Cyber-Cop: Giving Up

Something tells me that whatever path forward there is lies in the weird basement. So instead of continuing on the level I was, I return there. Not sure how these floors work and where this fits in the grand scheme of things. This is trying to be realistic, after all, in level design, even if it is failing. I'm noticing barrels and crates on the floor, ones that look like they should be explosive, but they don't damage ones nearby, so if they are, they're the lamest ones possible.

I find another teleporter...thing. This is definitely a new level, its got a pink ceiling. And there are humans now. I wasn't actually expecting that. I just assumed the entire game was robot and mutant city. He's a scanned person, probably a developer, which I guess puts this as the first FPS with one of those. If he was in the original, that puts this as a fairly early title. Not the first obviously, A-10 Tank Killer was earlier, and I'm sure others had that bit too. As an enemy, they're fairly quick on the draw, which considering the controls isn't really great.

But new enemies aside, I'm just not really finding anything. I eventually find a teleport that takes me back to the regular level. There doesn't seem to be an elevator nor any computers. While eventually you can orient yourself around these levels, you tend to miss big gaps, especially since turning is slow and the underlying graphical engine doesn't work half the time. Either the walls are hiding a door or they're accidentally removing a wall. Eventually, on the first extra-level, I finally find a computer. Huzzah, that wasn't annoying or anything at all! Now the trek back to the elevator. Which takes a surprisingly long time, its been so long I've forgotten where the damn thing is.

Part of the problem with the walls disappearing as you turn is I suspect the AI can see it just as much as me. Sounds, alarms going off with no clear source. Or they're caused by markings on the floor. Okay, whatever. The new passcode allowed me to reach level 1...which has nothing there. Either I need something here or the developers are having a laugh. Yeah, great job. Level 2, outside of having the worst color scheme yet, blending into the far away walls, its also a bit lazy. None of these levels were ever going to be truly great, since...well you have eyes, but effort was usually made so far. Seems like the only goal on this level is to go into a different elevator then into level 2.

Back on level 1, its business as usual, but things are getting harder, not for the reasons you'd think. Recharge items are failing to be of use while medikits are non-existent. Power is running low, even with recharging items and the items I assumed were ammo are not. I don't know what they are. The game is throwing a deluge of cameras at me draining away a vital resource from more important encounters. Though knowing this game, I suspect the opposite was intended, that the cameras are important and the enemies are not. As I die once again on this level, that thought ticks me off. This level is just compounding all the thoughts I've had about this game.
Reloading at the beginning of this section, I can't find my way back very easily. That's a problem. I thought I was in a section just inside two different passcode doors, but no, it seems like it was leading to something important. There's nothing outside, at least I can't find anything outside. Trying again just produces the same result, I get killed. I don't particularly feel like playing it some more to see if I'm right. Let's finish this off with a short mini-statement.
Checking my earlier review of the PC version reveals that my thoughts haven't changed much. Its still looks the same, perhaps with a slightly smaller screen. Speed is still an issue, slowdown whenever a sprite consuming the entire screen here, sporadic in DOS. Same weapons, same enemies. I think there are less complex underlying systems here, but I don't know if that's true. The only change is in the controls. The game itself controls worse, owing to the console controls, but the inventory system is actually understandable. I could use items; Something I couldn't in the PC version. I strongly suspect if I wanted to put the effort in now, I could actually solve that issue there. This is sort of like a simplified control scheme before you use the real controls.
None of that is really useful. This doesn't really make the game better, just playable. By default I guess that makes this the best version of Corporation, but that doesn't mean much.

This Session: 40 minutes

Final Time: 3 hours

Cyber-Cop: A Little Understanding

Energy in this game is a pressing concern, a very pressing concern. I started a game with a new character, completely naked, turned on turbo, and waited until his energy ran out. It did not take long. There's no manual, nothing online except a longplay, and I dislike having to rely on those for information. In short, I have a very pressing problem and no real way of stopping it. At this point, this is where I should give up. The learning curve is more like a slope and the few willing to find fun after that don't really care if finish it myself. For some reason I feel compelled to continue.

