orsaken takes place in the year 2113, shortly after Earth was nearly destroyed by a runaway fusion reaction set off during an experiment in particle physics. The force of that blast was so great that it knocked the once verdant planet from its orbital axis, ripping away its atmosphere and exposing it to the searing radiation of space. The only thing that survived the disaster was Earth's formidable defense systems, which had hitherto kept the planet safe from all dangers in the known multiverse. The Imperial Theocracy that runs said multiverse quickly condemned the now lifeless Earth, leaving the planet "up for loot."
Enter the "forsaken," the bounty hunters, mercenaries, fortune seekers and freeloading scum of the universe who have come to Earth to take anything and everything they can get their hands on (although gold bars seem to be the preferred booty). The forsaken travel on anti-grav pioncycles, superbikes of the future that can move in any direction, including straight up. The bikes have a good deal of shielding and armor, as well as a generous supply of weaponry (all of which can be upgraded by grabbing power-ups). They'll need it, too, because Earth's computer-controlled defenses walk, ride and fly through nearly every crevasse and corner of the devastated planet, firing on anything that moves.
In the game, players assume one of 16 biker personas, each with varying attributes and pioncycles. In the single-player mode, there are 15 levels to complete, usually involving minor puzzles such as finding switches that will open an exit or shut down an overheating nuclear reactor. Forsaken also features a multi-player deathmatch mode that allows gamers to play against one another over a LAN or the Internet. Deathmatch includes a number of variations, such as free-for-all play (every biker for him, her or itself), team play, capture the flag, and so on.
It's a lot like Descent, but a really good Descent
There are two things that will be obvious about Forsaken as soon as prospective players kick-start their pioncycles and head down to Earth. The first is that the plot has nothing to do with the game. The second is that Forsaken is a knock-off of Interplay's groundbreaking game Descent. For those not familiar with Descent, it was the game that took the genre of first-person shooters (think Doom or Quake) and added the element of 360-degree movement, giving players the ability to move upward and downward as well as forward and backward.
But while Forsaken is without question a Descent clone, it earns its living by being a very good Descent clone. Players who are afraid of a been-there-done-that Descent experience need not worry--Forsaken takes the 360-degree paradigm and makes it its own. It can do that because it has gorgeous graphics that make the game almost mesmerizing to play. The downside to this is that playing Forsaken properly requires a 3-D accelerator card. While the Forsaken box claims the game can be played without an accelerator, don't be fooled.
One thing to note about Forsaken is that the single-player mode is hard. While some of the computer-controlled enemies waddle around like so many ducks in a high-tech shooting gallery, others (notably the dreaded Shade) are nimble creatures with high-IQ AIs that know how to dodge incoming shots and close in for the kill. To combat these canny enemies, players can grab a generous allotment of power-ups that will increase their offensive firepower, but annoyingly the power-ups don't carry over from level to level.
Forsaken also has decent multi-player options that can be a ton of fun, assuming players can get hooked up with their fellow mercenaries (the documentation for Forsaken is terrible). But once players get a 3-D accelerator and a good deathmatch going, they'll find few games that can equal Forsaken.
