Deathrow (video game)

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Deathrow
Single-player, multiplayer

Deathrow is a 2002

specular lighting. Deathrow was built on an in-house 3D game engine
and was Southend's first full release.

The game is based on the fictional

split-screen and System Link
multiplayer for up to eight players across up to eight Xbox consoles.

Deathrow received largely favorable reviews. Reviewers praised the game's fast-paced action, and surround sound, but complained of its high difficulty curve, generic soundtrack, and lack of online multiplayer. Some critics felt the game's use of profanity was excessive, while others thought it was a highlight. Reviewers considered the game's concept and mechanics similar to other series, specifically Speedball. IGN and TeamXbox both named Deathrow an Editor's Choice. The game won the TeamXbox 2002 Breakthrough Game of the Year award and the IGN 2002 Best Game Nobody Played. IGN later reported that a sequel would be unlikely due to the original's low revenue. Southend dissolved in 2013.

Gameplay

Deathrow is set in the year 2219,

Blitzball,[4] Blades of Steel,[7] and Speedball,[5][4][8] and its aesthetic to that of Blade Runner.[4] The game's premise was also compared to the 1975 film Rollerball.[9][10]

Action view in a game of the Disciples against the Blitzers

There are four rounds in a match of Blitz,

computer or human players[5] score points for each energized Blitz disc thrown through their opponent's hoop, which is eight feet off the ground.[3] Players pass and travel with the disc across the arenas,[3] and the game continues without pause between points scored.[11] The team with the most points at the end of a match wins. Players can choose to brawl when not scoring points. Fighting depletes character health, depending on who takes the blows. Once his health is completely depleted, a character is removed from the game, and teams with all players knocked out are disqualified (though players can be substituted between rounds).[3] If a player tends towards belligerence, the game's artificial intelligence will compensate and exact revenge for its teammates.[12] Friendly fire, where teammates can intentionally or inadvertently hurt each other with attacks meant for their opponents, is permitted.[3]

There are 150 unique players on 18 teams,

power-ups including health, credits, and skill augments for individual players regenerate regularly on the field.[3]

Players earn credits for knocking out opponents, scoring points, and impressing the crowd with violence and skill. The credits can be used towards player enhancements such as

Computer players on teams rated with low teamwork will not take initiative to pursue the disc or to help teammates in need. This attribute can be raised over the course of a game. Players can call plays including physical offense, fast offense, neutral, defense, and goal defense.[3]

The game supports

backward compatible with the Xbox 360.[1]

Controls

Players use the Xbox controller's left

call plays with the directional pad. The left trigger modifies an existing action, such as running into dives, slide-tackles, and grabs, and the right trigger orients the camera towards the objective (either the disc or the goal, depending on the team in possession). This camera control is designed for precision when diving for the disc or shooting on goal. A character in possession of the disc will show a trajectory line of their potential shot or pass, which is altered by player movement, breath, and physical contact. Players charge the disc by holding the shooting button, whereby the disc turns greener as the shot grows more powerful.[3] A fully charged shot called a Deathrow will incapacitate any player it hits,[3][9] while overcharged shots electrify and stun the carrier.[3]

Before each game and single-player Conquest, players choose between Sports and Action camera views.[3] Action view is a trailing third-person shot similar to looking over the player-character's shoulder, while Sports view is a spectator perspective similar that of a televised basketball game.[16] Enclosed arenas are inaccessible when using Sports view. The camera view cannot be changed once single-player begins, so Conquest mode players in Sports view will not see the arenas they unlock. The Action view camera swings wildly and can be pulled back slightly in the menus.[3]

Campaign

The in-game story of Blitz begins in 2197 as a Los Angeles gang sport used to find recruits. Over 20 years later, the illegal sport is picked up for broadcast by the Prime Network, who forms the Blitz Disc Association (BDA) and plans for the first Blitz competition with exhibition games and prize money. Through exhibition games and prize money, 13 teams of humans with various competitive augmentations are chosen to compete.[17]

Conquest, the single-player tournament career mode, pits the player's team against the ranked hierarchy en route to the championship. Up to three additional human players can join in the single-player. Players initially choose between four teams, though 13 total are unlockable. Teams begin with four players with no alternates for substitution, and fight their way from fourth place in the Rookie Division to first place against each team in between. Players can continue to take challenges within the division before irrevocably moving on to the next division.[3]

