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CyberMage: Darklight Awakening

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CyberMage
Developer(s)Origin Systems
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Producer(s)Warren Spector
Designer(s)David W. Bradley
Programmer(s)David W. Bradley
Artist(s)Chris Appel
Writer(s)David W. Bradley
Composer(s)Cinco Barnes
Evan Brandt
Steve Miller
Platform(s)MS-DOS
ReleaseQ3/Q4 1995[1]
Genre(s)First-person shooter, role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

CyberMage: Darklight Awakening is a cyberpunk first-person shooter game with role-playing elements designed by David W. Bradley. It was created by Origin and released by Electronic Arts in 1995. The game is characterized by a dark, heavy atmosphere.

Plot

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Set in the year 2044, the game features a world ruled by corporations and groups of anti-corporation rebels. The corporations, faced with the rebellion and competition among themselves, start working on implant products that lead to hybrid humans.

The game's protagonist player wakes up in a bio-gen tube in a strange suit, with a gem implanted in his forehead. The gem is the Darklight, a stone of magical power. After hearing gunshots and explosions, the character crawls out of the tube to find the aftermath of the battle generated by those trying to find him. Amnesiac and disorientated, the character seeks to understand what his true identity is. He discovers that has been experimented upon by the SARCorp corporation, and he seeks revenge for his mistreatment.

Development

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Designer David W. Bradley said he wrote the game to learn 3D technology.[2]

Reception

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Jeffrey Adam of GameSpot rated it 76/100 and wrote that the game, which initially seems like a generic Doom clone, improves upon the formula by adding usable vehicles and forcing strategic use of power-ups.[5] A reviewer for Next Generation, however, argued that these elements are not enough to make the game more than just another Doom clone. He gave the game 3 out of 5 stars, summarizing that "CyberMage has great graphics, beautiful sound, digitized video, and a detailed, entertaining storyline. It's too bad that, for all that, it still doesn't stand above the rest of the first-person shooters that clog software store shelves."[4] Martin E. Cirulis Computer Gaming World rated it 3.5/5 stars and called it "a slick and enjoyable action game" that does not make enough use of its comic book styling.[6] In a capsule review, PC Magazine called it fun but criticized the controls.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Jebens, Harley (August 31, 1995). "Attention, gaming shoppers". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved March 31, 2024. The most highly anticipated offerings of this Christmas' Doom and Doom-like offerings would have to be...Cybermage: Darklight Awakening (Origin) plops you into a 3D environment, where you'll have to battle and puzzle your way through a comic-book adventure.
  2. ^ "Wizards & Warriors Interview". IGN. 2000-07-13. Archived from the original on 2001-02-17. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  3. ^ Snyder, Frank; Chapman, Ted; Gehrs, Scott (March 1996). "Modern-Day Mage". Computer Game Review. Archived from the original on December 21, 1996. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "CyberMage". Next Generation. No. 17. Imagine Media. May 1996. p. 97.
  5. ^ Adam, Jeffrey (1996-05-01). "CyberMage: Darklight Awakening Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  6. ^ Cirulis, Martin E. (March 1996). "The Hero and the Horror". Computer Gaming World. No. 140. pp. 138–145.
  7. ^ "Quick Clips". PC Magazine. Vol. 15, no. 7. 1996-04-09.
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