introducing the characters was released in 1996. A year later, Takashi Shimizu directed the live-action movie (V-Cinema). On June 29, 2006, Sega released Last Bronx on PlayStation 2 as a tenth anniversary celebration.

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

Worms is a 2D artillery tactical video game developed by Team17 and released in 1995. It is the first game in the Worms series of video games. It is a turn based game where a player controls a team of worms against other teams of worms that are controlled by a computer or human opponent. The aim is to use various weapons to kill the worms on the other teams and have the last surviving worm(s).

<i>Krazy Ivan</i> 1996 video game

Krazy Ivan is a mecha first-person shooter video game developed and published by Psygnosis. It was released for Windows, Sega Saturn and PlayStation in 1996.

<i>Actua Golf</i> 1996 video game

Actua Golf is a sports video game developed and published by Gremlin Interactive for PlayStation and Sega Saturn.

<i>The Lost Vikings 2</i> 1997 video game

Lost Vikings 2 is a 1997 puzzle-platform game developed by Beam Software and published by Interplay. All versions of the game, except the SNES release, were titled Lost Vikings 2: Norse by Norsewest. The sequel to The Lost Vikings, it features the original three characters plus two new playable characters: Fang the werewolf and Scorch the dragon. The gameplay remains largely the same, though the three Viking characters all have new or modified abilities.

<i>Re-Loaded</i> 1996 video game

Re-Loaded is a science fiction-themed top-down multidirectional shooter developed by Gremlin Interactive and published by Interplay. A sequel to Loaded, it was released in 1996 for the PlayStation and MS-DOS, and later on PlayStation Network. A Sega Saturn version was in development, but was cancelled.

<i>Zero Divide</i> 1995 video game

Zero Divide (ゼロ・ディバイド) is a 3D fighting video game developed by Zoom that was released for the PlayStation in 1995.

References

  1. "Interplay's First Playstation Title: Loaded". 1997-10-09. Archived from the original on 1997-10-09. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  2. 1 2 "Loaded Release Information for PlayStation". GameFAQs. 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
  3. "Saturn Review: Loaded". Mean Machines Sega . No. 45. EMAP. July 1996. pp. 62–63.
  4. "Loaded". 1996-12-15. Archived from the original on 1996-12-15. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  5. Paul Sanderson. "LOADED". Gamesurge.com. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
  6. Hickman, Sam (May 1996). "...And We Wanna Get Loaded". Sega Saturn Magazine . No. 7. Emap International Limited. p. 45.
  7. 1 2 "Behind the Screens". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 85. Ziff Davis. August 1996. p. 62.
  8. "Loaded on Demo Disc". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine (1). Emap International Limited: 130. October 1995.
  9. Loaded promo comic. Internet Archive.
  10. "Game Trivia for Loaded". Mobygames.com. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
  11. 1 2 "Review Crew: Loaded". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 78. Sendai Publishing. January 1996. p. 42.
  12. 1 2 3 "Review Crew: Loaded". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 86. Sendai Publishing. September 1996. p. 25.
  13. 1 2 3 Sterbakov, Hugh (December 13, 1996). "Loaded Review". GameSpot . Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Gutsy". Next Generation . No. 14. Imagine Media. February 1996. p. 157.
  15. 1 2 3 "Loaded". Next Generation . No. 22. Imagine Media. October 1996. pp. 171, 175.
  16. 1 2 "Maximum Reviews: Loaded". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine. No. 2. Emap International Limited. November 1995. p. 151.
  17. 1 2 Automatic, Rad (July 1996). "Review: Loaded". Sega Saturn Magazine . No. 9. Emap International Limited. pp. 62–63.
  18. "ProReview: Loaded". GamePro . No. 88. IDG. January 1996. pp. 74–75.
  19. "ProReview: Loaded". GamePro . No. 97. IDG. October 1996. p. 88.
  20. "Every PlayStation Game Played, Reviewed, and Rated". Next Generation . No. 25. Imagine Media. January 1997. p. 58.
  21. "The Best of '96". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 92. Ziff Davis. March 1997. p. 90.
  22. "Loaded Coming to Saturn!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 5. Emap International Limited. March 1996. p. 6.
  23. "Next Wave: Loaded". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 85. Ziff Davis. August 1996. p. 62.