Game 60: Lethal Tender

Name:Lethal Tender
Number:60
Year:1993
Publisher:Froggman
Developer:Pie in the Sky Software
Genre:FPS
Difficulty:1/5
Time:2 hours

Lethal Tender is the first game in the much used and little enjoyed Pie in the Sky engine, its the sort of thing that helps hide hidden gems. Having finally summoned the strength to beat it myself...I can only think one thing. WHAT? I still don't know what else to think of it. Its not good, but its not bad. Its just sort of there. In the end, isn't that the worst thing I could say of a game? That it exists? I tried for quite some time to think up something, and despite its technical achievements, its just not that interesting.

The elephant in the room is the Pie in the Sky engine's inventory system, which is a bit confusing. You carry everything in your inventory, from guns to notes to keys. You have a limited inventory, so you can't just carry everything. This is annoying, because in a more adventure game fashion, you have to pick things up with the I key. Further, when things are in your inventory you can't use them there, you have to press S, move the inventory cursor over them, then drop them. If its something like a medikit and you're injured, it works automatically. Only notes are not automatic, you have to drop them and then pick them up.

Beyond that the game strips away most of a FPS's downtime. You have no interact button, you just run into doors. There's no mazes or anything remotely confusing about the level design, but there's really nothing interesting either. There are a few tricks, but nothing that'll leave you standing still for long. There's a neat outdoor area, but its just a minor touch. Minor touches help games feel higher quality, but without substance, they're ultimately hollow. Enemies and weapons are just basically a blur and function in their most basic way.

Which is what everything interesting here boils down to. There's a story, involving explosive money even notes inside the game, but Doom's lack of them strikes me as an intentional choice. The game tracks your movement along the Z-axis, but beyond one jumping action that isn't even a puzzle, the whole system is cool, but pointless. There are grenades, which I found unusable and useless due to the bizarre throwing system. Destructible environments, that come into play once. Everything is once, like an idea added just because it got thought up. None of it comes up ever again. Even a system where enemies spawn in locations you've already gone through is used only for the one and only boss.

It does looks good, its well-animated, its got a real place feeling to it, if for 1993. Its not the most complex, but for a shareware, and let's be honest, that's the competition, its pretty good-looking. I'd be hard pressed to make a joke or even find a major complaint. Like the helicopter in the opening room is just a wall graphic, yeah, game ruined. Ceilings and floor heights that actually aren't all the same! 45-degree walls! Moving inanimate objects! Fancy camera angles! But that nagging feeling returns, there's no point to any of it, the game's bland.

I guess some notice should be given to the game's seemingly advanced health system. Damage is done on any number of limbs. Get shot in the leg, you move awkwardly, get shot in the arm and you probably have worse aim, get shot elsewhere, you're in a body bag. There's also a whole bunch of medical numbers that I am sure have no effect on gameplay. But what is the point? I don't have a complicated first aid system to match, I just drop a medikit and I'm healed. In a way it foreshadows games like Robinson's Requiem and Deus, but those games had a reason for that, since they pretended to care about your bodily functions.

In a twisted sense, the game is too short for its own good. So much is built up, but there's never any payoff. Like a demo masquerading as a commercial game, hoping for a full release that will never come. A victim of its author's inability to create a bigger game. But perhaps my wish for a more satisfying, longer experience would have resulted in just plain hatred of this game. In that same twisted sense, its a good thing there's going to be a hundred more of these games, because I'm going to find that out, since at least one of the engine's users will be a good level designer.

Weapons:
You get four weapons. A kick, which is unnecessary as long as you don't waste ammo. A grenade, which is difficult to throw properly. A pistol, which shoots slowly but strongly. A rifle, which is fast and works against most enemies rather well. They weren't very interesting, but they got the job done. 2/10

Enemies:
Four in total, again. Weak enemy, strong enemy, stationary enemy, and boss. None of which were very interesting. 1/10

Non-Enemies:
None.

