I-War (1997 video game)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2017) |
I-War | |
---|---|
Single player |
I-War (known as Independence War in North America) is a
An additional campaign was designed, packaged with the original game and released in September
A sequel:
Gameplay
As the captain of Dreadnaught, the player could assume the command of any of the four workstations on the
In the game, the player takes the role of an unnamed 23rd century spaceship captain in the Earth Commonwealth Navy. The primary opponents were rebellious insurgents called the Indies, a group distinguished by their elaborately and colourfully painted ships.
I-War was notable for its use of Newtonian physics; unlike other popular space combat games such as Wing Commander and Descent: Freespace, the flight model is subject to inertia caused by a ship's mass and the absence of drag in outer space. In addition to common flight dynamics, vessels can move and accelerate in all directions: up, down, forward, backwards and sideways.
The game features two gameplay modes:
Depending on the mission, Dreadnaught can be acting alone, supporting another vessel, or commanding a group of wingmen. During other missions, various special equipment is at the player's disposal, such as a reconnaissance drone.
The player ship is armed with
During LDS-travel, ships are not able to use any weapons except missiles designed to stop LDS-travel. Ships in LDS cannot be attacked, either.
The game began with a 14 minute long high quality
Development
The development of I-War was led by Particle Systems co-founders Glyn Williams (whose previous games include
The games
The game had some naming troubles. I-War was originally signed to
I-War was first released in Europe in November 1997, under the label of Ocean Software. Ocean was acquired by Infogrames earlier that year. This version, having no 3D hardware support, had only software rendered graphics. The game was released in English, French and German. I-War was a critical success, but wasn't selling as well as expected.
In late August, 1998, the game was released in North America, but as Independence War. The reason for the name change was that 'I-War' was already trademarked in the US by
The American version was successful and won 'Space-Sim of the year' awards from many magazines and websites. Encouraged by this, an expanded edition was designed. I-War / Independence War sold around 250,000 copies worldwide. Including the special editions the total sales were about 300,000.[3][4][5]
Defiance
Later, an additional campaign from the Indie side of the conflict, called Defiance, was developed. The campaign consisted of 18 missions and it mirrored the I-War campaign. This time the player assumed the role of Edison Hayes, a captain of the Indie fleet and the Dreadnaught-class corvette Spartacus. Defiance had three new features: in-mission savepoints, limited customisation of player ship's weapons and a zoom mode for longer range weapons fire.
Originally Defiance was supposed to be released as an expansion pack, but Infogrames decided they would prefer a special edition that would have both the new campaign and the original game in the same box. This special edition was released in the US as Independence War Deluxe Edition in 1999. The European version was released the same year, but was called Independence War Special Edition instead since it was reasoned that 'deluxe' doesn't mean much to the French or German audiences. The American version also included a $10 rebate for owners of Independence War, but no rebate was included with the European version. On May 25, 2010, GOG.com re-released Independence War Deluxe Edition digitally.[6]
The development of Defiance was led by Stephen Robertson who also maintained a strong and long lasting on-line presence helping players of the Independence War series.
Reception
The game won Computer Games Strategy Plus's 1998 "Sci-Fi Simulation of the Year" award. The editors wrote, "With mission-driven play, good graphics, and detailed space combat action, this European import turned out to be quite a hit on this side of the Atlantic."[7]
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated I-War for "PC Simulation Game of the Year" at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, although it lost to Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit.[8]
References
- ^ "Today's Releases". GameSpot. August 18, 1998. Archived from the original on June 5, 2000. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ Imagine Media. October 1997. pp. 102–5.
- ^ Stephen Robertson on comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.space-sim
- ^ Stephen Robertson on comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.space-sim
- ^ Stephen Robertson on the official discussion forum (archived at Dreadnaught's www-site)
- ^ "New release: Independence War Deluxe". GOG.com. CD Projekt. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ Staff (February 11, 1999). "The Best of 1998". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on February 3, 2005.
- ^ "Second Interactive Achievement Awards; Personal Computer". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on November 4, 1999.
External links
- Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2004-06-03)
- Independence War at MobyGames
- Independence War Deluxe Edition at MobyGames
- Cheat codes at GameFAQs