Shadowgrounds: Survivor

Last updated
Shadowgrounds: Survivor
Shadowground Survivors.jpg
Developer(s) Frozenbyte
Publisher(s) Frozenbyte
Meridian4
Linux Game Publishing (Linux)
Composer(s) Ari Pulkkinen
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
ReleaseWindows
  • NA: November 14, 2007 (Steam)
  • NA: December 6, 2007 (Retail)
  • EU: January 24, 2008
  • UK: June 20, 2008
Linux
September 18, 2009
OS X
April 13, 2011
Genre(s) Top-down shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer

Shadowgrounds: Survivor is a top-down shooter game developed by Frozenbyte as the sequel to Shadowgrounds . It features three new playable characters, a new "Survival" mode, graphics enhanced from its predecessor, and an integrated physics engine.

Contents

Gameplay

Like Shadowgrounds , the game is a fast-paced top-down shooter. This time however, the game allows for three playable characters which can utilise an RPG-like upgrade system for both their weapons and character attributes. This is in contrast to the original game, where only weapon upgrades were handled in this manner. Most of the weapons from the previous game also make a return in Survivor, although many function slightly different and some new weapons have been added. In addition, in some levels the player can control Sentry guns and a Mech.

Compared to the previous game, the basic gameplay has also been tightened, with Survivor focusing more on gun-play than on side-quests. No PDA or computer screens are available for the player to read, and most missions simply require the player to "survive" and reach the ending rather than completing any specific tasks. Those that do usually feature critical plot points, though most of the games story comes in the form of level loading screen text read by each main character.

Also new to the game is the addition of the "Survival" mode. Instead of trying to complete specific missions or tasks, a player selects which character they wish to be and a map, based on some of the ones in the single player campaign, and battles aliens until their health runs out. The more kills you accomplish and the longer you survive affects your final score, which is kept in a score table. The goal is to beat yours and other's previous scores. "Survival" missions become available upon completing their counterpart levels in the single-player campaign.

Plot

Shadowgrounds: Survivor tells the story of three survivors who join forces with the last remaining human resistance in the colony of Ganymede in the heated battle against the ongoing alien onslaught. These are, in order of introduction, Luke "Marine" Giffords (voiced by Noah Lee Margetts) who is a soldier, Bruno "Napalm" Lastmann (voiced by Andrew Wincott) who works in pest control, and Isabel "Sniper" Larose (voiced by Laurence Bouvard) who is a scout. The game begins with Luke fighting his way back to the colony of New Atlantis, where he hopes he can find other survivors of the initial alien attack. While doing so, he receives a message from MacTiernan (voiced by Jay Simon), who is in charge of the defence of the colony. He asks all survivors to come and rescue him, so that he can find a way to fight back.

Meanwhile, Bruno is waging his own battle for survival, and trying to find his own path back to New Atlantis. Luke eventually finds MacTiernan and, with him in toe, commandeers a small ship which they hope to take back to the colony. However, the ship fails and crashes far from New Atlantis, forcing Luke to find his own way back on foot with the goal of finding help. MacTiernan, however, remains stuck inside the stricken vessel, but manages to get its communication system working again. From there, he continues to message Luke and the other survivors. By this point, Isabel, who was manning a guard post far outside of the colony, is trying to find her own way back.

A massive alien army, much larger than anything that has come before it, is approaching and Isabel is intent to warn New Atlantis before it is too late. She also comes into contact with MacTiernan, and following his instructions discovers some critical data while on her way back to the colony. She also takes control of an experimental Mech, which she uses to blast her way back to New Atlantis, where she is united with MacTiernan, Bruno, and Luke. From there, MacTiernan devises a plan to save the colony by utilizing its massive array of defence turrets. However, they lack the man power to operate them all manually, so the automated AI code that was previously retrieved by Isabel must be fed into them for this plan to work.

Unfortunately, the only place that this can be accomplished is the Defence Mainframe, which is already swarming with aliens. One of the survivors must fight his or her way to the mainframe with the use of the Mech, and feed in the data. The player gets to choose between Luke, Bruno and Isabel, as one of them completes the final mission, activating the turrets and defeating the forces of the advancing alien army.

Release

Frozenbyte announced a port of the game to Linux on March 13, 2008. The finished port, which was made by IGIOS and published by Linux Game Publishing, was released on September 18, 2009.

It was later released for a limited amount of time as part of a Humble Indie Bundle package. Towards the end of the bundle initiative, the Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds: Survivor source code (but not their graphics or level editor) was publicly released. [1] The source-code license prohibits commercial use and permits Frozenbyte to change the license terms at will. [2]

Reception

Shadowgrounds: Survivor received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Aliens Versus Predator</i> (1999 video game) 1999 video game

Aliens Versus Predator is a 1999 science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Rebellion Developments and published by Fox Interactive for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and Mac OS X. It is a part of the Alien and Predator crossover franchise, Alien vs. Predator. A sequel, Aliens Versus Predator 2, was developed by Monolith Productions and released by Sierra in 2001.