The player's team receives randomized, team-specific textual messages in between games, including offers for

difficulty gameplay options are also unlockable.[3]

Development

Deathrow was developed by

bump mapped environmental textures and character animations, specular lighting, and bumped reflection mapping.[17]

The game was developed on an in-house 3D game engine under construction for multiple years.[17] Each character is made of over 7000 polygons and 55 bones, making for players with facial expressions, over 800 animations, and a capacity to blink.[3] Character faces can additionally express emotions like happiness or anger, and feelings of pain.[17] The move to Xbox led to greater variation in the team personalities. The artists drew many options for each team and the developers chose from the lot. Deathrow was designed for the Action camera view, but Sports view was introduced to expand the game's appeal.[15]

Deathrow was displayed at Ubisoft's

E3 2002 booth,[10] and was released on 18 October 2002 in Europe,[18] and on 22 October 2002 in the United States[19] as an Xbox exclusive.[3][5] The game did not include Xbox Live online multiplayer for want of development time.[3][15] At the time of release, Southend had no plans to release downloadable content, though they implemented a method to do so.[3][note 1] The game was Southend's first full release.[17]

Reception

Deathrow received "generally favorable" reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[20] IGN and TeamXbox both named Deathrow an Editor's Choice.[3][11][22] The game won TeamXbox's 2002 Breakthrough Game of the Year award[23] and IGN's 2002 Best Xbox Game Nobody Played.[2] It was also runner-up for their Xbox action game of the year.[24] Of the year's praiseworthy yet unappreciated games, Deathrow alone "truly blew [IGN] away".[2] GameSpot similarly named it one of the year's most unfairly overlooked Xbox titles.[25] Critics praised the game's fast, chaotic action[2][5][11][16] and use of surround sound.[3][11] The reviewers bemoaned its high difficulty curve,[5][4] generic soundtrack,[3][5] and lack of online multiplayer.[3][9][11][26] Some reviewers thought the game used profanity excessively,[2][4][5][9][27] while others considered it a highlight.[3][11]

David Hodgson of

1UP.com, OXM's Racer, and IGN's Douglass Perry and David Clayman recommended Deathrow as a party game, with the IGN staff specifically recommending the game with System Link.[5][28]

steroids".[27] Hilary Goldstein of IGN's only complaint about the controls was the camera's looseness. She noted the game's "serious attitude" and "very gritty view of sports", and similar to hockey, felt that the non-disc action was "one of the nicest aspects" of the game. She praised the graphics and environments, surround sound, the array of unlockables, the single-player, and its replay value, but bemoaned the lack of options to change between camera views, the Action view in general, and the indistinguishability between players. Goldstein regarded Deathrow's profanity as the "best use of endless cursing in a game... ever".[3] Herold of The New York Times noted violence's centrality to the game and figured that the game's age restrictions were likely due to the "savage profanities", which he felt gave the game personality unlike other sports video games. He added that the game's frantic speed kept him too consumed to curse at the game himself.[16] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Troy Oxford also connected the profanity to the game's "'M' rating".[29]

Edge referred to Deathrow as a substance-less and "contrived clone" of the 1990 Speedball 2, which used a ball instead of a disc.[8] David Hodgson of EGM similarly praised the 1990 title in comparison.[4] William Racer of OXM did not mind the two games' similarities and added that "you might as well copy from the best".[5] While Kasavin of GameSpot thought the theme was tired,[9] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Oxford wrote that the game felt "fresh".[29] Reflecting on the release year, IGN director Peer Schneider said that games like Deathrow showed the games industry's ability to make new, high-caliber franchises.[22] Two IGN staffers predicted the game to be a sleeper hit:[3][14] one noted the sparse press compared to the game's quality,[3] and the other explained that Ubisoft was busy promoting bigger titles such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Dragon's Lair 3D, and Rayman.[14]

Legacy

In 2006, TeamXbox's Matthew Fisher determined that the game aged well.