Returning to where I left off, I find a medikit down a few hallways. This is not a very well thought-out level. You basically have to get lucky in your choice of door and still go a long way before anything approaching a level is there, rather than just following a hallway. Returning on this level is going to be interesting. The monsters, despite their terrifying nature, don't really seem to follow me, so I can just zip past them.
This gets worse, because I do find more refills...one of which is broken. You repair items very easily, but you might not figure out how at first, you just start holding down the activation button until the meter in the center of the screen goes to the top. That's not the bad news, the bad news is that they did nothing. Or did I? I paused it at some point, and returned in a few moments, unpaused it to discover I had regained energy. So what did it? Further experimentation revealed that yes, that's how it happens...so I only need medikits.

The access computer here is located in a plant room. Why is it in a plant room? I don't know. There's something about this style of game doing one that feels so artificial. This wouldn't be a problem with something like Doom, and by System Shock such artificial environment placement would be a thing of the past. Its a shame the original game didn't come out a few years later.

Unfortunately its not clear what access that gave me, the next floor down is unavailable, the only one I could find was the ground floor. That got me thinking, wouldn't a legit way of getting further down the way be to wait in the elevator until someone calls it to a floor I couldn't previously access, then update my access there? Also, I haven't been playing this nonstop, but one track of music for the whole game, even if its probably like ten minutes, is a bit too little.
The ground floor continues the trend of levels starting off extremely linear. I guess I should be grateful, because with non-linearity, especially in this environment, there's the possibility of getting lost. Which is exactly what happens when the level does open up. At first I wonder if I've been here already, before dismissing that assumption. There are a few interesting things here, some office chairs, which either means this is an office or its a weird cafeteria. I cannot decide which. Then there's a passcode thing. I have no idea where a passcode would even be in this game, and I'm not about to try finding out.

So I wander around futilely for some time. Nothing seems to be jumping out at me as a solution. There's nothing I can see as a terminal, but there's another elevator...wait a minute. Maybe the elevator I was in can't go to all the floors? So I try entering it, only to discover its a door. Its locked, with a passcode. Well, that's it, there's no way...wait, one of the items I have that I don't remember the use of is selected. Could it be? It is. Inside is a pack of ammo and a medikit, but hahaha, I have the solution now...only that doesn't work, but fiddling around reveals a light shows up for 4 of the numbers. So this is basically a crappy version of Mastermind, the color matching game. I solved it, the answer is in the screenshot because this is annoying busywork...and I'm not clear on what that did. Pressing the yellow button caused the computer to exit...so...? Do I have a new code?

...what? What did I do? Am I outside? It doesn't look like the entrance to a building. Yeah, there are multiple of these things around, and there's walls, like this is a basement. What's going on? I don't understand. I take what I think is a different one to hopefully somewhere else, only to return to where I was. That's just great. I guess I don't have energy problems anymore, but power and health are pressing concerns. I use any medikit as soon as I find it, and I haven't found any sources of power yet. As I'm on the 3rd or 4th overall floor, and there are 16 known floors, that's around a 5th of the game. I don't know if I can make it there. The game is trying its darnest to make itself as confusing as possible. I'm still not even sure how to accomplish my objective yet.

This Session: 1 hour

Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Cyber-Cop: Thump Thump Thump

If I'm getting beaten on one side of the level, I should try the other side. The first time I try this I've shocked by one of these. Not the exact image, because I wasn't fast enough to catch that. I also forgot to make a new character. I go for the 1st armor, since hopefully that will mean I won't automatically die this time.

 

 

 

Curiously, the game's showing its design worse than the original game. See, there it was fairly consistent in a level where enemies would spawn. Here, I can get killed by something, then return, only to see nothing where my killer once was. Then in my travels I discover I can pretty much bypass some areas because of this and the AI's braindead nature.

