Robinson's Requiem

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Robinson's Requiem
Atari ST cover art by Tony Roberts
Developer(s)Silmarils
Publisher(s)
Silmarils
  • PC
    • DotEmu
    Jaguar CD
    Original release
Relaunch
  • WW: Songbird Productions
Composer(s)
Fabrice Hautecloque
EngineALIS[a]
Platform(s)
Release
1994
  • Atari ST
    Atari Falcon
    Amiga
    PC
    Macintosh
    Windows
    • WW: 6 January 2009
    3DO
    Jaguar CD
    • WW: 30 May 2011
Genre(s)Survival, simulation
Mode(s)Single-player

Robinson's Requiem is a 1994

fictional planet
of Zarathustra alongside another AWE Robinson named Nina1, while facing several hostile creatures and dangers in order to survive.

Robinson's Requiem was developed in conjunction with

Macintosh, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and Atari Jaguar CD, some of which were released by several publishers across multiple regions and each of which featured several changes and additions compared to the original versions. The Jaguar CD port was cancelled, but received a homebrew release in 2011 by Songbird Productions.[3] A conversion for the Amiga CD32 was also planned but never released.[4]

Robinson's Requiem has been met with mixed reception from critics since its initial release. The Atari ST and Atari Falcon versions received praise for their presentation, graphics, sound design and gameplay but received criticism for being difficult to newcomers, slow pacing and steep learning curve. Similarly, the Amiga version garnered praise for its graphics, sound and gameplay but was criticized by some for the low

Gameplay

Atari ST version screenshot.

Robinson's Requiem is a survival simulation game, similar to

heads-up display
(HUD) when not engaged in combat.

Synopsis

Robinson's Requiem takes place in the year 2163, where Earth and colonized planets are facing overpopulation by

military force known as the Alien World Exploration (AWE) and its Robinsons explore potential planets across the universe that are suitable for colonization, requiring a rigorous training process and their task lasts for five years until their mandate is finished. However, a secret service organization known as Scientific Intelligence (SI) issued orders that certain Robinsons cannot return to Earth in order to avoid foreign viruses but officer Trepliev 1 and other Robinsons eventually discover the organization's actions. Trepliev 1 and his crew are tasked with exploring an unknown planet as their last mission before retiring but the team's spacecraft was sabotaged to crash-land on the location, which is revealed to be a prison planet called Zarathustra.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Development

Robinson's Requiem was created alongside Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity for the Atari ST.

Robinson's Requiem was developed in tandem with Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity and made use of Silmarils' proprietary ALIS game engine created by the company's co-founder Louis-Marie Rocques, which allowed the team in porting the game more easily from Atari ST to other platforms.

artists Christophe Lambert, Eric Galand, Guillaume Maginot, Nicolas Meylaender and Pascal Einsweiler, among other people collaborating in its development.[6][7][8][9][10]

The

David Ingels and Cyril Cogordan were responsible for porting Robinson's Requiem to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and the Atari Jaguar CD

Release and ports

3DO version screenshot.

Robinson's Requiem was originally published by Silmarils exclusively in Europe for the Atari ST, Atari Falcon and Amiga in 1994.

full motion video cutscenes.[21] The game was later released for PC and Macintosh by ReadySoft in North America and Europe by Daze Marketing, featuring minimal changes compared to the original versions and has since been re-released on compilations for modern PC platforms through download services such as Good Old Games.[5] The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer version was originally announced for a February 1995 release by ReadySoft,[22]
but due to extensive delays it was not released until 1996, only in North America, and became one of the last games released for the system. Though it features the same full motion video cutscenes as the CD-ROM release for Atari Falcon, the visuals are now rendered with polygons instead of voxels.

The Atari Jaguar CD version was first announced in late 1994 as one of the three titles Silmarils intended to release for the add-on, including its then-in development sequel Deus and Ishar 4: Ishar Genesis.[2][23][24][25][26][27][28] The Jaguar CD port was initially intended to be published during the second quarter of 1995 but was later rescheduled for an August/Q3 1995 release instead.[29][30][31] Despite being completed and sent to Atari Corporation for approval, it was never released due to Atari Corp. closing their doors as a result of the commercial and critical failure of the Atari Jaguar platform until it was picked up for distribution by Songbird Productions and released on 30 May 2011.[1][3][13][32][33] As with the 3DO version, this version features the same FMV cutscenes and visuals are rendered with polygons instead of voxels. A version for the Amiga CD32 was in development by Silmarils and planned to be published in May 1994.[4][34] However, it was never released for unknown reasons.

Reception

Critical reception of Robinson's Requiem was mixed. Many reviewers noted its poor graphics and high system requirements, and some found the game to be boring. However, several critics, including those from

CU Amiga and Amiga Computing
, believed that the game's originality overrode other complaints.

CU Amiga's Tony Dillon was impressed by its freeform item combination system, but was disappointed by the Amiga version's graphics and performance. However, he finished his review by saying, "If you want something new that will completely blow your brain, then this could well be the game for you".[60] Jonathan Maddock of Amiga Computing also disliked the game's graphics and system requirements, but praised the game as "an entirely new gaming experience".[36] Amiga Format's Dale Bradford noted that "just wandering around, exploring and discovering how long you can stay alive is enjoyable, thanks to the non-linear gameplay", and to the "care and thought" that went into the game.[37] All three reviewers noted the game's high level of difficulty.[36][60]

Rich Pelley of

PC Gamer US, who found the game frustrating and uninviting, and criticized its graphics.[44][45]

Legacy

A sequel, Deus, had already been announced for the Atari Jaguar CD by the time Robinson's Requiem was released.[2][25][26][29][27][28][72] It was released in 1996 on all regions only for PC to mixed reception.

Notes

  1. ^ Short for Actor Language Integrated System.[1][2]

References

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  7. ^ a b c d e Robinson's Requiem instructions (Atari Falcon, EU)
  8. ^ a b c d e Robinson's Requiem instructions (Amiga/Amiga 1200, EU)
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  10. ^ a b c d e f Robinson's Requiem game manual (Atari Jaguar CD, US)
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External links