SOFTWARE REVIEW

Communications Report:

Requiem: Avenging Angel

   

Company of Origin:
3DO and Cyclone Studios

Category:
First Person Shooter

Minimum System Requirements:

P200, 32MB Ram, 4MB 3Dfx or D3D video card

Test System:

PII 416mhz, 80MB Ram, Voodoo 3 3000 video card, 56k V90 modem

Installation:

A user-friendly setup interface will detect and select either Glide or D3D based hardware and configuration automatically. Graphical and sound configs are available as well, providing the user with ample environmental customization. Control selection allows use of joystick, trackball, or keyboard or combos thereof. I used the mouse for looking and firing and keyboard for everything else.

Graphics and Sound:

A quite disturbing graphical representation of the underworld awaits one in the first level of Requiem: Avenging Angel. Vibrant scenes of death and horror with horrifically animated "tortured souls" punctuate your journey out of the underworld. These underworld levels will provide the most unique graphical enjoyment. From this, you emerge into a somewhat familiar looking "Quake-like" environment of buildings and control rooms all too familiar and lacking in color contrasts. Expect graphics on par with Quake 2. Special effects are above average with some interesting explosions and particle effects. Happily, the game designers used a method of modeling character actions which produces fluid movement and some wickedly entertaining enemy destruction / death scenes.

Gameplay:

    Single Player

You are Malachi, a Chosen Angel sent to Earth to save creation from the wrath of Hell's Fallen Angels. To make this somewhat daunting assignment more er... pleasant, you are, throughout your journey given roughly twenty or so angelic powers both offensive and defensive and seven weapons of the standard variety common to FPS games. The only thing I could call enemy AI, was the occasional hesitation before running out into my line of fire. I'm quite experienced in FPS games but even so, the only real challenge was that in some rooms there are just a lot of 'em to kill! Enemy casting is interesting with several humanoid and mechanical beasties to blast into oblivion. Gameplay is somewhat linear throughout with little deviation from the "route" to your next goal. There is, however, some refreshing interaction with characters and a cut scene briefing will enlighten you with details concerning your next goal.

    Multi-Player

Not much to say other than a decidedly moderate at best performance. Very noticeable performance lag and a scarcity of online action when I initially looked for online "multiplayer or deathmatch" games to join in on over the internet. Room for improvement here.

Difficulty:

Not difficult at all. Requiem includes ample control options and input commands which any FPS fan will quickly recognize and includes an onscreen menu for selection of weapons or angelic powers using the mouse pointer to select them. Levels are not too difficult, even a few easy ones. I was "into" the game in no time flat.

Conclusion:

Requiem comes into a somewhat crowded and loyal FPS gaming scene dominated by a few titles with their own specific claim to fame. If anything, it can be said that this title is above average in almost every category, though not best in any specific category. If you are a rabid consumer of FPS games, snag this one.