Origin Systems is one of the most successful game companies in the universe, but it's taken some time. As the seemingly never-ending Ultima saga led to the increasingly cinematic Wing Commander series, the Austin auteurs have also taken some risks, with unusual flight simulator products like Wings of Glory and the hard science fiction of BioForge. Now the company is preparing another surprise with CyberMage: Darklight Awakening, a game with more diverse influences than a cow has stomachs. It's a comic-booky/first-person shootery/cyberpunkified/puzzle-filled thing, with magic thrown in for good measure. It's also the brainchild of one of the gaming world's best RPG designers, David Bradley, the man who brought you Sir Tech's award winning Wizardry series.
The CyberMage world is a dark vision of America taken to its furthest extreme: multinational corporations have, for all intents and purposes, taken over the government. Wars no longer take place over ideologies, just for cash and resources. In this winner-take-all environment, the player character makes the mistake of taking sides. One of the corporate entities has become particularly powerful by virtue of a mysterious technology that none of the competition can match. When the player inadvertently rescues one of this company's executives who has been marked for death by a rival corporation, he becomes the recipient of a twisted kind of gratitude. It's called a Darklight gem.
It turns out that Darklight technology is what has given this company its edge over all the others. No one completely understands it, except that it is hugely powerful, and probably not of Earthly origin. The executive you rescued wants to keep you around, but also thinks it would be a good idea to give you some of that special edge. It's really a great privilege. What's that? You don't think that's such a good idea? Too bad. As the hero of the day, you are, like it or not, fitted up with an implant of the strange material, which transforms you into... dum dum DUH... CyberMage! Since no one really understands Darklight completely, you're going to have to figure your powers out on a trial-and-error basis. Good luck, dude.
It's hard to imagine a less idealistic beginning for a superhero. After all, good and evil don't really have a place in your mission. You're just another tool of the company. At least you would be, except for a little thing called "free will." While you run errands of a pretty violent nature for your employers, you still cling to a few larger principles than profit margin. This is not the healthiest attitude to take in this world, and it's not long before enemies come out of the woodwork, determined to stop you at any cost. But whose side are they on? Are they possibly representatives from your own company, afraid of your becoming a free agent? And what of NeCrom, the only other being in possession of a Darklight gem? What's the deal?
This unusual story plays out in a 3-D environment than ranges from subterranean laboratories to towering city skyscrapers. There are battles that play out in smog-filled slums as well as dense forests. While much of the game is in first-person perspective, CyberMage promises to be much more than just another Doom clone. In addition to a wider range of weapons and superpower capabilities, the player character won't have to run his feet off. There are a number of vehicles to help him get around in this sick world, from motorcycles to hovercraft.
The high-speed action is also tempered with an adventure scenario filled with numerous challenging puzzles. When you're not experiencing the events in first person, they play out in cinematic style, with numerous shifting camera angles and close-ups, not to mention the ever present comic-book art style. In keeping with current trends, CyberMage will be a CD-ROM only product with digitized speech and SVGA graphics, although a VGA version will be available.
Unlike most action intensive titles, the emphasis here is definitely on story and characterizations. It looks like David Bradley and Origin have the makings of another hit series on their hands. If you find yourself wanting more of this dark, sinister world than the game has to offer, and the inevitable sequels are too-long distant, Eden Matrix Press will be offering a comic series to accompany its release. But the actual game will be available late this Fall, so prepare yourself for the Darklight Awakening.
