Crusader (computer game)

Crusader is a series of action oriented computer games created by Origin Systems, Inc. and published by Electronic Arts which comprises two titles: Crusader: No Remorse released in 1995 and Crusader: No Regret released in 1996.

Overview

Both games use an advanced version of the Ultima VIII isometric view engine featuring full SVGA graphics. Sound and music use their own engine called Asylum Sound System: each mission and intermission of the games has its own soundtrack for which digital music MOD files were employed rather than General MIDI, providing good quality through even the cheapest audio cards.

The Crusader games feature Full Motion Video (FMV) sequences with live actors; FMVs are used intermissions to further the story, generally through interaction with other characters. These conversations are generally one-sided, as the player character never speaks.

Crusader games are divided into missions, each with their own locations and objectives. Settings vary from military bases to factories to offices to starbases, but each is packed with enemy soldiers, traps, puzzles involving key cards or the manipulation of switches, and occasionally innocent bystanders, some of which can be ignored but others of which should be killed before they have the chance to cause further trouble (the game unfortunately does not support the use of non-lethal force). Almost all locations also have an Alarm system, which, when triggered (either by said bystanders, weapons fire or certain conditions like destroying an automated doorway), will bring down significant military presence, and the player is encouraged to deactivate triggered alarms or avoid triggering them in the first place.

Much of the environment can be destroyed by weapons fire, providing a previously unprecedented level of setting interaction, and some traps or defenses can be manipulated for use against the enemy. Items, weapons, ammunition, money (in the form of credits) and healing facilities are scattered through the levels, allowing the Silencer to keep himself in tip-top shape and upgrade his arsenal. The game's firearms are graphic and often entertaining in their use: one weapon, which fires ultraviolet radiation, literally burns the flesh from the target's bones, whereas someone struck with a rocket will catch fire and run around screaming.

A third game in the series was never released, possibly due to the fact that most of the members of the Crusader team left Origin and joined Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts to his new company Digital Anvil. Like all Origin games, both No Remorse and No Regret shipped with significant back-story material, including a fold-out propaganda poster-cum-newspaper and a Field Operations guide from the fictional Resistance.

The Pentagram game engine reimplementation project is working on a Free Software cross-platform version of the Ultima VIII engine. Since Ultima VIII and Crusader games share the underlying engine to great extent, a long-term goal of Pentagram is to support Crusader games as well (once Ultima VIII is fully working).

Plot

Due to economic downfalls at the end of the 20th century, the nations of the planet Earth began gradually to organize themselves into huge economic super-conglomerates. Eventually these continental organizations merged into the World Economic Consortium. The WEC is a tyrannical entity; while the world is made to look peaceful and prosperous, the reality is that most freedoms are suspended, taxes are well over 90%, military force is used mercilessly against who dares oppose the WEC, and freedom of the press is a thing of the past. Only an elite class of people in the key places of the WEC really has political power and enjoys richness: among these are the WEC President Gauthier and Chairman Nathaniel Draygan.

The WEC is combated by an organization known as Global Resistance, led by former WEC general Quentin Maxis. The Resistance is a ragtag mix of disparate people: ex-WEC soldiers and employees rub elbows with political dissidents and plain old criminals. The Resistance of course, is severely outnumbered and outgunned.

As the game Crusader: No Remorse opens, a Silencer, known only as the Captain, is returning with two of his fellow Silencers from a botched mission in which the trio disobeyed an order to fire upon innocent civilians (a disturbingly common event; one firearm, a full-auto shotgun, is lauded for its ability to raze unarmed crowds). They are ambushed by a WEC mech and his compatriots are killed. The betrayed Silencer, after escaping, joins the Resistance, where, as a significant symbol of the WEC's military power and political philosophy, he meets with resentment, distrust and (in some cases) outright venom. However, he uncomplainingly undertakes extremely dangerous missions, often with substandard equipment, and his continued success gradually earns the respect of his fellow resistance-cell members.

In No Remorse the player undergoes a total of 15 missions. His travels eventually uncover secret plans for a WEC space station, the Vigilance Platform, which can destroy the Resistance. All cities with allegiance to the Resistance are threatened with orbital bombardament unless they surrender. Concurrently the player's resistance cell is betrayed by a traitor and almost all the non-player characters are killed. Despite this, the Captain infiltrates the Vigilance Platform and destroys it. The traitorous character is also on the station, guarding the escape pods, and he must be defeated before the Silencer can escape. He does so, and the Vigilance Platform explodes behind him, as Chairman Draygan publicly swears vegeance against the Silencer.

Crusader: No Regret begins immediately afterwards. A WEC starship headed for the Moon picks up the Silencer's escape pod, and the Captain, upon moonfall, makes contact with the local Resistance. The WEC uses the moon as a prison where most of the political dissidents and Resistance members are forced to mine the precious radioactive compound Di-Corellium. This mineral is the basis of all industry on Earth and a shortage of Di-Corellium would cause serious problems for the WEC. For this reason Chairman Draygan on the moon to oversee the Di-Corellium production.

Over the course of No Regret's ten missions, the Silencer works to undermine the WEC presence on the moon, culminating in a showdown with Chairman Draygan himself. The WEC's lunar headquarters is destroyed and the Resistance takes control of mining operations.