3/27 – Red Faction
Hello and welcome. My name is Katosepe and I’ll be your host for today’s Video Game of the Day.
Today’s Video Game of the Day is Red Faction, developed by Volition Inc and originally released on the Playstation 2 in 2001.
Volition Inc was planning on creating another entry in their original franchise, Descent. Descent 4 was planned to be a prequel to the original games, however, after splitting with publisher Interplay, they had to create a new franchise instead. Using the destructable environment tech they had built for Descent 4, Volition began work on what would become Red Faction.
Red Faction puts players in the role of Parker, a miner who was tricked by the Ultor Corporation to work in their Martian mines under awful living conditions. After a miner is killed by a security guard, the miners rise up and start a revolution against the Ultor Corporation. Despite trying to escape, Parker becomes trapped on Mars and must join the revolution in order to survive and get off the planet.
Red Faction plays as a story-focused first person shooter and came out early in the Playstation 2’s life cycle. While the game was initially planned to have fully destructable environments, this had to be scaled back in order to preserve the game’s story. Many areas still contain this technology and it became a hallmark of the series. Despite being focused on the single-player experience, the Playstation 2 version did contain a split-screen multiplayer mode for up to four players and AI bots.
The game was later ported to the PC, Mac and N-Gage. While the computer versions did add online multiplayer, none of the ports received the same praise as the original version on the Playstation 2, with the N-Gage version being particularly maligned. The original version was received quite well, however, and while it was noted that the PC had better shooter options, it was the best available on the Playstation 2 at the time. The game would go on to spawn three sequels through 2011. Currently, the rights are held by THQ Nordic who has previously expressed interest in reviving the series although nothing concrete has yet been announced.
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3/26 – Ultima
Hello and welcome. My name is Katosepe and I’ll be your host for today’s Video Game of the Day.
Today’s Video Game of the Day is Ultima, later known as Ultima 1: The First Age of Darkness, released on the Apple 2 in 1981. Ultima is the first game in the classic computer RPG Ultima series and the second game published by Richard Garriott, better known under his pseudonym, Lord British.
After the success of his first game Akalabeth, Garriott went to University and used what he learned to refine Akalabeth into what would become Ultima. As a fan of Dungeons and Dragons, Garriott wanted to create a single-player, computer game experience of playing a tabletop role playing game.
Players start off creating their own character which can be a fighter, cleric, wizard or thief. They are then tasked by Lord British, the king of one of the eight kingdoms in the world, to defeat the evil wizard Mondain who crafted a gem that makes him immortal. In order to defeat the evil wizard, players must travel across the eight kingdoms to find a time machine which can take them back in time before Mondain created this gem so he can be defeated.
Gameplay is non-linear with the player being able to explore the world as they choose. Each of the eight kingdoms contains a number of quests and dungeons to explore as the player searches for the missing time machine.While the game mostly maintains a high fantasy setting, a number of sci-fi elements do enter the mix including a segment of the game where the player must pilot a spaceship and shoot down enemies.
While critical reception of Ultima 1 was lukewarm particularly towards its high level of difficulty, it was notable for being one of the only role playing games available on the Apple 2 in 1981. It was a huge success for its time and would go on to become one of the largest RPG franchises in gaming. The entire franchise is currently available on GOG and works on modern Windows and Mac computers.
Thank you so much for listening! Please consider leaving us a review on Amazon to let us know what you’d like to see going forward. We’d love your feedback. Also, head to videogameoftheday.com for links to our social media. We’re posting screenshots of some of our games of the day on Instagram so head on over to see what these games look like. Check back here tomorrow for another video game of the day.
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