Levels:
Sort of open-ended, but not really. You're not really going to be taking a different path or anything. 3/10

Player Agency:
Confusing inventory aside, it isn't bad. I dislike having a semi-puzzle focused shooter not having an use key. The jumping mechanics felt tacked-on heavily. 4/10

Interactivity:
For a game with no use key, there is a frightening amount of interactivity. Switches you can run into or shoot, destructible objects, notes. 1/10

Atmosphere:
Very low-budget action film starring some random dude with one screen credit. 1/10

Graphics:
Its not bad looking. I could criticize little things for days, but I just don't feel like doing that. Its got some nice graphical things that weren't commonplace by now, like variable size floors and a sprite helicopter moving off-screen. 4/10

Story:
You're Nick Hunter and you're going to kill some dudes who are threatening to put bombs on US money. This is typical, except for two things, you see a lot of notes, which expand this story, and I think those same notes made me think I was doing something else first. Its bizarre. 2/10

Sound/Music:
There is no music, and the closest thing there is are distracting door sounds from a distance. The sound itself is fine, nothing too distracting. 2/10

That's 20. Placing the same as Blake Stone and Midwinter 2. I think unlike those though, this is something you could play casually and enjoy. Well, pass an evening. Its a one trick pony and there's just nothing else to say about it. Pie in the Sky software was responsible for three other games, directly that is, not just something using their engine. There's one flight sim, made before this game, and two FPS, made after. I foresee myself getting those out of the way rather quickly if this is any indication.

Lethal Tender: As Phony as a Two Dollar Bill

Lethal Tender, not the first game from infamous game studio, Pie in the Sky Software, responsible for the Pie in the Sky Game Creation System, and bane of anyone interested in obscure '90s FPS games. Game after game made in the same engine. This isn't like iDtech or Build games, those were functional. PSGCS is...different, to say the least. This game has a freaky story. Terrorists have developed a new kind of bomb, one they're putting on money, metal and paper. The mastermind? One Thorne Devereaux, damn French-Canadians. Although the story goes on to say that we know where he is, an old mining town, scraping up old silver and bronze...and for some reason the US government isn't just bombing him. Naturally, instead of Rainbow Six or a bunch of A-10s a single man, nay, a LEGEND is being sent, Nick Hunter. He is the one who won the war against terrorism and drugs! I guess I was mistaken, he sounds capable of handling this. There's a lot of backstory on this guy. Is this serious? This sounds like a parody. Anyway, on to stopping Devereaux's mining operation.

The game starts...oh hang on, the txt files are in-game too. This is a lot of technical information for a game about shooting people. This isn't going to be another stealth game, methinks. At least, I'm not going to play it like one.

A weird loading screen...weirder gun. Very low-budget action film with a middle-aged star look. Someone trying to pull off Tom Selleck, but he doesn't have the facial structure to pull it off. Very '80s.

The opening level is a tutorial of the, figure it out yourself sort. The game's a bit confusing, the inventory is the culprit. The inventory is some weird fusion of Galactic Empire and Wolfenstein 3D. You manually pick up items with the I key, which adds them to your inventory. If they're guns or ammo, no more interaction is necessary on your part, just use one of the number keys. If they're a bomb or a landmine, that's where it gets fun. Apparently you're supposed to use those strategically, like you would in later, better games. I'm not using those if I don't have to, since that's typical of my trap expertise in video games. The guns are typical, kick, pistol, grenade and rifle. They've got nice animations, I'll give 'em that. The grenade is going to be interesting, since it seems very weird in the way its thrown, since you have power. Advanced for its time, but not fun.

Another interesting thing is this engine seems more advanced than Wolfenstein. 45 degree walls, 3D scenery, fancy animations. It looks pretty sweet, I must admit. They put some good effort into this, I'll give them that. That's enough of that, how about the actual game?

This mission isn't the one advertised, I've just got to kill some random explosives seller. Okay, cool. I start off on a surprisingly small roof, which leads quickly enough to another floor. Interesting, very interesting. Doors open automatically. I guess Quake was really late to that party. Here, I find some dudes to kill. There's no avoiding it, its slow, even with an automatic. They're bullet-sponges and there are quite a few of them. They don't drop any items, except a uniform, which I decide to take after killing them all. This hurts me quite a bit, hopefully I didn't miss all the medikits in this level when I left them behind at HQ. Curiously, there are crates with hammer and sickles on them, and Stars of David. Are these guns that the drug lord bought, or are they explosives shipments to those places? Either way, bold choices, especially considering its 1993 and the Soviet Union doesn't exist anymore.

