Requiem: Avenging Angel

Last updated
Requiem: Avenging Angel
Requiem Box Front NA.jpg
North American cover art
Developer(s) Cyclone Studios
Publisher(s) The 3DO Company
Producer(s) Jennifer Hubbart
Designer(s) Phillip Co
Programmer(s) Kerry Moffitt
Composer(s) Doug Adams
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: March 31, 1999 [1]
  • EU: May 15, 1999
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Requiem: Avenging Angel, also known as simply Requiem, is a first-person shooter developed by Cyclone Studios and published by 3DO in 1999. On April 14, 2016, it was re-released on GOG.com [2] and on July 7, 2016 on Steam. [3]

Contents

Gameplay

The game begins in the realm of Chaos, a limbo world between Heaven and Earth. Without the use of conventional weapons, the player must use the playable character's angelic powers for defense. These angelic powers work similarly to the Force powers of Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II . The game has a bullet time feature, slowing down time to allow the player to dodge bullets and kill multiple enemies. It was the first videogame ever to feature such a mechanic. [4]

The weaponry features many "stock" weapons found in other games, such as the pistol, the rocket launcher, and the railgun. One of the player's powers is to possess enemies. This allows access to various other weapons which cannot be used via the player character.

Like Half-Life , Requiem has no distinct levels, and instead places the player within a seamless interlinked world. The majority of the game is set in mid-21st century Earth, and thus many of the locations are stylised versions of everyday locales, including a bar, a hospital, and a power plant.

Plot

Requiem draws heavily upon the Bible and Christianity for its influences, as well as the more usual sci-fi sources found in other games. The background story is set in Heaven. Looking down upon the Earth, upon his creation, the Lord was not entirely satisfied. The angels could see this, as they could see how his creation was ravaged with greed, corruption and stupidity. And although most angels decided to wait for God's guidance and wisdom, some did not, and took it upon themselves to descend onto Earth and interpret God's presumed desires. These rebellious angels became known as The Fallen.

In the mid 21st century, The Fallen, led by Lilith, have already taken control over humanity's leaders - suppressing the populace with a totalitarian regime, and pushing humanity towards the completion of the Leviathan, humanity's first interstellar craft. With this craft, humanity will be able to reach for the stars, and touch Heaven itself, something which God cannot allow. If The Fallen succeed in creating the Leviathan, God must instigate Armageddon himself, fulfilling the Fallen's desires. The game places the player into the role of Malachi, an angel and servant of God. The player's task is to stop the machinations of the Fallen, to stop the creation of the Leviathan and to avert the apocalypse. To do so the player must leave the realm of Heaven, and travel through the realm of Chaos, and onto Earth itself.

The game contains many references to the Bible. The player character is named after Malachi, an Old Testament prophet. Malachi can also mean "my messenger" or "my angel" in Hebrew. Lilith, the leader of the Fallen, is featured in medieval literature. Other minor characters in the game are also named after Biblical characters, sporting names such as Jonah and Elijah. All the powers possessed by Malachi are explained within the game manual with a Biblical quote. For example, one of Malachi's attacking powers turns an enemy into a statue of salt. This power is explained via the following quote: "But Lot's wife looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt. - Genesis 19:26." Certain locations have followed this theme too, with humanity's starship named Leviathan after a sea monster from the Old Testament.