Complex Gaming listed Deathrow 13th on its 15 Most Violent Sports Video Games.[1] Scottish developer Ludometrics described their 2014 video game Bodycheck as a spiritual successor to Deathrow, Speedball 2, and Skateball, though the game is set in the medieval past instead of the ultraviolent future.[30]

Around the time of launch, Southend was interested in producing a sequel. In March 2004, IGN listed Deathrow 2 as one of its five desired Xbox sequels, specifically for Xbox Live online play support. IGN placed its chances at a 90% likelihood.[19] IGN reported a month later that despite interest from Southend, Ubisoft would be unlikely to release a forthcoming Deathrow sequel due to the original's low revenue.[31] Southend separated from its Swedish IT consulting firm parent company, Tacet Holding AB, and became a fully independent company in April 2013. With it, Southend CEO Fredrik Brönjemark announced that "now is the right time for Southend to manage its own destiny and to invest in its own products", of which Deathrow and ilomilo were examples.[32] Southend closed in June 2013 when its full 24-person staff was hired into Massive Entertainment, another Swedish developer.[33]

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ There is an "Upgrade" option on the game's menu that would allow downloadable content to be downloaded to the Xbox.[3]

References

  1. ^
    Complex. 20 November 2012. Archived
    from the original on 25 November 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Best of 2002: Game Nobody Played". IGN. 17 January 2003. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an Goldstein, Hilary (18 October 2002). "Deathrow Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hodgson, David (December 2002). "Deathrow". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 161. p. 250.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Racer, William (February 2003). "Deathrow Review". Official Xbox Magazine. No. 15. p. 78.
  6. ^ a b Goldstein, Hilary (16 September 2002). "Deathrow: Fresh widescreen screenshots couldn't be wrong". IGN. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  7. ^
    1UP.com. 9 May 2004. Archived from the original
    on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  8. ^ a b Edge Staff (15 January 2010). "Time Extend: Speedball 2 – Brutal Deluxe". Edge. No. 171. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Kasavin, Greg (28 October 2002). "E3 2002 Deathrow impressions". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  10. ^ a b c Satterfield, Shane (24 May 2002). "E3 2002 Deathrow impressions". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Bush, Eric (28 November 2002). "Deathrow Review (Xbox)". TeamXbox. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Archived 2 3 from the original on 23 November 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  12. ^ Berardini, César A. (7 July 2002). "Deathrow: Gameplay Movies". TeamXbox. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  13. ^ a b c d Osborne, Scott (27 November 2002). "Deathrow". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  14. ^ a b c d Hwang, Kaiser (2 October 2002). "Deathrow Impressions". IGN. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h "Deathrow Interview: Southend Interactive". TeamXbox. 8 November 2002. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Archived 2 3 from the original on 23 November 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  16. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h "Deathrow Preview (Xbox)". TeamXbox. 22 July 2002. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  18. ^ Bramwell, Tom (18 October 2002). "What's New?". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  19. ^ a b Goldstein, Hilary (19 March 2004). "Xbox Dream Sequels". IGN. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  20. ^ a b "Deathrow for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 12 April 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  21. ^ Helgeson, Matt (January 2003). "Deathrow". Game Informer. No. 117. p. 114.
  22. ^
    ProQuest 444941089
    .
  23. ^ Soboleski, Brent (31 December 2002). "TXB Games of the Year 2002 Awards". TeamXbox. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  24. ^ "Best of 2002: Action". IGN. 14 January 2003. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  25. ^ "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002". GameSpot. 30 December 2002. Archived from the original on 12 February 2003.
  26. ^ a b Fisher, Matthew (17 January 2006). "TeamXbox.com Vault: Deathrow". TeamXbox. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  27. ^
    Newspapers.com
    .
  28. ^ Perry, Douglass C.; Clayman, David (7 July 2005). "Life of the Party". IGN. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  29. ^
    Newspapers.com
    .
  30. ^ "Glasgow team announce 'crazy' PS Vita sports game". The Scotsman. 21 January 2014. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  31. ^ Goldstein, Hilary (13 April 2004). "No Deathrow 2". IGN. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  32. GamesIndustry.biz. Archived
    from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  33. GamesIndustry.biz. Archived
    from the original on 28 October 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.

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