Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way

Last updated

Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way
Spec Ops Rangers Lead the Way Cover.jpg
Developer(s) Zombie Studios
Publisher(s) Ripcord Games
Producer(s) Sandra B. Smith
Designer(s)
  • Eric Church
  • Javier Garavito
  • Mark Long
Programmer(s) Wyeth Ridgway
Artist(s) Mel Guymon
Composer(s)
  • Roland Barker
  • Joseph Zajonc
Series Spec Ops
Platform(s) Windows
Release
  • NA: April 22, 1998 [1]
  • EU: May 1998
Genre(s) Tactical shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Spec Ops: Rangers Lead The Way (Spec Ops: Ranger Assault in Europe and Australia) is a tactical shooter video game developed by Zombie Studios and published by Ripcord Games exclusively for Windows. Players take control of United States Army Rangers; the game's subtitle is the Ranger motto. It is the first game in the Spec Ops series.

Contents

Gameplay

Spec Ops: Rangers Lead The Way is a tactical shooter game.

Development

Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way was designed to be more of a simulation than previous video games involving the control of ground forces. The developers chose the United States Army Rangers as the subject because of their dangerous missions, aggressive combat tactics, and high casualty rates. [2]

Zombie conducted extensive research for the game, including consulting and using motion capture with a former special forces instructor, attending live fire drills at Fort Lewis, and photographing real soldiers for texture mapping. [2]

Originally the game was to be published for both Windows and PlayStation by BMG Interactive. [2] The PlayStation version was to stream data in order to eliminate load times and utilize true 3D-clipping in order to eliminate tearing in polygonal seams. [2] In mid-1997 BMG Interactive shut down its North American operations, [3] and as 1998 opened the game was still left without a publisher. [4] Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way was also originally planned to have no music. BMG executive producer Mike Suarez commented, "Why waste money on a CD-quality soundtrack? We're focusing on what's more critical to the gameplay and giving it a production value that more than makes up for the absence of music." [2]

The game was picked up by Ripcord Games, which opted to release it only for Windows. [5]

Reception

The game received favorable reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. [6] Next Generation said that the game "succeeds at delivering the tension and excitement of a true Army Ranger mission." [15]

Expansion

Spec Ops: Ranger Team Bravo
Developer(s) Zombie Studios
Publisher(s) Ripcord Games
SeriesSpec Ops
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release
Genre(s) Tactical shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Spec Ops: Ranger Team Bravo is an expansion pack developed by Zombie Studios and was published by Ripcord Games. The expansion launched exclusively for Microsoft Windows on October 23, 1998. The add-on features three new campaigns in Bosnia, Vietnam, and Iraq, and a multiplayer module.

Reception

Ranger Team Bravo received more mixed reviews than the original Spec Ops according to GameRankings. [18]

Related Research Articles

<i>Grand Prix Legends</i> 1998 video game

Grand Prix Legends is a computer racing simulator developed by Papyrus Design Group and published in 1998 by Sierra On-Line under the Sierra Sports banner. It simulates the 1967 Grand Prix season.

<i>Starsiege: Tribes</i> 1998 video game

Starsiege: Tribes is a first-person shooter video game. It is the first of the Tribes video game series and follows the story from Metaltech: Earthsiege and Starsiege. It was developed by Dynamix and published by Sierra On-Line in 1998. An expansion pack, Tribes Extreme, was cancelled; it was supposed to add single-player missions, multiplayer maps, and bot AI.

<i>Sid Meiers Gettysburg!</i> 1997 video game

Sid Meier's Gettysburg! is a 1997 real-time wargame developed by Firaxis Games and published by Electronic Arts. It was designed by Sid Meier, and followed by Sid Meier's Antietam! in 1999.

<i>Moto Racer</i> 1997 video game

Moto Racer, mislabeled as Moto Racer Gold, is an arcade style motorcycle racing game developed by Delphine Software International and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation. The game was originally to be published by BMG Interactive, but after BMG closed down its U.S. operations it sold the publication rights to Electronic Arts. Critics hailed the game as the first outstanding arcade-style racer to appear on PC, and the PlayStation version in turn was called a strong conversion in reviews.

<i>Delta Force 2</i> 1999 video game

Delta Force 2 is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by NovaLogic and released in 1999. It is the second game in the Delta Force series and was followed by Delta Force: Land Warrior one year later. The game was re-released in 2009 on Steam.

<i>Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3</i> 1998 video game

Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Ion Storm, published by Eidos Interactive, and released for Microsoft Windows in 1998. The game was originally developed as a spin-off of the mech simulation game G-Nome by 7th Level. Ion Storm acquired both Dominion and its lead designer, Todd Porter, from 7th Level for completion.

Zombie Studios was an American independent video game developer. It was formed in 1994 as Zombie, LLC by Joanna Alexander and Mark Long, formerly of the Sarnoff Research Center. Alexander and Long founded Zombie after they completed the design of a virtual reality headset for Hasbro at Sarnoff in 1993. Zombie has designed and produced over 30 games for major platforms. They created a value label in 2005, Direct Action Games, to design and produce value titles for both PC and consoles.

<i>World Cup 98</i> (video game) 1998 video game

World Cup 98 is a football video game released in 1998 to coincide with that year's FIFA World Cup football tournament, developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under their EA Sports label. It is the first official FIFA World Cup game developed by EA Sports after obtaining the rights from FIFA in 1997. Unlike the previous World Cup games, which were in 2D and showed a bird's-eye view, World Cup 98 used a 3D engine, utilising DirectX for the PC version.

<i>Viper Racing</i> 1998 video game

Viper Racing is a Dodge-licensed 3D car racing game, released in 1998 on the Windows PC platform. It was the first commercially released game developed by Monster Games.