So after a couple trips around, I figure that the way to get past this floor is to update my card, then return to the elevator. Came to that conclusion last time, but this time I put it into action. When I return, I have to wait for the elevator. Its a cool effect. The elevator interface is somehow both simple and confusing. It works like the computer interface, you walk near it, activate it, put in the card, then mess around. I find myself on the 4th floor, at which point a tapping starts happening. This scared me, quite effectively. Horror things in non-horror titles tend to work better than the other way around.

The tapping came from one of the mutant cyborgs the game's plot centers around. They take 2 shots to kill, and around 4 punches. What is of note is that they don't screw around. They will rip you apart if they get the chance to.

My energy is still depleting rapidly, but I've found that using a drink seems to counteract that. I'm unsure if I've messed something up or not, the game is most unhelpful when it comes to actually saying things to the player. I like some ambiguity, sometimes even bordering on recondite, but come on, even I know to tell the player basic facts, like how to reload or regain stats.

The monsters aren't kicking my butt, but their presence combined with the game's obtuseness is putting me in a bad spot. I was using the drink items to regain stamina, and that worked...for a little while. Then they just showed up in a picture in the center of the screen and refused to do anything. On the other hand, I know how to reload my gun, just use it in the menu, it'll pop up, hit it again, and you'll recharge it at the cost of some power. This saves my bacon, because the monsters are smart enough to open doors.

Still, I close this session unsure of how I'm going to advance from this point. Its clear that the stamina items I can just throw away when they're useless, but the one I started with and the one I found ran out of juice in a relatively short period of time. I don't have any health items and its clear that I'll need them. Even if I learn something new each time, its not really fun restarting the game, but at least I know what I can do at this point.

This Session: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Cyber-Cop: Reborn

As I plug through these rough, early FPS titles, I come to a realization about why I was doing what I was doing. These are rough to go through these days. Case in point, Corporation, nice concept, bad execution, and as a result, I said it was unplayable today. Now, its time for Corporation on Genesis, here known as Cyber-Cop...here. Perplexing. I must admit, like so many games, I don't care. Its been pointed out that I am brutal towards games, a fair point, but I just haven't gotten to talking much about games I do like. Today is not that day.

Cyber-Cop starts with the scroll of what was in the original's manual. Take your pick on which option is better. Music is cool, but the instrumentation sounds questionable. I guess that's either Genesis music or Genesis emulation for you. The menu, which thankfully isn't mouse controlled, offers me new game and options, but its really options which I want, because that's the place creating characters and loading the game is. I'm going to be using savestates, since I'm lazy.

Huh, this seems, blurry. Is my eyesight going? I've got a headache today, which is just how my week is going to begin with. Not hangover headache, stress headache. No armor, but the rest of the options are the same, gun, explosives, various items I don't understand. If you don't remember, I didn't make much progress and I don't understand how many items work.

The game begins. As could be expected, its mostly like the PC versions, but with one key, but very helpful option, autoaim. You can't do the original's control scheme on consoles, and the amount of aiming I had to do with less than ideal controls was definitely a flaw. Autoaim is a necessary sacrifice if the game actually plays decently. One point against, the game has no pause button to my knowledge. I also didn't know where my emulator's pause function was at first.

Aha! A robot...and he's dead. I said it starts like the PC versions, but its pretty clear the game is different at this point. I'm next to a room full of pillars, there are items on the floor, and its not yet confusing. Its like 10 minutes, but it isn't confusing yet. I'm not digging the music though. It sounds like a Flash Gordon rip-off and it seems to have something like a gunshot in it. That's very distracting.

And I quickly get killed. I have no idea what killed me. I couldn't see anything, despite looking around. I guess the game is intended to be a live fast, die fast thing. Oh, I just didn't get the option to buy armor because I purchased other things. Good, good. I think I figured out why though, on my second attempt, I missed the first robot, guess what? He's going in and out of cover, like he's a competent enemy! This is already a better experience than the PC version.

I haven't had much cause to use the inventory yet, but its not great. The menu is operated by the left and right on the d-pad, B selects things. B does everything. The flaw, is that you cycle through inventory items by pressing B on the in-game menu. Further compounding things, you cannot move and turn. If you try to do so you turn at a snail's pace.

