Crusader: No Remorse PC Cover |
Crusader: No Regret PC Cover |
Crusader: No Remorse |
Every Crusader game comes with High Quality (tm), Well Acted video cutscenes!
Crusader runs on an enhanced version of the Ultima VIII engine, with the same overhead angled
perspective, although you can move in all eight directions. All of the graphics are done in incredibly
cool VGA - even in the age of normal mapped polygons, it's incredible that SVGA sprites can still
look reasonably amazing. The explosions are also pretty impressive - so much detail was put into
them that there's even an option to limit them, in case your computer can't handle it.
Crusader is also unashamed of its overt display of violence. Most of the massive fun of these games
comes in all of the brutal ways you could murder your bad guys. Here are the most fun:
You are occasionally placed in dilemmas by coming across innocent scientists and civilians who beg
for their life. Of course, that little concept called "morals" go right out the window when you answer
their pleas by setting them on fire, but what do you expect from a game with a subtitle "No
Remorse"?
Other than your standard arsenal of guns, most of which you buy in-between levels at the rebel base,
you get a few other nifty devices, like spider bombs. The most useful are the combat robots, a la
Robocop's ED-209, that are spread throughout the levels. They can be your enemies if you trip an
alarm, but if you find the right terminal, you can control them remotely and murder unsuspecting
guards from behind.
Despite its viewpoint, Crusader is actually structured like most Doom-style first person shooters.
While most of the levels are fairly linear, they usually require searching for keycards, switches or
passcodes in order to continue. Unfortunately, this does lead to some overtly annoying pixel hunting,
disrupting the destructive flow of the game.
The control, too, takes a bit of getting used to. Your Silencer controls with all of the grace of a tank,
as he carries a fair bit of inertia. There are two control methods - using the keyboard, you get
controls similar to Resident Evil, with the Left and Right arrows turning your character, Up moving
forward and Down retreating. You can also strafe and roll, allowing some semblance of
maneuverability, but you are still pretty far from agile. If the relative movement doesn't suit you,
you can use the arrow keys for a more direct control method. Alas, pulling off any fancy maneuvers
is a little difficult with this, and it still feels uncomfortably choppy. The scrolling - or lack thereof -
doesn't help. The camera
remains static until you move toward the edge of the screen, then it will uncomfortably jerk to
recenter every couple steps.
Partially due to the somewhat clunky control method, Crusader requires a bit more thought than
simply rampaging through the room with guns ablazin. It's usually much smarter to find cover, roll
out, fire a few shots, then retreat back to safety. And while it's not a gigantic part of the game, a fair
bit of stealth will keep you from alerting too many armed turrets.
While it's a lot of fun, it somehow seems to miss one of the finer points of action gaming. Arcade
games were fun because they were nice, quick thrills. Crusader tosses you some gigantic levels, most
of which rarely venture beyond the locales of factories, laboratories or offices, and never really
expands the gaming variety. So while its fun at first, it does settle into a repetitive lull after you've
played a little while and seen all of the amusing ways you can send your opponents to meet their
maker. Thankfully, you can save whenever you want, so it's easy to hop back in and out.
The original Crusader: No Remorse was released in 1995, and was followed a year later by its
pseudo sequel, Crusader: No Regret. It was really more of a standalone expansion pack than a whole
new game - there are all new levels, enemies, music and most importantly, a lot more weapons, but
otherwise it's pretty much the same game. Both Crusader games have awesome electronic music,
done MOD music scene guru Necros (also known as Andrew Sega, no relation to the game
company.)
In order to run either Crusader games, you need to be running in pure DOS. If you've got Windows
95/98 and can track down some CD and sound card drivers, you'll be OK. If you've got Windows
XP though, you're pretty much out of luck. The only confirmed way to get the games running is
through an emulator like DOSBox - which unfortunately requires a rather fast computer for
moderate performance.
Thankfully, Crusader: No Remorse was published for both the Playstation and Saturn in 1996, early
in the lives of both systems. Incapable of SVGA display, the graphics had to be downgraded and
look quite pixellated as a result. And while some animation was cut, the game otherwise runs pretty
smoothly. Unfortunately, despite using the gamepad, there's still plenty of control snafus. Although
you can choose absolute movement, pressing Up actually moves your character up-left, making this
control scheme much more unwieldy than it should be. So while it compares somewhat unfavorably
to its PC cousin, deal with the awkward controls and the game's just as fun.
While there were rumors of a Crusader 2 - possibly with multiplayer - Origin put all of its resources
into Ultima Online, and the series died off. For those that can run it, Crusader is a pleasant foray into
destructive mayhem.
MP3s
Crusader: No Remorse - Dimension 2021 (Level 1)
Crusader: No Remorse
Crusader: No Remorse
Crusader: No Regret
Crusader: No Regret
Crusader: No Regret
Crusader: No Regret
Crusader: No Regret
Crusader: No Remorse PSOne
Crusader: No Remorse PSOne
Crusader: No Mercy (unreleased)
Even back in 1996, when the domineering genres of real time strategy and first person shooters were
just becoming kings of the PC gaming landscape, console-style action games were quite rare. Other
than a few decent shareware titles like Jazz Jackrabbit, Raptor and Tyrian, most PC gamers
generally preferred to stay away from the perceived shallowness of "video games". And then from Origin came Crusader: No Remorse, one of the only successful third person action titles to hit the personal computer.
Crusader takes place in the near future, with evil corporations abound. You are a Silencer, a guy
with a Boba Fett mask and a blood red suit of armor, a killing agent of the evil bad guys. Except one
day, you and your buddies grow a conscience and decided to let some innocent civilians go. Shortly
thereafter, your former bosses terminate your employment by unleashing a machine gun-toting robot
in your direction. You survive. Your teammates don't. Alone and with no paycheck, you sign up
with the rebel forces, a group of rapscallions fighting against the evil regime.
This is a filthy lie
Some weapons reduce your foes to chunky little bits on impact. This, my friend, is an ex-human.
The electricity deaths are clean, in that your bad guys simply vanish into thin air. Maybe they are
going to
another, happier reality where red armored warriors aren't attempting to vanquish them in despicable
manners.
Clearly, a member of the Crusader development team was a fan of Terminator 2, as you can freeze
your foes in carbon and shatter them at your whim. Also, use them as footstools.
The guy on the left is in the process on disintegrating. The guy on the right (the pile of ashes) is the
end result.
The microwave gun will burn away that pesky flesh, leaving only an irradiated, overcooked pile of
remains.
For those who like better cooking, merely set them afire and watch them as they run around
comically in havoc before
collapsing, hoping for a less painful death in their next life.
Crusader: No Regret - Ninth Crusade (Level 1)
Crusader:
No Regret - Sound Test
Crusader: No Regret - The Traveler Remix (Menu)
