Virus: It Is Aware

Last updated
Virus: It is Aware
Virus It Is Aware Playstation 1999 Game Cover.jpg
Developer(s) Cryo Interactive
Publisher(s) Cryo Interactive
Platform(s) PlayStation
Release
  • EU: June 1999
Genre(s) Action, horror
Mode(s) Single-player

Virus: It is Aware is a 1999 action-horror video game developed and published by French video game developer Cryo Interactive. It was released on PlayStation in Europe, and localised for France, the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy. The game is a tie-in for the 1999 comic book film Virus [1] based on the comic book from Dark Horse Comics. [2]

Contents

Like the film it was based on, the game was met with negative reception.

Gameplay

The game is a survival-horror action title, similar to the popular PlayStation game Resident Evil . The player guides the character, Joan, from a third-person viewpoint (by default the camera is placed behind Joan, but it is adjustable), through eleven levels in which she confronts forty types of hostile creatures, including five bosses, using nine different weapons. [3]

Special passwords can be used to access levels without playing all the way up to them.

Plot

Loosely based on the film (and in turn, the comic book), the game is about an alien electrical life-form (usually referred to as "the Evil") which hijacks a space station, beams itself down to a ship called The Electra and plans to take over the world. To do so, it killed the ship crew and outfitted them with implants to infiltrate the human race. Unlike in the film, the ship makes it to port and the cyborg monsters infest the "Nakomi hotel". This divergence from the film was due to Cryo Interactive believing that a game set entirely on a boat would be too limited. [2] A female police officer and specialist in criminology, Joan Averil, is sent in to investigate "strange events" along with her partner Sutter. [2] They discover the monsters, and fight their way through, rescuing two civilians on the way. Yakuza criminals also appear as enemies on the way. As reports of strange activity on The Electra surfaces, they track the infestation down to the ship and board it. Joan reveals that her brother Thomas works on the ship, and hopes to find him. They do, but Sutter is killed. They eventually manage to blow up the ship and escape. The ending cinematic ominously zooms out to depict the infested space station.

The back insert blurb of the game states "The virus has arrived on earth to destroy the human race. This time bullets will be used to cure evil." [4] In the native French, it says that bullets will have to be used.

Reception

In testing a beta version of the game on Jeuxvideo.com in July 1999, Kornifex gave it an overall score of 8 out of 20, mostly criticizing the very poor handling of the character, the ugly graphics (cutscenes aside), bad music, and technical shortcomings. The review concluded, "Briefly, virus is far, very far from being finished. The final version just came out. I really hope it has been redesigned from the ground up for nothing portends a good game." [3]

OPM UK stated that the most enlightening aspects of the game were those that were missing "There's no sidestep or roll, no strafing of any kind, no sniper mode, no aiming up or down" and gave the game a 4 out of 10. [2]

Upon release, these issues were essentially unchanged and the game received mediocre to poor reviews. The French magazine Consoles + gave it a 5 out of 10 (52%), while Joypad  [ fr ] and PlayStation Magazine gave it only 1 out of 10. [5] In June 2010, the French Internet game reviewer Frédéric Molas lambasted the game on his show Le Joueur du Grenier .

Related Research Articles

Resident Evil, or Biohazard in Japan and parts of Southeast Asia, is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments inhabited by zombies and other frightening creatures. The franchise has expanded into other media, including a live-action film series, animated films, television series, comic books, novels, audio dramas and merchandise. Resident Evil is the highest-grossing horror franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werewolf fiction</span> Fantasy genre

Werewolf fiction denotes the portrayal of werewolves and other shapeshifting therianthropes, in the media of literature, drama, film, games and music. Werewolf literature includes folklore, legend, saga, fairy tales, Gothic and horror fiction, fantasy fiction and poetry. Such stories may be supernatural, symbolic or allegorical. A classic cinematic example of the theme is The Wolf Man (1941) which in later films joins with the Frankenstein Monster and Count Dracula as one of the three famous icons of modern day horror. However, werewolf fiction is an exceptionally diverse genre, with ancient folkloric roots and manifold modern re-interpretations.

<i>Resident Evil 2</i> 1998 video game

Resident Evil 2 is a 1998 survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation. The player controls rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy and college student Claire Redfield, who must escape Raccoon City after its citizens are transformed into zombies by a biological weapon two months after the events of the original Resident Evil. The gameplay focuses on exploration, puzzles, and combat; the main difference from its predecessor are the branching paths, with each player character having unique storylines, partners and obstacles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryo Interactive</span> Former French video game development and publishing company

Cryo Interactive Entertainment was a French video game development and publishing company founded in 1990, but existing unofficially since 1989 as a developer group under the name Cryo.

<i>Resident Evil 3: Nemesis</i> 1999 video game

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is a 1999 survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom originally for the PlayStation. It is the third game in the Resident Evil series and takes place almost concurrently with the events of Resident Evil 2. The player must control former elite agent Jill Valentine as she escapes from Raccoon City, which has been infected by a virus. The game uses the same engine as its predecessors and features 3D models over pre-rendered backgrounds with fixed camera angles. Choices through the game affect how the story unfolds and which ending is achieved.

Legacy or Legacies may refer to:

<i>Resident Evil Outbreak</i> 2003 video game

Resident Evil Outbreak is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 2. It was released on December 11, 2003 in Japan, on March 30, 2004 in North America, and on September 17, 2004 in PAL regions. It was the first entry in the Resident Evil video game series to feature cooperative gameplay and online multiplayer support, although online support was not available for the PAL versions of the game.

