Battle Frenzy
| Battle Frenzy | |
|---|---|
|
A player explores a stage in the game | |
| Developer(s) | Domark |
| Publisher(s) | Acclaim Entertainment |
| Platform(s) | Sega Mega Drive, Sega CD |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) |
Single-player Multiplayer |
Battle Frenzy is a 1994 video game developed by Jim Blackler for Domark Software and published by Acclaim in 1994 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console in Europe only. A North American release was planned, and even reviewed in gaming magazines,[1][2] but never actually came out. The game was re-released the same year for both the Mega Drive and the Sega CD as Bloodshot, again only in Europe, though the Sega CD version had a homebrew release in North America in 2004. Battle Frenzy was one of the few first person shooters released on the Mega Drive/Genesis.
Story
In the year 2049, the Earth moon base Yaz 67 is destroyed by an alien battlecruiser. The Earth Federation Starfleet Command retaliates by sending two of its own space battlecruisers against the alien ship with the goal of damaging the ship's defenses and taking as many prisoners as possible. When soldiers enter the battered alien ship, they find it completely controlled by robotic soldiers who outgun and outclass the boarding humans. The ship is eventually taken on to Earth's orbit and human scientists successfully shut-off the alien robot crew using electromagnetic fields. However, when the scientists reactivate the cruiser's computers, they find an invincible space carrier containing even more robot soldiers and armed with extremely destructive Nova bombs is on its way to Earth. If the ship is disabled before it reaches Earth, then it is programmed to crash onto Earth's surface and detonate the bombs. The only way to completely destroy the carrier is to destroy its twelve plasma node cores. Once the plasma node is destroyed however, the entire deck the node is located on will explode.
A year later, the Earth Federation makes it their mission to board the carrier once it has entered the Solar System and destroy the ship from the inside. Players assume the role of the cybernetic-ally enhanced trooper (starfleet elite marines) assigned to the mission, who is implanted with the special combat Battle Frenzy Chip which gives the soldier an unstoppable desire to kill, a condition known as 'Bloodshot.'
Gameplay
Battle Frenzy has a total of 12 levels, all taking place aboard the alien cruiser. Players have to fight their way through the decks of the ship in order to destroy the armed plasma node core located on each floor. Once the core is destroyed, a self-destruct sequence occurs and players have to run back to where they started the level before the time runs out.
Whenever a life is lost, the player character restarts exactly where they died. If the player character loses a life during the level destruction sequence but still has more lives, they restart at the beginning of the self-destruct sequence. The player character can strafe.
Reception
GamePro gave the Mega Drive version a mixed review. They praised the high tension level and the pressure of having to beat the clock, but cited a number of control problems, such as the imprecise aiming and the "sticky" walls which can easily cause the player to lose lives during the timed destruction sequences.[1] Electronic Gaming Monthly scored the Sega CD version a 6.4 out of 10 but remarked that while it was a major improvement over the Mega Drive version, "as a derivative of the Doom theme, Battle Frenzy holds its own, but it just isn't anything special."[2]