Then I find a computer, and you know what? Its not that hard to operate. You use the left hand icon, and it activates the computer. Then you use the card you have on you to access functions. In theory you get the option to turn off the alarms...in theory. I have no idea these are activated until a spiderbot drops on me. They're much less impressive here, least of all because they're not doing anything to me. Curiously, I also have an access level, which I guess functions as a key.

Its at roughly this point at which I die again. Not because I lost a fight, indeed, I bravely killed a robot guard with my fists. No, I died because I ran out of power, the juice that works with my gun. I guess the armor I chose was a poor one. I think I'm going to stop here for now. We're starting to see the same problem I had with the original, pointlessly meandering around the starting floor. At least here I have the option of savescumming, but I doubt I'll resort to that. No, I just have to change my armor. The real problem I'm seeing here is that I have no legitimate way of bypassing the alarm system. I have no way of getting cameras before they spot me and fighting the spiderbots is a real negative point. We'll see if this all ends up improving compared to the originals if I actually end up with another entry.

This Session: 30 minutes

Corporation: Chief Exploring Officer

Its always strange to see a Core game before Tomb Raider. Lara Croft was the all-consuming beast that propelled them to greatness, and spelled their undoing. And of course, the zombie that lived on long after them. What were they doing before then? Lots of stuff. Everything from platformers to adventure games. Including publishing this cyberpunk title, developed by a company called Dementia, who only did this game.

The back of the box waxes on about how realistic it is. (for 1990) We've got psychic powers, a lot of combat, and a holographic projector! The objective is to stop The Universal Cybernetics Corporation from unleashing "mutant robots" that will destroy all mankind. Maybe that's a mistranslation from British English to American English.
The manual describes the backstory of the robots. the UCC was once European Cybernetics, and became a multi-national corporation through the use of robots. The robots were the RX series. RX1 the domestic model, RX2 the industrial, RX3 the agricultural. The robots had many advantages over the old ones, like being able to do anything a human could do. Why there needed to be different models, I can't tell you. "...small companies which could not previously justify the expense of a robot suddenly could". This is something the manual acknowledges as the company keeps the prices of their robots artificially low. How did they become rich then? It doesn't say, but knowing what I do of a bunch of modern companies, stupid investors and selling personal data.
The robots were designed to be as unthreatening as possible, and the advertising campaign said they were easier to use than a video recorder. That they can program a video recorder. Ah, VHS humor. A short paragraph about the population turning to having easier lives in creative fields and that leisure culture had finally arrived. Even this positive paragraph has the statement that those that don't have robots pretend that they did. Then more dystopian writing about UCC getting into media, pharmaceuticals and space exploration. Because of UCC having clever public relations, all fears about their rise were downplayed and presented as "local boy made good". (???) Then about military conflicts with robots, followed by UCC pointing out that they control so much now that would be bad.
Jesus Christ. We're on the first page of the backstory and this world already seems like such a horrific dystopian nightmare that humanity could never wake up from. It doesn't help that the writing here comes off semi-positive about this stuff. I could imagine someone writing something almost exactly like this in real life. Now we touch on the real bad stuff.
Robots had limitations, they were slow and unable to think for themselves. And something about not repairing and reproducing themselves. Apparently they can't be programmed to do that. So they begin conducting illegal genetic engineering. They sourced "customers" (???) and "Clients". (as capitalized???) "The 'Clients' wanted a highly illegal killing machine. UCC obliged!" So they made a symbiotic humanoid that is an omnivore, sunlight, meat and veg. "The 'client' (this time in single quotes) was overjoyed with the sample and a small army was order. UCC themselves...used them as guards." One escaped in London and became a new Ripper.
The UK government (called "the Government", for some reason, no quotes) after some time noticed something was up with UCC and manufacturing sentient beings. More so because it would affect their popularity and the UCC would leave London. Which is not entirely unreasonable, because apparently them leaving would result in a great depression. Because the government doesn't want to be linked to this, the investigation will be done by "ZODIAC, the internationally renowned espionage agency, believed by many to be a myth." Could have phrased that better, I assume those that know it exist speak highly of it. "An agent is to be chosen from the Libra chapter whose specialty is restoring balance." Oh, god, that really made me laugh.
The actual mission is that I will be dropped in from the roof, find the lab and collect an embryo of the 'product'. I escape via ground level. If the suspicions are correct, the evidence will be used to "encourage" the UCC to stop their illegal experiments "in this country". Thatcher, am I right, people?
"If the evidence was made public, every nation would prosecute UCC, public opinion would turn agains [sic] them and the directors would be imprisoned. With this prospect, UCC should be keen to co-operate."
TL;DR:
An evil global corporation that has its hands in every pot and likely has caused more damage to the public than the manual lets on, has been making human-eating killing machines. One of them got loose and the UK government has hired ZODIAC to collect evidence so they can get the evil corporation to do their evil elsewhere. I'll say it again, Jesus Christ.
The manual goes on to state what I should do to win the game, which is avoid the system. If the system catches me, I will be locked in and hit with sleeping gas. At which point guards will be sent to my location and the UCC will dispose of my body with no evidence that I was ever there. There are no real complicated controls.
That's about it for the interesting manual information. There was the option to have yourself be added to the game by paying the authors a nominal fee. Something tells me that's off the table.