<i>Resident Evil: Dead Aim</i> 2003 video game

Resident Evil: Dead Aim is a light gun shooter video game developed by Cavia and published by Capcom. It is the third Gun Survivor title in the Resident Evil series, and the fourth and final installment in the Gun Survivor series. It is also the second in the franchise to feature first-person shooting in the Resident Evil series.

<i>Virus</i> (1999 film) 1999 science fiction-horror film directed by John Bruno

Virus is a 1999 American science fiction horror film directed by visual effects artist John Bruno and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, William Baldwin and Donald Sutherland. Based on the comic book of the same name by Chuck Pfarrer, it tells the story of a ship beset by a malevolent extraterrestrial entity that seeks to turn humanity into cyborg slaves.

<i>Frank Herberts Dune</i> (video game) 2001 video game

Frank Herbert's Dune is a 2001 3D video game based on the 2000 Sci Fi Channel miniseries of the same name. The game was not a commercial or critical success, and was one of the last games by Cryo Interactive, which went bankrupt shortly after the game's failure.

<i>Biohazard 4D-Executer</i> 2000 Japanese film

Biohazard 4D-Executer is a 2000 Japanese 3D animated biopunk horror film based on the Resident Evil series of survival horror video games. It was created by Capcom in cooperation with Visual Science Laboratory, and distributed by Digital Amuse. Biohazard 4D-Executer was directed by Koichi Ohata, and written by Daisuke Okamoto, who was supervised by the game series developers. A limited release, the 20-minute film has been an attraction in Japanese theme parks since November 2000, and can be seen in movie theaters and smaller booths. The story centers on the mission of a military squad sent to the zombie-infested Raccoon City to locate the whereabouts of Dr. Cameron, a female scientist conducting research on a new type of virus.

<i>Atlantis III: The New World</i> 2001 video game

Atlantis III: The New World,, is a 2001 fantasy adventure video game developed and published by Cryo Interactive, with Dreamcatcher Interactive publishing the game in North America. David Rhodes composed the musical score. It is the third game in the Atlantis series by Cryo, as well as the last one made before Cryo's closure. It was followed by Atlantis Evolution in 2004.

<i>Singularity 7</i>

Singularity 7 is a four-issue comic book mini-series created, written, and illustrated by Ben Templesmith. It was published by American company IDW Publishing in 2004. The series combines elements of science-fiction, cyberpunk, and horror, to tell the story of a post-apocalyptic dystopian future.

<i>Aztec: The Curse in the Heart of the City of Gold</i> 1999 video game

Aztec: The Curse in the Heart of the City of Gold is a 1999 adventure game designed for Windows, PlayStation and iOS. It was developed by and published by Cryo Interactive and licensed by Wanadoo Edition.

<i>Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles</i> 2009 video game

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles is an on-rails light gun shooter video game for the Wii developed by Capcom and Cavia as part of the Resident Evil series. The game was released for the Wii on November 17, 2009, in North America. It serves as a prequel to Resident Evil 4, set 2 years before its events. It was released in Europe on November 27, 2009, bundled with the Wii Zapper accessory.

<i>Gift</i> (2000 video game) 2000 platform video game by Eko System

Gift is a platform game developed by French studio Eko Software that parodies elements of popular adventure games. It was created by Cryo Interactive's creative director Philippe Ulrich and by author, cartoonist and illustrator Régis Loisel. The game is set over ten levels in a full 3-D world.

Goosebumps video games are a series of action-adventure games based on Goosebumps book series.

<i>Resident Evil: Revelations 2</i> 2015 video game

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is an episodic survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom as part of the Resident Evil series. The game is a follow-up to Resident Evil: Revelations and Resident Evil 5. It marks the return of Claire Redfield as the protagonist, and the first time Barry Burton is a playable story character in the main series. It is also the first Resident Evil game to not feature Alyson Court as the long time voice of Claire Redfield. The first installment was released in February 2015.

<i>Resident Evil 2</i> (2019 video game) Video game remake

Resident Evil 2 is a 2019 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. A remake of the 1998 game Resident Evil 2, it was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in January 2019 and for Amazon Luna, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in June 2022, and a Nintendo Switch cloud version released in November 2022. Players control the rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy and the college student Claire Redfield as they attempt to escape Raccoon City during a zombie outbreak.

<i>Maid of Sker</i> (video game) 2020 survival horror video game

Maid of Sker is a 2020 first-person survival horror game developed and published by Wales Interactive. The game is set in 1898 in the Sker Hotel, on an imaginary island called Sker Island. The protagonist, Thomas Evans, is invited by his lover, Elisabeth Williams, to uncover the mysteries of the hotel after she notices her family's strange behavior. While exploring the hotel, Thomas learns cult followers called "The Quiet Ones" control the place. He finds notes and gramophone records scattered around the hotel that reveal the history of Elisabeth's family.

References

  1. "Virus: It is aware for PlayStation". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Official UK Playstation Magazine - Issue 048 (Future Publishing)(GB). August 1999. p. 93.
  3. 1 2 "Test de Virus sur PlayStation - 12/07/1999". Jeuxvideo.com. 12 July 1999. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  4. "Notes et avis de la presse spécialisée sur VIRUS it is aware". Gamekult.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2013-03-15.