Crusader: No Regret

Crusader: No Regret - the continuation of the game Crusader: No Remorse, a solid action-shooter with an isometric perspective. This project is already curious because it is difficult to call it the second part of the game — there are too few changes compared to the first part — but the language will not turn out to be its complement: the scales are too large.

Plot: Have you read about the first part? It is even simpler here: not too distant future, gloomy world, tyranny of the World Economic Consortium (WEC). The protagonist is Silencer, a professional killer, former captain of a special squad, and now a dangerous rebel. After the destruction of the Vigilance Platform, our hero hung out in a rescue capsule for two days, until he was picked up by a transporter next to the moon. Despite the small doomsday on board (which was not without the active participation of the protagonist), the transporter safely reached the lunar mining colony, where the IEC produces extremely valuable radioactive substance Di-Cor, replacing all forms of fuel on Earth. The extraction of the substance is dangerous, therefore only convicts - political criminals - are engaged in it. There is also a small secret base of rebels, which, for the beginning of active actions, lacked only such a skilled destroyer as the main character. The main message is clear - "Go ahead, harm!"

Essence: Carefully moved from the first part. Over ten levels of the game, the hero penetrates well-guarded objects and performs complex tasks. The first element of the game is action: dynamic skirmishes with live and mechanical opponents, a wide arsenal of various weapons, destructible environments, colorful special effects and techniques. The second element is logic and tactics: various traps and mechanisms that need to be circumvented in various ways or used against the enemy. Tactical tasks are not obvious, and attempts to storm fortified points from a swoop usually end sadly.

Differences from the first part: Not to say significant.

• Improved the quality and number of video inserts. Actors play noticeably better;
• Improved animation of the death of enemies from various types of weapons;
• New tricks of the protagonist (roll forward, “strafe” in the squat);
• New inventory items, new weapons and types of opponents;
• New environmental conditions (radiation, invisible infrared rays);
• The disappearance of money and restrictions on the number of carried weapons;
• A lot of minor changes (improved graphics, interface).

Separately, I note: removed the store between levels. Probably, Origin heeded the complaints of those fans who thought that this detail reduced the dynamism of the game. The question of the validity of this decision is debatable: on the one hand, the game has not lost a bit in the field of tactics and strategy - on the contrary, the traps have become more complicated and sophisticated, on the other hand, an interesting tactical and plot element has disappeared from the game. I am personally saddened by the loss of the rebel base with the store - in my opinion, without it the game became more straightforward - but this is a matter of taste.

Five minutes of grumbling: The most unpleasant thing about the continuation of cult games is that they are inevitable. Fans are chanting “More!”, Publishers are cringing, marketers guarantee success, money - here they are, under your feet: bend down and take it. Even if your game has come to a logical end, if you want it or not, you have to suck the plot out of your finger, or the copyright holders will do it for you. And here the developer has the widest sea of ​​possibilities - you can realize a flight of fantasy with a familiar sauce and radically rework the game so that the first part will be remembered only in connection with the second ... but this is risky. You can invite fashionable creators who know exactly what the player wants (such did the graphic design for the X-com Apocalypse game). You can even release raw hack, put money in your pocket and put up with the fact that your mother has become the most remembered character among fans. Or you can simply release the same game: implement what didn’t fit in it, take into account shortcomings, carefully add what it wouldn’t hurt, make a full-fledged campaign - no worse than it was in the original game. In general, try not to spoil anything. The minimum program? So I thought, until I became acquainted with other options for sequels. That is why I am convinced that the game Crusader: No regret deserves the separate achievement of “an unsolicited idea.” And even though the second part is so similar to the first that it can be difficult to distinguish them, it’s still the good old Crusader, which just got bigger.

In short about the good: A fascinating shooter in the entourage of science fiction of the 50-60s of the last century. Carefully transferred and extended advantages of the first part. To understand the essence of the original game is not necessary to pass. Crusader: No Regret is perfectly perceived even independently of the ancestor.