<i>Aliens Versus Predator 2</i> 2001 video game

Aliens Versus Predator 2 is a science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Monolith Productions and co-published by Fox Interactive and Sierra On-Line for Microsoft Windows in October 2001, and for Mac OS X in July 2003. The game is a sequel to Aliens Versus Predator (1999); both games are based on the characters of the Alien and Predator media franchises as well as the Alien vs. Predator crossover series. It is set on the fictional planet LV-1201, which houses a vast series of ruins infested with Aliens that is routinely visited by a clan of Predators who hunt the creatures for sport.

<i>Unreal Tournament 3</i> 2007 first-person shooter video game

Unreal Tournament 3 (UT3) is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Midway Games. Part of the Unreal franchise, it is the fourth game in the Unreal Tournament series, and the eighth and final game overall; its name is in reflection of the game being the first in the franchise to use Unreal Engine 3. It was released on November 19, 2007, for Microsoft Windows, December 10 for the PlayStation 3, and on July 3, 2008, for the Xbox 360. OS X and Linux ports were planned, but they were eventually cancelled. A free-to-play version, entitled Unreal Tournament 3 X, was leaked in late 2022 and cancelled in 2023.

<i>Dino Crisis 2</i> 2000 action-adventure video game

Dino Crisis 2 is an action-adventure video game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by Capcom for the PlayStation in 2000. It is the second installment in the Dino Crisis series, with designer Shu Takumi taking over as game director from Shinji Mikami from the first game. The narrative continues the story of special operative Regina, who must deal with the fallout of a time-distorting event which transports a research base and the surrounding area through time. Regina and team leader Dylan Morton must battle against dinosaurs in order to find a way to get back to the present.

<i>Shadowgrounds</i> 2005 video game

Shadowgrounds is a top-down shooter for Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, developed by Frozenbyte. The game takes place on a space colony on Ganymede which is being attacked by aliens. It was released for Windows on November 11, 2005, in stores in Finland and Germany, and in Spring 2006 in the rest of Europe and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frozenbyte</span> Finnish video game developer

Frozenbyte, Inc. is a Finnish video game developer founded in 2001 and based in Helsinki. As of December 2020, it had approximately 130 employees. Frozenbyte's first commercial game was Shadowgrounds for Microsoft Windows. Both Shadowgrounds and its follow-up Shadowgrounds: Survivor were released for Linux in 2009, ported by IGIOS and published by Linux Game Publishing. They and all their later games use an engine that has been known internally as Storm3D, originally by Finnish programmer Sebastian Aaltonen.

Linux Game Publishing was a software company based in Nottingham in England. It ported, published and sold video games running on Linux operating systems. As well as porting games, LGP also sponsored the development of Grapple, a free software network library for games. As well as acting as a Linux game porter in of themselves, they also functioned as a publisher for other Linux game developers and porters. The company was dissolved on 3 May 2011.

<i>Cold War</i> (video game) 2005 video game

Cold War is a 2005 stealth video game developed by the Czech developer Mindware Studios, and published by DreamCatcher Games. The game is similar to the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series of games in that it uses a stealth-action system of gameplay. The game distinguishes itself by adding an item invention system where the player can use seemingly useless objects to create new tools and weapons. Also, the story of the game centers on a civilian reporter, so no extremely acrobatic moves are available to the player. Another aspect of the game is that the player can take many different approaches to winning the game.

<i>Alien Shooter: Vengeance</i> 2006 video game

Alien Shooter: Vengeance is a top-down shooter video game for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, developed by Sigma Team as a sequel to Alien Shooter. A remade version called Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded features changed game mechanics and a few new levels.

<i>Alien Breed Evolution</i> 2009 video game

Alien Breed: Evolution is an isometric shooter game in Team17's Alien Breed series and is the first title in the series since 1996. It was released for the Xbox 360 on 16 December 2009. An updated version called Alien Breed: Impact was released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 3 in the following year. It was followed by Alien Breed 2: Assault released in September 2010.

<i>Alien Swarm</i> 2010 video game

Alien Swarm is a multiplayer top-down shooter video game developed by Valve. It is a remake of a mod for Unreal Tournament 2004, and it was developed by the original team, who were hired by Valve during the course of the development process.

<i>Trine 2</i> 2011 puzzle-platform video game

Trine 2 is a puzzle-platform game developed and published by Frozenbyte. It is the sequel to Trine and was released on Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in December 2011, and later for Linux in March 2012. Trine 2 allows three players to play the iconic roles of a wizard, a thief, and a knight in a simultaneous cooperative mode. A Director's Cut edition was released via the Wii U's eShop on the console's launch day in all regions except Australia and Japan. The game was also released as a launch title for the PlayStation 4 in North America and Europe in 2013. On February 13, 2019, it was announced that a port to the Nintendo Switch would be released on February 18, 2019.