I continue downstairs. As you get injured, the game realistically makes you slower, turns the screen red and making walking in a straight line troublesome. As I was writing some of this, I was waiting for the between floor loading screen to end, when suddenly I hear gunshots. I return, only to see a guard shooting me, and the loading screen start again. I figure I died, so I return to writing things down. Only, I got knocked back, I have to deal getting this guy. I figure I must be nearly dead, only I manage to clear the entire floor. The pistol is actually a pretty strong weapon, hits harder than the rifle. I find a door, thinking, aha, this leads to the basement.

Outside. This leaves some questions about this mission, since I'm supposed to reach a basement. I didn't realize this was a complex. The game says factory. Okay. I quickly enough bite it to some more guards. Took a surprising amount of punishment. The dead screen has Hunter in a bodybag. Jees. Still, as I restart the game, I notice something interesting, the machine gun has a variable speed. Sometimes its really fast, other times its just a fast pistol.

Properly equipped, the guards outside are little trouble. I'm not sure how I'm going to survive a level if it turns into a slog though. The grenades seem completely useless or specialized enough equipment that I'm not ever going to figure out how to use them. Since this is the first time we've seen a weapon with its own physics, that's not entirely surprising.

There's a house here, it has a bathroom/changing station. Nothing I can take. What I can take is a key and something showing me the secret entrance. This game is actually more advanced than one would think. I can climb on top of desks. Not sure what that's going to do, but its pretty cool regardless.

The interior starts off as a short but convoluted key hunt. Mostly because of me getting confused. The key I brought here is so far useless, as I'm supposed to find a key in a radio room. This key opens the door to a generator room, which I shoot in order to get past an electrified door. All the while there are dozens of notes to read and guards to kill. Most of which aren't very interesting to talk about. Although one note is a key.

This continues to a room filled with oil. Why is there a room filled with oil? I don't know. I assume I can't pass it, and so continue downward, where there are a series of devices that may involve the player getting past it on some time trick. I first try shooting it, and then advancing, where I properly die. The death screen still shows me shot. Then I try to get to through the oil...which causes me to drown in goo.

The answer to this question is to shoot the two panels to the side of the orbs. I have just enough time to rush past. More interesting things here, a rotating wall, and a corridor full of lasers. Something I'm not talking about is that this game has some interesting lighting effects. Environmental hazards change the color of the screen quite a bit. I don't know how to deal with the lasers, so I wager on the wall. This leads me downwards, to some oil related chamber? I dunno. I do read a note telling me to be careful around certain panels, otherwise they'll blow up.

This directly leads to the most annoying fight so far, three of the tougher guards just hanging out outside the next door. They get me pretty good. Turns out there are a lot of dudes in this section. I wasn't clear on it before, but I think there's a limb damage system here. During my successful attempt at clearing this area, my leg got shot up pretty badly, and this was reflected in-game. Curious.

Next, a barracks. Its not that interesting at first. Portraits of some dude I have no context for, is this the guy responsible for...LETHAL TENDER? Ahem. The interesting bit is a new enemy, a dude in bed. I've never been shot at by an enemy in a bed before. From here I eventually arrive at the little isle in the goo I passed by earlier. Three dudes here, plus two above me. This causes me a little grief, probably because I wasn't expecting this. But this is clearly the end of the line. So I walk back...only to discover there's no elevator back. Oh, well, explosions time. They might not be very effective in actual combat, but against inanimate objects, these is working out pretty sweet. Game even says I completed the objective, and now I have to return to the roof. Okay, this is going to be interesting. Only its not...I just didn't realize I could jump before. Okay.

Takes a while walking back, great level design, and I return to a boss. He's not that bad, took a medikit, but that's just because I screwed up a bit. Anyway, next time, we'll see what lovely mission we have next.

...I won? What? I won? That's it? That's the end of the game? But the guy mentioned in the message earlier has a different name than the big bad. Well...okay then...I guess I have to do a summary...I hope this wasn't full-priced back in the day.

Total Time: 2 hours