GETTING IT TO WORK:
One of the things we don't appreciate emulating DOS games is configuring the mouse. I remember back on the old DOS computer I had, you had to type in a program in order to use the mouse. This is of course, because MS-DOS wasn't one of your ten thousand dollar Macintoshes or Amigas, the only human interface you needed was a keyboard. Personally, I like to think games on DOS kickstarted the use of a mouse, but I'm no expert. I bring this up because you have to run a program. In DOSbox. Like an actual DOS computer. This isn't a simple task either, you have to go searching around for the damn program or build it yourself. Now, while I do use a form of Linux, I'm not really an expert in building things from source.
Which is where I'd be talking about the Amiga version instead, only that didn't work either. I gave up at the time I originally wrote this stuff, until someone told me about D-Fend Reloaded working with it. D-Fend Reloaded is a front end for DOSbox, something I don't use. I only use front ends for other emulators, that don't come with GUIs. I don't have any sound.

With all that, I have my option of characters, which have a bunch of stats I don't understand. Following this, I have a bunch of items, none of which I understand. Sometime between the time I started writing this and I started playing this I lost the manual. Oh, well, a gun and armor is always good. I guess I should get whatever looks like ammo, and a lockpick. Items are contained in various body parts and the player surprisingly has a weight limit.

The game starts off uncermoniously, in a darkened room. It can be controlled through a mix of keyboard and mouse controls, although this is like other games of its era, where you aim independently with the mouse, and turn with the arrow keys. The mouse can have the player move and presumably there are keyboard commands for all the mouse functions, even if just a hacky keyboard mouse cursor. There's simple crouching and jumping, but as of yet, I see no reason for this. There's a very confusing look and grab system.

I walk out, see a camera, and try to shoot it...only resulting in me throwing a punch, Rayman-style. It sees me, and that triggers an alert. This, I guess causes a mechanical spider to pop out. From here, nothing much happens, probably due to my own bewilderment, and I restart.

Second attempt, still not sure why I'm not shooting my gun. I see an alien...or a monster. He's not doing anything...okay. I can do nothing to him. Behind him is a robot that is. I kill him, but I'm not sure how effective this is.

Okay, I eventually figure things out on my third attempt. Put the gun into your hand, then you can fire. Only I have no idea how to reload. Ammo is limited, this game is just featureless corridors, and this is all not very interesting.

Fourth attempt, hoping I keep ammo this time, and manage to get sound working. Still no sound, but I do discover the death screen. This is going to be a long game. So far its not really surprising as to why this never picked up a cult following. There's a lot of technical stuff for a game that's so far an incredibly mundane corridor shooter.

This Session: 30 minutes

*We have in order, major releases, Vixen, Athena, Vixen, Time Gal, Ms. Pac-Man.