<i>Alien Breed 2: Assault</i> 2010 video game

Alien Breed 2: Assault is a video game in Team17's Alien Breed series and is the second new title in the series since 1996 after Alien Breed Evolution. It was released on Steam, Xbox Live Arcade, and PlayStation Network in 2010. The follow-up Alien Breed 3: Descent was released on 17 November 2010.

<i>Alien Breed 3: Descent</i> 2010 video game

Alien Breed 3: Descent is the sequel to Alien Breed 2: Assault and is the third installment of the episodic remake of the Alien Breed series.

Rust is a multiplayer survival video game developed by Facepunch Studios. It was first released in early access in December 2013 and received its full release in February 2018. Rust is available on Windows and macOS. Console versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One developed in conjunction with Double Eleven were released in May 2021. Rust was initially created as a clone of DayZ, a popular mod for ARMA 2, with crafting elements akin to those in Minecraft.

<i>Unturned</i> 2017 video game

Unturned is a partly free to play game by Smartly Dressed Games, a studio consisting solely of Canadian game designer Nelson Sexton. It was released for Windows, macOS, and Linux in early access on July 7, 2014. The full game release three years later, on July 17, 2017. Unturned allows players to create custom maps using an in-game editor. Cosmetics and mods can also be created using the game's Unity engine, which allows them to publish creations on the Steam Workshop. A retail version of the game was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One by 505 Games in November 2020. It was later ported to Nintendo Switch in March 2024.

RimWorld is a construction and management simulation video game developed and published by the Canadian-based developer Ludeon Studios. Originally called Eclipse Colony, it was initially released as a Kickstarter crowdfunding project in early access for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux in November 2013, and was released on October 17, 2018. The game was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as RimWorld Console Edition on July 29, 2022, with development and publishing being handled by Double Eleven. Rather than a test of skill or a challenge, the game is intended to serve as an AI-powered "story generator", where the game is used as the medium for players to experience narrative adventures. The game has received outstanding reviews from critics.

<i>Noct</i> (video game) 2015 video game

Noct is a survival horror top-down shooter video game in development by Canada-based indie developer C3SK and published by Devolver Digital. The game was available in early access for Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows since October 2015 and was removed from Steam in 2021.

<i>Ark: Survival Evolved</i> 2017 video game

Ark: Survival Evolved is a 2017 action-adventure survival video game developed by Studio Wildcard. In the game, players must survive being stranded on one of several maps filled with roaming dinosaurs, fictional fantasy monsters, and other prehistoric animals, natural hazards, and potentially hostile human players.

<i>Overload</i> (video game) 2018 video game

Overload is a 3D first-person shooter video game developed and released by Revival Productions for Windows, macOS and Linux on May 31, 2018. A version for PlayStation 4 was released on October 16. It features six degrees of freedom movement in a 3D environment with zero gravity, allowing the player to move and rotate in any direction. The game is set primarily on the moons of Saturn, where facilities have sent out distress signals about the mining robots turning hostile.

References

  1. ↑ Larabel, Michael (April 22, 2011). "Frozenbyte Open-Sources Shadowgrounds Games". Phoronix . Phoronix Media.
  2. ↑ "Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds Survivor". Google Developers . Archived from the original on April 29, 2011. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Shadowgrounds: Survivor for PC Reviews". Metacritic . Red Ventures.
  4. ↑ Schmädig, Benjamin (January 31, 2008). "Test: Shadowgrounds Survivor". 4Players (in German). 4Players GmbH. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  5. ↑ Whitehead, Dan (September 30, 2008). "PC Roundup". Eurogamer . Gamer Network . Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  6. ↑ Hunt, Geoffrey (January 22, 2008). "Shadowgrounds Survivor Review". GameRevolution . CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Shadowgrounds Survivor - PC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 5, 2008. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  8. ↑ Onyett, Charles (January 29, 2008). "Shadowgrounds Survivor Review". IGN . Ziff Davis . Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  9. ↑ CptObvious (January 28, 2008). "Test: Shadowgrounds Survivor". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Shadowgrounds: Survivor". PC Format . No. 210. Future plc. February 2008. p. 113.
  11. ↑ "Shadowgrounds: Survivor". PC Gamer UK . Future plc. February 2008. p. 82.
  12. ↑ "Shadowgrounds: Survivor". PC Gamer . Vol. 15, no. 4. Future US. April 2008. p. 70.
  13. ↑ Zitron, Ed (February 2008). "Shadowgrounds Survivor". PC Zone . Future plc. p. 90. Archived from the original on January 28, 2008. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
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.