A player character is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not controlled by a player are called non-player characters (NPCs). The actions of non-player characters are typically handled by the game itself in video games, or according to rules followed by a gamemaster refereeing tabletop role-playing games. The player character functions as a fictional, alternate body for the player controlling the character.
Corridor 7: Alien Invasion is a first-person shooter video game developed by Capstone Software and published by IntraCorp and GameTek. The game received poor reception, largely due to its use of the outdated Wolfenstein 3D engine. A sequel, Corridor 8: Galactic Wars, was announced but later canceled.
Freelancer is a space trading and combat simulation video game developed by Digital Anvil and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It is a chronological sequel to Digital Anvil's Starlancer, a combat flight simulator released in 2000. The game was initially announced by Chris Roberts in 1999, and following many production schedule mishaps and a buyout of Digital Anvil by Microsoft, it was eventually released in March 2003.
TekWar is a series of science fiction novels created by Canadian actor William Shatner and ghost-written by American writer Ron Goulart, published by Putnam beginning in October 1989. The novels gave rise to a comic book series, video game, and later TV movies and a series, both of the latter featuring Shatner.
Capstone Software was a subsidiary of IntraCorp, a Miami-based computer and video game company. Founded in 1984, Capstone created first-person games such as Corridor 7: Alien Invasion, Operation Body Count, William Shatner's TekWar and Witchaven, and is also known for releasing games based on movie/TV licenses. Capstone's first-person games used the Wolfenstein 3D engine, and later, the Build engine.
Witchaven is a dark fantasy first-person shooter video game developed by Capstone Software and published by Intracorp Entertainment in 1995. Its sword-and-sorcery themed story tasks the knight Grondoval with a quest to seek out and destroy a lair of witches in their titular fortress, fighting hordes of hostile monsters along the way. Witchaven features action role-playing elements such as leveling, as well as an emphasis on melee combat. Its code was based upon an early version of the nascent Build engine. The game received overall mixed reviews, such as praise for its atmosphere and gory combat, but criticism for some aspects of gameplay. It was followed by a sequel titled Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance in 1996.
Chiller is a light gun arcade game released in 1986 by Exidy. An unlicensed port was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990 by American Game Cartridges in the US, and in Australia by HES, with the option of using either the standard controller or the NES Zapper.
Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance is a fantasy-themed first-person shooter for DOS compatible operating systems released in 1996 by Capstone Software. It is a sequel to 1995's Witchaven. Both games use the Build engine. It was Capstone's last proprietary game before they and their parent company Intracorp went bankrupt. In Witchaven II, the player controls the returning knight Grondoval, the hero of the first game, as he is trying to stop an evil witch from carrying a titular blood vengeance in revenge for him having slain her sister in the original game. It received generally negative reviews, with criticism directed at its controls, enemy AI, and general mediocrity as compared to other first-person shooters coming out at the time. The game is supported by the BuildGDX source port.
A quest, or mission, is a task in video games that a player-controlled character, party, or group of characters may complete in order to gain a reward. Quests are most commonly seen in role-playing games and massively multiplayer online games. Rewards may include loot such as items or in-game currency, access to new level locations or areas, an increase in the character's experience in order to learn new skills and abilities, or any combination of the above.
Daxter is a 2006 platform video game developed by Ready at Dawn and published by Sony Computer Entertainment on the PlayStation Portable on March 14, 2006. A spin-off of the Jak and Daxter series, Daxter takes place during the 2-year timeskip occurring during the opening cutscene of Jak II; unlike the other installments of the franchise focusing primarily on Jak, the game focuses on the adventures of his sidekick Daxter while Jak is imprisoned.
Maximum Force is a light gun shooter arcade game developed by Mesa Logic for Atari Games in 1997. In 1998, Atari Games re-released the game as part of one machine called Area 51/Maximum Force Duo that also included Area 51, and later ported the game to both the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn game consoles.
Rolling Thunder 3 is a 1993 run and gun video game published by Namco released for the Sega Genesis. It is the third and final game in the Rolling Thunder series after Rolling Thunder and Rolling Thunder 2.
Death to Spies is a stealth third-person shooter video game set in World War II. Produced by 1C Company and Russian studio Haggard Games, it was released on 17 October 2007 for Microsoft Windows and later to Valve's digital distribution system Steam on 12 March 2008. The game received mostly positive reviews. Two sequels, Death to Spies: Moment of Truth and Alekhine's Gun, were released in 2009 and 2016, respectively.
The 3rd Birthday is a role-playing shooter developed by HexaDrive and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable. It was released in Japan in 2010 and in North America and Europe in 2011. The game is the third entry in the Parasite Eve video game series, based on the titular Japanese novel, and a spin-off, having only a loose connection to events from past games. The game features a third-person shooter-based combat system with role-playing mechanics. A key mechanic is the Overdive ability, which allows the player to possess pre-positioned human allies and inflict damage upon enemies.
TekWar is a television series, based on the TekWar novels ghost-written by Ron Goulart from outlines by William Shatner and developed for television by Stephen Roloff. The series follows Jake Cardigan, a former police officer turned private investigator working for Cosmos, a private security firm owned and operated by Walter Bascom.
The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces is a 2008 air combat arcade game for the Wii based on the anime film adaptation of Hiroshi Mori’s novel series The Sky Crawlers, as a tie-in prequel to the film. Developed by Project Aces in collaboration with Access Games, the game was released in Japan by Namco Bandai Games on 16 October 2008. Xseed Games released the game in North America on January 12, 2010. It was also released by Namco Bandai Games in Europe on February 26, 2010 and in Australia on March 25, 2010.
Destiny is an online first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was released worldwide on September 9, 2014, for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One consoles. Destiny marked Bungie's first new console franchise since the Halo series, and it was the first game in a ten-year agreement between Bungie and Activision. Set in a "mythological science fiction" world, the game features a multiplayer "shared-world" environment with elements of role-playing games. Activities in Destiny are divided among player versus environment (PvE) and player versus player (PvP) game types. In addition to normal story missions, PvE features three-player "strikes" and six-player raids. A free roam patrol mode is also available for each destination which feature public events. PvP features objective-based modes, as well as traditional deathmatch game modes.
TekWar is a science fiction novel written by William Shatner, assisted by (uncredited) science fiction author Ron Goulart. It was first published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in October 1989. TekWar is the first of nine novels, and created an entire TekWar franchise, which includes the TekWorld comic book series, the video game William Shatner's TekWar, the TekWar TV series, and several related TV movies, including TekLords.
Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica is a video game developed and published by Capcom as part of the Resident Evil series. The arcade version was developed in conjunction with Namco for the arcade machines. The game was released for Sega NAOMI and PlayStation 2. It was released on the PlayStation 2 on November 8, 2001 in Japan and in Europe on March 22, 2002. Whilst the Playstation 2 release is a light gun shooter, the NAOMI arcade release features no lightgun technology whatsoever, instead deferring control of each player entirely to a three-axis joystick in the shape of a gun. The game is the second instalment in the Gun Survivor series and the sequel to Resident Evil Survivor. The game is adapted from Resident Evil – Code: Veronica and features enemies and characters from that game, and enemies from Resident Evil 2 and 3. It was followed by Dino Stalker which is a spin-off of Dino Crisis, and has no ties to Resident Evil.