Development

The game's concept and premise were heavily inspired by John Milton's poem Paradise Lost . [5] [6] In contrast to the interconnected world seen in the final game, early in development the plan was for the game to be broken up into three self-contained episodes, each set in a different time period. [5]

To reduce memory requirements for the animations, Cyclone employed a "rigid body animation system" in which the majority of character polygons are skeletal and rigid, with only the joints being able to warp and stretch. [6]

Reception

The game received above-average reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. [7] Some of the highest praise for the game came from PC Zone , in a review by Charlie Brooker. Brooker praised the game's variety of well-designed character models, and its advanced animation system, stating that the game had "impressive character models that move in all kinds of unpleasantly believable ways." [22]

IGN claimed that the level design was boring and uninspired, and although the game had a competent single player experience, multiplayer was lacking. [18] GameSpot commended the game's innovative angelic powers available for use, comparing them favourably with the force powers in Jedi Knight. However, it stated that although the game had several attractive features, in the end, it was just a typical shoot 'em up with no groundbreaking elements. [17] Next Generation , however, said that the game was "no technical marvel, but its uniqueness is divine." [19]

All the publications agreed that Requiem was not as good as the universally acclaimed Half-Life , released six months prior. The game also lacked pre-release hype, especially in comparison to its contemporary, Xatrix Entertainment's Kingpin: Life of Crime . Released not long after Requiem, Kingpin had generated a lot of hype within the gaming world, and had also amassed some media controversy over its graphic depiction of violence and swearing. The lukewarm reception, coupled with the lack of pre-release hype in comparison to the competition, meant that Requiem never saw commercial success. It would be the last game that Cyclone Studios would ever release before 3DO's demise.

Related Research Articles

<i>Demon: The Fallen</i> 2002 tabletop role-playing game

Demon: The Fallen is a 2002 tabletop role-playing game released by White Wolf Publishing. Set in the World of Darkness, players take on the role of a demon - a fallen angel who descended to the Garden of Eden with Lucifer, only to be condemned to Hell after a long war with Heaven. The game focuses on "infernal glory" as its central theme for storytelling and character development - the acquisition of power to restore the Fallen's grace as well as to potentially reconnect with humanity, all the while staving off their own agony and evading monstrous demons.

<i>Darkstone</i> 1999 video game

Darkstone: Evil Reigns is an action role-playing video game developed by Delphine Software International for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation. In 2014, the French publisher Anuman Interactive launched a remake available on iPad, iPhone and Android, with the cooperation of the original game's author Paul Cuisset.

<i>Midtown Madness</i> 1999 racing game

Midtown Madness is a 1999 racing game developed by Angel Studios and published by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows. The demo version was released in April 1999. Two sequels followed, with Midtown Madness 2 released in September 2000 and Midtown Madness 3 released in June 2003 for the Xbox. The game is set in Chicago; the object is for the player to win street races and obtain new cars.

<i>Kingpin: Life of Crime</i> 1999 video game

Kingpin: Life of Crime is a first-person shooter developed by Xatrix Entertainment and published by Interplay Entertainment in June 1999. The game begins with the player character wounded and beaten up by associates of the crime boss The Kingpin, and the story follows his thirst for revenge. Released shortly after the Columbine High School massacre, the game attracted controversy due to the overall timing of its release; thus, it was not sold by various retailers in the US, despite receiving generally positive reviews from critics. The game was also ported to Linux.

<i>Oni</i> (video game) 2001 video game

Oni is a third-person action video game developed by Bungie West, a division of Bungie, and published by Take-Two Interactive. Released in 2001, it was Bungie West's only game. Gameplay consists of third-person shooting with hand-to-hand combat, with a focus on the latter. Originally planned just for the Mac OS and Windows, a PlayStation 2 port was concurrently developed by Rockstar Canada. The game's style was largely inspired by Ghost in the Shell and Akira and shares the same genre, being set in a cyberpunk world.

<i>Starsiege</i> 1999 video game

Starsiege is a mecha-style vehicle simulation game developed by Dynamix and released in 1999. Starsiege is set in the Metaltech/Earthsiege universe, which contains its predecessors Earthsiege (1994), Battledrome (1994), and Earthsiege 2 (1996). This universe also includes action game Hunter Hunted (1996), strategy games Mission Force: Cyberstorm (1996) and Cyberstorm 2: Corporate Wars (1998). It also includes the sequels Starsiege: Tribes and all subsequent Tribes titles. In 2015, this game and the rest of the Metaltech/Tribes series were released as freeware by Hi-Rez Studios, but Battledrome and the Cyberstorm series were not.