<i>Industry Giant</i> 1997 business simulation video game

Industry Giant is a business simulation game for Windows. In 2002 a sequel, Industry Giant II, was released.

<i>Space Bunnies Must Die!</i> 1998 video game

Space Bunnies Must Die! is a third-person action-adventure game developed by Pulse Entertainment, which renamed itself Jinx midway through development, and published by Ripcord Games on October 27, 1998 for Microsoft Windows 98. The player character is truck stop waitress and rodeo performer Allison Huxter, who must save the world and her abducted sister from an invading race of mutant bunnies from space.

Ripcord Games was a video game publisher and an entertainment software label of Panasonic Interactive Media based in Santa Clara, California.

<i>Janes F-15</i> 1998 video game

Jane's F-15, also known as simply F-15, is a combat flight simulator video game developed and released by Electronic Arts in 1998 for the PC. It models the McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle. EA's 2000 Jane's F/A-18 used an improved version of F-15's game engine.

Spec Ops is a series of tactical shooter video games. The first two games were developed by Zombie Studios, while Runecraft assisted development on the next three games, and the sixth game in 2002 developed by Big Grub.

<i>Return Fire 2</i> 1998 video game

Return Fire 2 is a computer game developed by Silent Software and published for Windows by Ripcord Games in 1998. It is a sequel to Return Fire.

<i>Spec Ops II: Green Berets</i> 1999 video game

Spec Ops II: Green Berets is a tactical shooter video game developed by Zombie Studios and published by Ripcord Games exclusively for Microsoft Windows. It is the second game in the Spec Ops series. A remake was released in 2000 for the Dreamcast entitled Spec Ops II: Omega Squad.

<i>Links LS 1997</i> 1996 sports video game

Links LS 1997 is a golf video game developed and published by Access Software for DOS. It was released in 1996, and is part of the Links video game series, following Links 386 Pro (1992). It was followed by Links LS 1998.

<i>Game, Net & Match</i> 1998 sports video game

Game, Net & Match! is a video game developed by German studio Media Games and published by Blue Byte for Windows in 1998.

<i>Spearhead</i> (video game) 1998 video game

Spearhead is a tank simulation / action video game developed by Zombie Studios and MAK Technologies, Inc., and published by Interactive Magic and Midas Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows in 1998.

<i>Enemy Infestation</i> 1998 video game

Enemy Infestation is a strategy video game developed by Micro Forté and published by Ripcord Games for Microsoft Windows in 1998.

References

  1. ↑ "News for April 22, 1998". Online Gaming Review. April 22, 1998. Archived from the original on December 4, 2000. Retrieved December 6, 2019. RipCord's SpecOps: Rangers Lead the Way has hit store shelves.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "NG Alphas: SpecOps". Next Generation . No. 30. Imagine Media. June 1997. pp. 82–84. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Cleaning Time: Corporations Slim Down". Next Generation. No. 31. Imagine Media. July 1997. pp. 22–23. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Sneak Previews: Spec Ops" (PDF). GamePro . No. 114. IDG. March 1998. p. 66. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  5. ↑ "The Fall of BMG: Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way". Next Generation . No. 41. Imagine Media. May 1998. p. 47.
  6. 1 2 "Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way for PC". GameRankings . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  7. ↑ Cirulis, Martin E. (June 18, 1998). "Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 23, 2000. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  8. ↑ Chick, Tom (June 1, 1998). "Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way". Computer Games Strategy Plus . Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on May 29, 2003. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  9. ↑ Nguyen, Thierry (September 1998). "Rangers in the Rough (Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way Review)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World . No. 170. Ziff Davis. p. 225. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  10. ↑ Key, Steve (July 1998). "Spec Ops: [Ranger Assault]". Computer and Video Games . No. 200. EMAP. p. 56. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  11. ↑ Edge staff (June 1998). "Spec Ops: Rangers Assault [sic]" (PDF). Edge . No. 59. Future Publishing. p. 90. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 3, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  12. ↑ Bergren, Paul (July 1998). "Spec Ops [Rangers Lead the Way]". Game Informer . No. 63. FuncoLand.
  13. ↑ Hubble, Calvin (June 1998). "Spec Ops [Rangers Lead the Way] Review". GameRevolution . CraveOnline. Archived from the original on April 19, 2004. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  14. ↑ Dunkin, Alan (May 21, 1998). "Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way Review [date mislabeled as "April 12, 2000"]". GameSpot . Fandom. Archived from the original on October 30, 2004. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Spec Ops [Rangers Lead the Way]". Next Generation. No. 43. Imagine Media. July 1998. p. 109. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  16. ↑ Shoemaker, Richie (July 1998). "Spec Ops: Rangers Assault [sic]". PC Zone . No. 65. Dennis Publishing. pp. 94–95. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  17. ↑ Hulsey, Joel (October 23, 1998). "Ripcord Releases Spec Ops Multiplayer". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on May 29, 2003. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  18. 1 2 "Spec Ops: Ranger Team Bravo for PC". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  19. ↑ Chick, Tom (December 9, 1998). "Spec Ops: Ranger Team Bravo". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on May 29, 2003. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  20. ↑ Larka, Lance A. (March 1999). "Spec Ops:Ranger Team Bravo [sic]" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 176. Ziff Davis. p. 162. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 12, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  21. ↑ Dunkin, Alan (January 11, 1999). "Spec Ops: Ranger Team Bravo Review [date mislabeled as "April 12, 2000"]". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on November 12, 2004. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  22. ↑ Klett, Steve (December 1998). "Spec Ops: Ranger Team Bravo". PC Accelerator . No. 4. Imagine Media. p. 100. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
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.