Title: Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
Genre: Tactical FPS
Date Released: 1996
Date Reviewed: 05/04/2004
Publisher: Looking Glass Studios
Developer: Looking Glass Studios
Before you continue with this review, I must admit that I am a little biased towards this game. Ok, I'm actually incredibly biased towards this game, because in my books, Terra Nova is the best FPS I have ever had the pleasure of playing, bar none. Now what makes that even more incredible is that it was made in 1996, just a bit after Quake came out. Although I first touched the game more than six years ago, it still ranks as one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. Hopefully, this review will shed some light onto one of Looking-Glass' most underrated titles.
Story:
Although I don't have the game with me here in Toronto, I still remember the storyline for Terra Nova quite well. It takes place in the distant future, when people have colonized planets far away from Earth. In light of inter-colony conflicts, the Hegemony (Earth forces) decide that it is time to slowly take back control of the outer colonies. It is only a matter of time before a new Strike Force is created in cooperation to fight back the Hegemony. You have the usual twist and turns in the storyline, which I won't reveal. But a major factor was the FMV (Full Motion Video, ala Wing Commander 3), which brought the game to life. Sure the actors weren't that good, but it did put a face on the team that you are commanding in battle. The story sets up the player to roam a vast number of different planets, each with their own characteristics, and lends well to the grand environments these planets project.
Gameplay:
Gameplay would have to be the strongest point of the game. It is, by far, the most fun (yet challenging) time I've had playing a FPS. Back in 96', Quake seemed to grab all the attention, yet had little improvements over previous FPS (aside from graphics). Terra Nova however, had (in my opinion) the most complex and innovative system of the time. Enemies could be targeted individually, you had a limited squadron of teammates (each with specialties, that become crucial to successfully completing a mission), and you could issue a vast number of sophisticated commands to the team (such as hold until under attack, fire at will, etc). Gameplay also varied greatly from mission to mission, for example, on one of the levels, you are ambushed, and basically have to unload everything you got to make it out alive, yet in another, you are to remain as silent-as-the-wind, and report back recon data. Also, upon finishing missions, you must call a drop ship to pick up you and your team, which can lead to some pretty testy situations. Did I mention that all the environments are outside? That's right, no cramped corridors, or dim-lit hallways, planets are large and full of interactive elements such as water, trees (that you can shoot), mountains (that you can jet-pack-jump over), and such. You can even plan waypoints and such during a mission, to bypass enemy troops. In retrospect, I could probably go on and on about what makes this game fun, but you should really play the game to find out.
Atmosphere:
This game does a fantastic job of keeping the player in the game, whether it be by the kill-count board (tallied against other team members), to the medals that you are awarded for actions above and beyond the call of duty. The FMVs are fun to watch and add to the story. If anything, the difficulty of the missions may detract players from the later points in the game, this game gets hard, fast.
Characters:
You only get to play the leader of the Strike Force (no choice), but unlike other FPS games (even those now), characters are deep, and have pasts that influence them in the game. For example, one of your teammates' family was taken from them by the Hegemony, and are still looking for them. All these things help in making the game fun and believable.
Controls:
Great keyboard layout for an FPS, although, it was not configurable, so I guess south-pawed users would have trouble playing this game. I personally had no troubles, everything seemed to be in place when you need it most.
Graphics:
Ah, the graphics issue. Although it came out after Quake, it does not compare to the true 3D graphics that Quake had. Much like the Voxel Engine, everything was software, and things did get blocky once in a while (hey, max resolution was like 400x300 or something), yet everything seem to look just right. Mountains were tall and un-scalable, puddles splashed when you walked through them, rain fell, snow fell, and the moon lit up the night sky like a lantern. They even had reflections on large bodies of water. Never the less, when you are knee-deep in action, nothing graphical pulls you out of the game. Sidenote: FMVs were much better quality than in-game.
Audio:
Perfect sound effects, they even had a 3D sound system emulation implemented, so you could hear splashes in puddles, and the rain pouring. Firefights sound intense, yet when you are sneaking around, things are eerily quiet. Music is good, but forgettable.
Final thoughts:
I am really surprised that this game never got the attention it deserved. With Quake out, I guess that people were looking for something to really push their machine to the limits, instead of revolutionary, fun gameplay. I have to point out however, that the lack of multiplayer really hurt this title (they were planning a patch, but lack of a fan base led them to drop the project) since I think it could have easily competed with Quake on this level. However, the game does have a skirmish mode, where you pick a team, load up on weapons, and try to destroy the enemies. The game does end after you've completed it, since there is not much else to do, but you will certainly be wishing for more (I certainly am). If Looking-Glass were still in business, I would not hesitate to email them in regards to an updated version, such a game could fare pretty well in today's market I believe. It flawlessly combines the best of squad-based combat with the action of most first person shooters. It is a very fun, yet challenging game.
Score: 96%
Screens: (Yes, i know they are a little small)
A side (and true) note on how I got my hands on the game:
It must have been 1996/97 when I first played the demo on my computer. I don't know how it got on there, perhaps
via a demo disc (but from where?), but all I knew was that I could shoot trees. That's right, in-game, I had no
idea what I had to do, nor how to do it, but I did know that when I exited, it would print out a line along the likes
of "You destroyed XYZ trees. blah blah." For all I knew, it was the first time that a game would actually let me
destroy arbitrary things (later, Duke3D would interest me as such).
I believe it was in '97/98 when I went to Edmonton with my family, and since I was into computers and games,
my trip to West Edmonton Mall led to me scouring the computer stores for cheap games. And there it was, sitting
inconspicuously on the wall of a rather run-down computer shop. Cover art was damn cool, but the price was not
(hey, I'm not a big spender). At that point in the day, it was already time to head back home, and everyone was
ready to leave. Alas, I had no choice but to leave the game there. And so I thought that would be the end of it.
Come '99/00, we decided to go back to Edmonton (probably with cousins or something, my memories elude me at this
moment), and the first place I headed to in the mall was the computer shop. The mall itself had changed quite
a bit, and I must have been wandering for about 15 minutes (it isn't called the world's biggest mall for nothing, that
and the fact that the signs at the entrances did not reflect the renovations going on around the mall). But I walked in,
and looked around, Lo and Behold!, there it was, the game, sitting on the shelf, just as if I had turned around years
ago. Even better was that it was at a bargain-bin price of ten bucks. So I grabbed it, it was the best investment
I have ever made.
Am I being overly dramatic? Of course, however, everything did happen
as such, and I am grateful that I got to play this otherwise unknown game.
On another note, on one of the levels, there's a path leading up to the complex that you are ordered to recon,
and yet every time I played it, I ended up dying either before I get there, or shortly after arrival. I must've played
that level three or four times, before I realized that the terrain was open for a reason. I finally ended up climbing up
a cliff, and held a few skirmishes before reaching an area that I could safely recon the area and get out. It probably was
the 'a hah!' situations that make this game so fun to play.