<i>Jazz Jackrabbit 2</i> 1998 video game

Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is a 1998 platform game produced by Epic MegaGames. It was released for Windows, and later for Macintosh. Like the first game, Jazz Jackrabbit, Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is a side-scrolling platform game but features additional multiplayer options, including the ability to play over a LAN or the Internet. On November 30, 2017, it was re-released on GOG.com along with the first game.

<i>Revenant</i> (video game) 1999 isometric action role-playing game by Eidos Interactive

Revenant is an action role-playing video game produced by Cinematix Studios and released in 1999 by publisher Eidos Interactive.

<i>Messiah</i> (video game) 2000 video game

Messiah is an action-adventure video game developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Interplay. The game was promoted for its tessellation technology, which was claimed to drastically increase or reduce the number of polygons based on the speed of the system running the game. Messiah received a mixed response from reviewers.

<i>Crusaders of Might and Magic</i> 1999 video game

Crusaders of Might and Magic is a third-person action/RPG video game developed and published by 3DO's Austin, Texas studio (PlayStation) and Redwood Shores studio (PC). Different versions of the game were released for both Microsoft Windows and the PlayStation. The protagonist Drake was voiced by veteran voice actor Kevin Conroy.

<i>Urban Chaos</i> 1999 video game

Urban Chaos is the debut video game of English developer Mucky Foot Productions with its initial release in 1999 on Microsoft Windows. It was subsequently released on the PlayStation and Dreamcast. The game was published by Eidos Interactive.

SegaSoft, originally headquartered in Redwood City, California and later San Francisco, was a joint venture by Sega and CSK, created in 1995 to develop and publish games for the PC and Sega Saturn, primarily in the North American market.

<i>Star Trek: Hidden Evil</i> 1999 video game

Star Trek: Hidden Evil is a third-person action-adventure video game released in 1999 by Activision. It was developed by Presto Studios over the course of a year, and was specifically created for the casual gamer market. The plot followed up on the events in the film Star Trek: Insurrection, with the player portraying the character of Ensign Sovok, who works alongside Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Lt. Cmdr Data, with Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner reprising their roles.

<i>Sacred 2: Fallen Angel</i> 2008 video game

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is an action role-playing game. It is the second in the Sacred video game series. It is a prequel which takes place 2,000 years before the events of Sacred. Like its predecessor, the game takes place in a fantasy setting. A new game engine allows the game to be rendered in perspective correct 3D, while retaining the viewpoint found in older isometric games. Video game designer Bob Bates was involved in its production. Power metal band Blind Guardian wrote the song "Sacred Worlds" as the theme for the game and also make an appearance as characters.

<i>Get Medieval</i> 1998 video game

Get Medieval is an action game developed and published by Monolith Productions and Microïds for Microsoft Windows in 1998. It is an overhead shooter in which the player can control one of four characters in a dungeon. Get Medieval gameplay is similar to that of Atari Games's 1985 arcade game Gauntlet.

Cyclone Studios was an American video game developer and publisher based in San Mateo, California. It developed several titles for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and later Microsoft Windows.

<i>Darksiders II</i> 2012 video game

Darksiders II is an action role-playing hack and slash action-adventure video game developed by Vigil Games and published by THQ. It is the sequel to Darksiders and was released in August 2012 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and as a launch title for Wii U upon the console's North American and PAL regions release in November 2012. The story follows the efforts of player character Death to clear the name of his brother, War, who stands accused of wiping out humanity. On a total budget of $50 million, it was one of the most expensive video games to develop of all time.

<i>Freedom: First Resistance</i> 2000 video game

Freedom: First Resistance is a third-person action-adventure video game for PC. The game was published by Red Storm Entertainment and released in the United States on 13 December 2000. The game is based on Anne McCaffrey's trilogy of novels titled the Catteni Series.

