henke on 4/12/2018 at 18:56
The talk about Flashback in the GOG thread got me thinking about it's lesser-known sequel,
Fade To Black. It was one of the first 3rd person 3D games I played. Hell, it
was one of the first 3rd person 3D games, coming out a year before Tomb Raider popularized the genre. I could never make it very far in the game back then, and I was wondering if I'd fare any better now. So, I dusted off my old CD-ROM, fired up DOSBox and gave it a go.
[video=youtube;1jx8JnlfND0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jx8JnlfND0[/video]
ControlsThe controls leave
a lot to be desired. Try playing it with a XBox One gamepad and you’ll find that there’s no deadzone, meaning your character is always either running, turning, or ducking. You can play with mouse+keyboard, but the insane un-rebindable keyboard layout means that you’d need 3 hands to pull that off, so I ended up playing with just the keyboard, but even that’s unweildy.
Get a loada this crazy control scheme:
Arrow keys - run, turn, duck (there’s no backing up)
Right shift key - modifies arrow keys into walk, strafe, turn 180 degrees
V - Aim
B - Fire
Space - Interact
Enter - reload
U - use item
J - jump
GraphicsAt the time I thought the 3D kinda looked like shit. The polygons don’t quite fit together right, jitter around, and your character has no face. But in retrospect I think this style has held up better than other 3D games of this era that went for a more *realistic* style (Tomb Raider, Resident Evil). The stylized 3D gives it an impressionistic quality, as if the whole thing is an artist’s idea of a 3D game, rather than an actual 3D game. Coupled with a generous 640x400 max resolution this is a game that looks quite good in 2018, to a certain set of eyes.
GameplayAlthough it looks like an action game, the cumbersome movement and rough difficulty makes it feel more like a survival horror game. There's rudimentary shooting and lots of switch-flipping and key-collecting. The levels are relatively big and the way you'll often unlock new paths back to the healing-station reminds me of Dark Souls. There's some nice setpieces and cinematic moments here and there. And there's also one of the worst escort mission sequences in gaming (15:00 in the vid above).
StoryEh, too soon to say. I thought the guy who voiced John O Connor sounded kinda like Stephen Russell, but turns out his name is (
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0413996/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t3) Roger Jackson (Ghostface in the Scream movies, Mojo Jojo in Powerpuff Girls + a ton of videogame credits). There's a ton of FMV cinematics in this and while they do have a goofy charm most of them go on for too long.
I never made it out of the first level back in the day, but now I'm already up to level 3, so I'm gonna keep playing this and see how it unfolds. All told, I'm kinda enjoying it!
PigLick on 5/12/2018 at 01:24
I remember this, reading about it in some old game mag. It was touted as revolutionary graphics etc. Actually looks a bit like some retro indie 3d titles that are around now.
Also escort missions, I dont know how anyone ever thought that was a good idea.
Pyrian on 5/12/2018 at 02:28
I think there have been plenty of good escort missions, over the years. Wings of Liberty has one early on, Invisible Inc basically ends with one. But it can't be denied that a lot of games have messed them up really bad...
icemann on 5/12/2018 at 07:19
I played through Fade to Black back when it came out. Finished it even. I found unlocking all the death animation videos to be quite amusing. Is quite a few of them in the game.
The later puzzles were a real bitch. Had to use a walkthrough.
Ending is half half.
henke on 5/12/2018 at 07:34
Yeah I've had to consult a walkthrough a couple times too, tho mostly just for obscure interface stuff that the game doesn't teach you about. I couldn't figure out how to upload the virus at the end of mission 2, turned out you can't just use the terminal like any other, instead you gotta equip the datacube from the inventory and press the use item button, instead of the interact button.
I've made it to the 5th level now. Level 4 was a alien ship with garrish organic purple decor, I rescured a floating head who told me to get into a small spaceship and I ended up in an ancient Aztec looking place where there are invincible walking stone gollems. Weird shit.
reizak on 5/12/2018 at 14:23
I loved this game although I'd completely forgotten it. We went on a school trip to Estonia in junior high and one of the highlights was the Black Hill market where you could buy pirated stuff out in the open. I got Fade to Black, Command & Conquer, some Russian game about pirates and the Mortal Kombat movie on VHS. Pretty solid choices, kid me! Always thought F2B was super-stylish, but I don't think I'd want to deal with the controls now. The movement is really deliberate like in some proto-Souls game, the turning/aiming is awkward, and everything just has too few animation frames, which is a bummer considering how smooth Another World and Flashback were. I do still appreciate the style though.
henke on 5/12/2018 at 15:17
I've been to that Estonian black market! :D That's where I first bought Deus Ex! The music files had been ripped out so it'd fit on a CD with 4 other games so I had to soundtrack it with the KoRn and Cypress Hill CDs I also bought there. Ahhh, memories...
PigLick on 5/12/2018 at 16:22
Korn? i thought you were cool man
reizak on 5/12/2018 at 16:36
Nice! Somehow I could almost see Cypress Hill working with DX. Less of the high-tech and more of the low-life aspect of cyberpunk. No offense to Cypress Hill :\
henke on 6/12/2018 at 10:49
HEY MAN, I'M COOL! :U
I've now made it to the Reactor Room, level 11 out of 12. I figured I'd get bored after a few levels, but here we are. I'd say the first 3 levels were the best so far. The middle levels were mostly weird alien structures and a pretty terrible spaceship flying section, but the later levels return to human-built spacebases and the story has kinda picked up again.
