Immercenary
Encyclopedia
Immercenary is a 1995
3D
first-person shooter
video game for the 3DO
by Electronic Arts
. While the player explores the Immercenary world, called the Garden, in first-person and engages in real-time combat, it is considered by some to be a computer role-playing game, rather than a first-person shooter. This is because the player increases "stats" throughout the game by killing other in-game characters and "crashing" their algorithm
s by walking through.
Opponents range in difficulty and rewards received. The least difficult, and usually most killed, are the "Goners." A good portion of the players early game time will be spent killing Goners and crashing their algorithms to build the three statistics categories. Once sufficient defense, offense, and agility has been obtained, the player can feel comfortable taking on more difficult opponents to receive higher boosts to their stats. Such NPCs have names from classic art, literature, mythology, and even the Christian
and Hebrew Bible
. Such examples included a "beautiful" nude rendition of the Roman goddess Venus
, and a powerful black male character dubbed David
.
Once a character’s stats have diminished, they are sent back to the “real world.” While there, the player receives tips from scientists gathered around. Each time back to reality costs the player a portion of the boosts they have been earning. If these are completely depleted, the player dies. If the leading character decides its stats are well enough developed, it may choose to challenge one of the boss characters. They are decidedly much more difficult than the other look-alikes in the Garden. If the player is well enough developed and defeats a boss, he/she is rewarded with crashing the bosses algorithm and gain a large boost to their stats.
. Immercenary takes the player back and forth between these two realities through a series of filmed cut scenes.
The job of the “immercenary” is to build his/her stats in the Garden, taking out the major bosses in the process of making it to the main evil boss, the Perfect, who is killing the in game players. It is later revealed to the played in a filmed cut scene that when he/she crashes another characters algorithm, there is actually a human being playing that character. The human then goes into a state of shock, from which they will die (and normally do) if the Perfect is not defeated.
Other characters in the game actually have the same goal, become strong enough to defeat the Perfect. The one character that has advanced the farthest is Raven. She tells the player that she realizes that she cannot defeat the Perfect, and asks him/her to crash her algorithm. The player obliges, and goes on to defeat the Perfect, thus freeing those who were recently put into a state of shock. The game ends with a filmed scene showing Raven’s user in the real world smiling at the camera and pulling her virtual reality head band off.
1995 in video gaming
-Events:*May 11 – Introduction of trade magazine GameWeek *May 11-16 — The 1st annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is held in Los Angeles, California...
3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
video game for the 3DO
3DO Interactive Multiplayer
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by...
by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
. While the player explores the Immercenary world, called the Garden, in first-person and engages in real-time combat, it is considered by some to be a computer role-playing game, rather than a first-person shooter. This is because the player increases "stats" throughout the game by killing other in-game characters and "crashing" their algorithm
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
s by walking through.
Game play
The object during game play is to eliminate other players by killing them, then "crash their algorithm," which is accomplished by walking through a cloud of static left behind. Depending on the type of algorithm that is crashed, the player receives a boost to one of their three statistics: defense, offense or agility. The tougher the opponent defeated, the larger the boost that the player will receive.Opponents range in difficulty and rewards received. The least difficult, and usually most killed, are the "Goners." A good portion of the players early game time will be spent killing Goners and crashing their algorithms to build the three statistics categories. Once sufficient defense, offense, and agility has been obtained, the player can feel comfortable taking on more difficult opponents to receive higher boosts to their stats. Such NPCs have names from classic art, literature, mythology, and even the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and Hebrew Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. Such examples included a "beautiful" nude rendition of the Roman goddess Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
, and a powerful black male character dubbed David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
.
Once a character’s stats have diminished, they are sent back to the “real world.” While there, the player receives tips from scientists gathered around. Each time back to reality costs the player a portion of the boosts they have been earning. If these are completely depleted, the player dies. If the leading character decides its stats are well enough developed, it may choose to challenge one of the boss characters. They are decidedly much more difficult than the other look-alikes in the Garden. If the player is well enough developed and defeats a boss, he/she is rewarded with crashing the bosses algorithm and gain a large boost to their stats.
Story
The game is set in 2004. The player is working with a team of what appear to be scientists on a type of virtual reality MMORPGMMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
. Immercenary takes the player back and forth between these two realities through a series of filmed cut scenes.
The job of the “immercenary” is to build his/her stats in the Garden, taking out the major bosses in the process of making it to the main evil boss, the Perfect, who is killing the in game players. It is later revealed to the played in a filmed cut scene that when he/she crashes another characters algorithm, there is actually a human being playing that character. The human then goes into a state of shock, from which they will die (and normally do) if the Perfect is not defeated.
Other characters in the game actually have the same goal, become strong enough to defeat the Perfect. The one character that has advanced the farthest is Raven. She tells the player that she realizes that she cannot defeat the Perfect, and asks him/her to crash her algorithm. The player obliges, and goes on to defeat the Perfect, thus freeing those who were recently put into a state of shock. The game ends with a filmed scene showing Raven’s user in the real world smiling at the camera and pulling her virtual reality head band off.