<i>Stella Glow</i> 2015 video game

Stella Glow is a turn-based role-playing game developed by Imageepoch for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released in Japan by Sega, in North America by Atlus USA, and in Europe and Australia by NIS America in March 2016. Its story centers around a young man who must journey to unite four witches so he can save his home town from destruction. It was the last game developed by Imageepoch before the company filed for bankruptcy.

<i>Destiny 2</i> 2017 video game

Destiny 2 is a free-to-play online first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was originally released as a pay to play game in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. It became free-to-play, utilizing the games as a service model, under the New Light title on October 1, 2019, followed by the game's release on Stadia the following month, and then PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S platforms in December 2020. The game was published by Activision until December 31, 2018, when Bungie acquired the publishing rights to the franchise. It is the sequel to 2014's Destiny and its subsequent expansions.

References

  1. ↑ Fudge, James (March 31, 1999). "Requiem: Avenging Angel Ships". Computer Games Strategy Plus . Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on May 24, 2003. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Requiem: Avenging Angel". GOG.com . CD Projekt. Archived from the original on July 10, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Requiem: Avenging Angel". Steam . Valve Corporation. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
  4. ↑ "First videogame with bullet time". Guinness World Records . Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  5. 1 2 "NG Alphas: Cyclone Studios". Next Generation . No. 28. Imagine Media. April 1997. pp. 87–88. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  6. 1 2 "NG Alphas: Requiem". Next Generation. No. 36. Imagine Media. December 1997. pp. 124–25. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  7. 1 2 "Requiem: Avenging Angel for PC". GameRankings . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  8. ↑ Durham Jr., Joel. "Requiem: Avenging Angel - Review". AllGame . All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  9. ↑ Chick, Tom (April 20, 1999). "Requiem: Avenging Angel". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  10. ↑ D'Aprile, Jason (April 30, 1999). "Requiem: Avenging Angel". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on May 3, 2003. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  11. ↑ Goble, Gordon (July 1999). "Torched by an Angel (Requiem: Avenging Angel Review)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World . No. 180. Ziff Davis. p. 127. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  12. ↑ Edge staff (June 1999). "Requiem [Avenging Angel]" (PDF). Edge . No. 72. Future Publishing. p. 86. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  13. ↑ Bergren, Paul (July 1999). "Requiem [Avenging Angel]". Game Informer . No. 75. FuncoLand. p. 72.
  14. ↑ "REVIEW for Requiem: Avenging Angel". GameFan . Shinno Media. June 10, 1999.
  15. ↑ Neves, Lawrence (1999). "Requiem: Avenging Angel Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro . IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 4, 2004. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  16. ↑ Johnny B. (April 1999). "Requiem: Avenging Angel Review". GameRevolution . CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  17. 1 2 Chin, Elliott (April 25, 1999). "Requiem: Avenging Angel Review [date mislabeled as "May 5, 2000"]". GameSpot . Fandom. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  18. 1 2 Blevins, Tal (April 26, 1999). "Requiem: Avenging Angel". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on May 18, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  19. 1 2 "Requiem: Avenging Angel [game console mislabeled as having both PC and the non-existent Mac]". Next Generation. No. 54. Imagine Media. June 1999. p. 95. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  20. ↑ Hudak, Chris (June 1999). "Requiem: Avenging Angel". PC Accelerator . No. 10. Imagine Media. pp. 84–85. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  21. ↑ Klett, Steve (July 1999). "Requiem: Avenging Angel". PC Gamer . Vol. 6, no. 7. Imagine Media. pp. 96–97. Archived from the original on January 18, 2000. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  22. ↑ Brooker, Charlie (June 1999). "Requiem: Avenging Angel". PC Zone . No. 77. Dennis Publishing. pp. 84–87. Retrieved March 5, 2021.

Further reading

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.