- Joined
- May 29, 2010
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I've been going through a number of these recently, and I think it's keen how id indirectly supported a mini-industry of American devs. The line-up:
Raven
Middleton, Wisconsin
idtech games: Heretic, Hexen, Hexen II, Heretic II, Soldier of Fortune, Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force, Soldier of Fortune II, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Quake 4, Wolfenstein (2009)
The most prolific of the bunch by far. Unfortunately I always thought they were mediocre at best; some of these would have been good if not some for some critical flaw holding them back; I remember Heretic II being about as good as a third person action game could get on an id engine, but it was still an engine unsuited for third person action gameplay. Soldier of Fortune had some irritating snipers-who-can-see-through-thick-fog-you-can't levels. Elite Force did a great job of feeling like an episode of Voyager, but it relied a bit too much on enemy waves transporting in (proto-Dragon Age II). Jedi Outcast had unintuitive level design and all the bad cliches of early/mid-00s gimmicks (escort, stealth, timed, and zero-g "underwater" missions). Still a shame they're a Call of Duty farm now.
Rogue/Nerve
Dallas, Texas
idtech games: Strife, Quake: Dissolution of Eternity, Quake II: Ground Zero, American McGee's Alice, Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
Alice is the only one I've played of these. Liked the art style and the music, but the gameplay suffers from similar issues Heretic II did (the combat is also not as polished feeling).
Hipnotic/Ritual
Dallas, Texas
idtech games: Quake: Scourge of Armagon, SiN, Heavy Metal FAKK 2, Star Trek: Elite Force II
My favorite of the bunch. Yes, they were totally stuck in teenage boy territory (to their credit, they did mature a bit for Elite Force II, but they still couldn't resist including their trademark giant cyborgs, giant mutants, and barely dressed babes). Yes, Elite Force II was worse than its predecessor thanks in large part to having too many obnoxious minigames, escort missions, and time limits. Yes, their other games have some annoying sections that keep them from becoming classic. However, they were ambitious (Sin's multiple paths, the number of animations Heavy Metal's main character has, Elite Force II's two romances), had consistently intuitive level design (unlike Raven), always delivered great graphics, and employed Zak Belica, one of the finest video game music composers.
Xatrix/Gray Matter Interactive
Los Angeles, California
idtech games: Quake II: The Reckoning, Kingpin, Return to Castle Wolfenstein
I only played RtCW which started out good, but quickly devolved into hitscan and bullet sponge and occasional mandatory stealth section irritation. I was so disappointed by the experience that I didn't bother with Kingpin, which has a reputation for being overly-difficult jank. They would be the worst if not for
Ion Storm Dallas
Dallas, Texas obviously
idtech games: Daikatana, Anachronox
Daikatana's disappointment is legendary. Anachronox has a reputation for slow combat and "funny" dialogue but I never saw any of the latter in the hour of the machinima I watched. A company that only justified its existence with its Austin branch, who worked with Unreal.
Post your own thoughts and arguments about these companies and their games. Even though they were medicore, I miss 'em and the thing they had going.
Raven
Middleton, Wisconsin
idtech games: Heretic, Hexen, Hexen II, Heretic II, Soldier of Fortune, Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force, Soldier of Fortune II, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Quake 4, Wolfenstein (2009)
The most prolific of the bunch by far. Unfortunately I always thought they were mediocre at best; some of these would have been good if not some for some critical flaw holding them back; I remember Heretic II being about as good as a third person action game could get on an id engine, but it was still an engine unsuited for third person action gameplay. Soldier of Fortune had some irritating snipers-who-can-see-through-thick-fog-you-can't levels. Elite Force did a great job of feeling like an episode of Voyager, but it relied a bit too much on enemy waves transporting in (proto-Dragon Age II). Jedi Outcast had unintuitive level design and all the bad cliches of early/mid-00s gimmicks (escort, stealth, timed, and zero-g "underwater" missions). Still a shame they're a Call of Duty farm now.
Rogue/Nerve
Dallas, Texas
idtech games: Strife, Quake: Dissolution of Eternity, Quake II: Ground Zero, American McGee's Alice, Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
Alice is the only one I've played of these. Liked the art style and the music, but the gameplay suffers from similar issues Heretic II did (the combat is also not as polished feeling).
Hipnotic/Ritual
Dallas, Texas
idtech games: Quake: Scourge of Armagon, SiN, Heavy Metal FAKK 2, Star Trek: Elite Force II
My favorite of the bunch. Yes, they were totally stuck in teenage boy territory (to their credit, they did mature a bit for Elite Force II, but they still couldn't resist including their trademark giant cyborgs, giant mutants, and barely dressed babes). Yes, Elite Force II was worse than its predecessor thanks in large part to having too many obnoxious minigames, escort missions, and time limits. Yes, their other games have some annoying sections that keep them from becoming classic. However, they were ambitious (Sin's multiple paths, the number of animations Heavy Metal's main character has, Elite Force II's two romances), had consistently intuitive level design (unlike Raven), always delivered great graphics, and employed Zak Belica, one of the finest video game music composers.
Xatrix/Gray Matter Interactive
Los Angeles, California
idtech games: Quake II: The Reckoning, Kingpin, Return to Castle Wolfenstein
I only played RtCW which started out good, but quickly devolved into hitscan and bullet sponge and occasional mandatory stealth section irritation. I was so disappointed by the experience that I didn't bother with Kingpin, which has a reputation for being overly-difficult jank. They would be the worst if not for
Ion Storm Dallas
Dallas, Texas obviously
idtech games: Daikatana, Anachronox
Daikatana's disappointment is legendary. Anachronox has a reputation for slow combat and "funny" dialogue but I never saw any of the latter in the hour of the machinima I watched. A company that only justified its existence with its Austin branch, who worked with Unreal.
Post your own thoughts and arguments about these companies and their games. Even though they were medicore, I miss 'em and the thing they had going.