Colony Wars: Red Sun
| Colony Wars: Red Sun | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio |
 Psygnosis Leeds |
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| Publisher |
 Sony Midway (North America)
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| Senior Developer | Simon Stratford (Lead Designer) | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
May 2000 | ||
| platform | PlayStation | ||
| genre | Space flight simulation | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | Game controller | ||
| medium | CD-ROM | ||
| language | German | ||
| Age rating |
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Colony Wars: Red Sun is an action-oriented space flight simulation and the third game in the Colony Wars series by Psygnosis . In contrast to its two predecessor games, it was developed by a new team at Studio Leeds and released for PlayStation in May 2000. The plot of the game is set at about the same time as the events in Colony Wars: Vengeance and deals only marginally with the previous formative conflict between the League of Free Worlds and the Solar Navy. The player takes on the role of the mercenary pilot Alexander Valdemar, who follows in the footsteps of a mysterious alien race.
action
The game opens a parallel, in contrast to its predecessor, a linear storyline to the second colonial war between Navy and League. At the time of the game, the year 4670, both parties are still in a bitter war against each other. At the same time, the maiden flight of the Red Sun is imminent, a neutral spaceship that should open up new perspectives in space for mankind. It is at the center of the action of Colony War: Red Sun . Instead of continuing to shed light on the conflict between the two human groups, the player follows the traces of the mysterious alien race of the Sha'Har.
The player's alter ego, the miner Alexander Lyron Valdemar, follows the telepathic call of the mysterious "General", who warns him of a threat to all humanity from the Red Sun. Valdemar then gives up his position and follows the heels of the Red Sun. While he is chasing the ship, he does numerous side missions as a mercenary pilot.
Gameplay
The basic game principle as well as the technical basis of the predecessor was taken over for Red Sun once more. In contrast to the first two parts, however, there are no branching storylines. Instead, in each solar system there are a number of main missions that the player must successfully complete. In addition, there are a number of side missions that are offered to him by many factions in the game (league, navy, aliens, smugglers). They are optional and are used to finance the player's equipment. As a freelance mercenary, he is no longer required to have equipment, as in its predecessors, but can put it together according to his own wishes and purchase it through dealers. These include nine different types of spaceships and 44 different weapons and auxiliary systems (such as cloaking devices, cooling systems, etc.). Compared to its predecessor, the strong separation into anti-protective shield and anti-hull weapons has been broken up.
development
Colony Wars: Red Sun was developed by a new team of designers in Psygnosis' development studio in Leeds , based on the development code of the two previous games. Development work on the third part began at the end of 1998. The original marketing concept saw Red Sun as a bridging title between Colony Wars: Vengeance and a possible fourth Colony Wars for the PlayStation 2 . The team was therefore only given a short development period.
According to lead designer Simon Stratford, the limited storage options and the strict distinction between anti-protective shield and anti-hull weapons were identified as the main points of criticism in the wake of Colony Wars: Vengeance based on market analyzes and player feedback. In a postmortem report by the Red Sun programmer Julian Gold for the Game Developer magazine after the game was released, the latter also described the depressing plot of the predecessor and the slight variation in the mission design as further change requests.
According to Stratford, the most important target market on which the team's design decisions were largely based was the USA . However, according to their own statements, the team did not see themselves in a position to surpass the system of branched storylines from the predecessor and therefore wanted to move on to a more personal story. More freedom of choice for the player was particularly important to the team. Stratford described the game as a spin-off to two previous series titles. Stratford described the space flight / trade simulation Elite as one of the models for the design , while the staging tried to be based on Star Wars .
According to Gold, the team had major problems with the old program code, which, after being used in three previous games developed under great time pressure ( Krazy Ivan , Colony Wars 1 + 2 ), suffered from constant modification, performance problems and was characterized by strong dependencies. In addition, the programming team, initially limited to two people, had no experience developing for the PlayStation. The programming team began the in C written code in C ++ to convert to write it after some initial hesitation in much of new and build modular. The renderer , the collision query system and the enemy AI have all been redesigned. The creation of the FMV sequences was outsourced to Havoc Digital Pictures . The game's soundtrack was conceived by Psygnosis' composer Gary McKill based on the 1999 Star Wars Episode 1 released as an opulent classical soundtrack and recorded with the Midland Symphony Orchestra . The total development period was 14 months and the development budget was $ 2.35 million.
reception
| publication | Rating |
|---|---|
| Video games | 79% |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 8/10 |
| Game Informer | 8.25 / 10 |
| GameSpot | 7.5 / 10 |
| GameVortex | 89% |
| IGN | 8.5 / 10 |
| Meta-ratings | |
| GameRankings | 84.03% |
Colony Wars: Red Sun also received mostly very good ratings from the trade press, but came off worst compared to its predecessors (game rankings: 84.03%).
“Hardcore fans of the series will still like this game, as long as they aren't too rigid. [...] Also, while the ship designs have been better, and the weapons system a little more complex, and the game a little harder in the former two games, Red Sun is strangely a much better all around game. "
“Hardcore fans of the show will still like the game as long as they're not too strict. [...] Even if the ship designs were better, the weapon systems a little more complex and the challenge a little higher in the previous two games, Red Sun in its entirety is strangely the better game. "
"Thanks to a greater focus on plot development and presentation, Psygnosis delivers with Red Sun what is arguably the best Colony Wars title to date."
"Thanks to a stronger focus on story development and presentation, Psygnosis delivers with Red Sun probably the best Colony Wars title so far."
Despite good ratings, the game was not a great commercial success. Programmer Gold attributed this not only to the increasing niche existence of space flight simulations but also to poor marketing on the part of the parent company.
In 2011, Colony Wars: Red Sun was one of the three PlayStation games proposed by the Smithsonian American Art Museum for its exhibition The Art of Video Games as examples of the artistic design of action shooters on this console. After a public vote, however, it was defeated against one-handed .
Web links
- Official website
- Colony Wars: Red Sun at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c IGN Staff: Colony Wars: Red Sun Q & A ( English ) In: IGN . News Corp . January 25, 2000. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ↑ Doug Perry: Colony Wars Red Sun ( English ) In: IGN . News Corp . February 16, 2000. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ↑ Isaiah Taylor: How Colony Wars Came To Be ( English ) In: Gamasutra . United Business Media. September 28, 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ↑ a b c d Julian Gold: Psygnosis's Colony Wars: Red Sun . In: Game Developer . No. 166, August 2000, pp. 52-61.
- ↑ Christian Daxer: Test: Colony Wars: Red Sun . (Scan) In: Video Games . 04/2000, April 2000, pp. 96-97. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ↑ a b Frank Provo: Colony Wars III: Red Sun Review ( English ) In: GameSpot . CNET . June 12, 2000. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ↑ Phil Bordelon: Colony Wars III: Red Sun ( English ) In: GameVortex . Retrieved March 22, 2012.
- ↑ a b Doug Perry: Colony Wars Red Sun ( English ) In: IGN . News Corp . June 13, 2000. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ↑ a b GameRankings : Average rating , based on 19 articles. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ↑ The Art of Video Games Voting Result ( English , pdf; 1.0 MB) Smithsonian Institution . May 5, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
- ↑ Kris Graft: Smithsonian Art Exhibit Recognizes Games From Pac-Man To Heavy Rain ( English ) In: Gamasutra . UBM plc. May 5, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
