I remember the shareware version of this game fairly well, as it was one of the first games I tried on my first PC in 1997.
I thought it was quite impressive tech for the time, since the only first person 3D games I knew well enough to compare it against were Doom, Descent, and RotT. I think I had briefly seen Quake before it too, but only on a tiny 486 laptop screen that didn’t do it justice.
A fully 3D world was quite an interesting thing to see and explore in that era, and much like with Descent, I think that captivated me more than anything else about this game. The aesthetics it achieved were quite atmospheric too, despite the low resolution models and their rough textures.
Perhaps the most important part of my experiences was accidentally discovering a way to get outside of the intended map. Then with my fervent curiosity leading me to explore the full consequences of that. Also trying to get on top of all other surfaces I possibly could by similar means. I had never really experienced that in a game before, where being able to break the rules can open a new creative dimension to a game.
Contrasting these tech/engine raves, I was rather let down by the very mediocre game design and (intended) gameplay.
It was difficult for me to play at that age too, but like all children I was not afraid of perseverance, and despite the intense frustration it caused me, I gradually mastered the art of killing these scary mechs. The pace of the game was almost the exact opposite of Doom: Engagement with enemies must be slow and tentative, and they soak up so much damage, while deliver damage to the player in abundance. I think most of my perseverance here stemmed from the necessity to clear out areas before I could safely do my parkour thing!
As the years passed, I all but forgot about this game. Only very occasionally did I recall it even existed. It has always seemed to me like it was a fairly obscure title, even in it’s day, and despite the franchise it was based upon.
A couple of years ago I began watching playthroughs of many games from the 80s+90s to familiarise myself with those I didn’t know, as well as refamiliarise myself with those I had once seen/played. This was one of the games I was eager to find a playthrough of, because I still had some fond memories of it.
In hindsight, it feels more like an impressive (yet buggy) tech demo, and it was memorable because it gave me these experiences I hadn’t really had with games before. Yet it feels like there were lost opportunities, especially with how the gameplay could have been better designed, and better optimised for fun.
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