Slave Zero
Encyclopedia
Slave Zero is a 1999 Infogrames
(now Atari
) video game for the Sega
Dreamcast and Windows ME
(see below).
" by the Guardians. Now the Guardians' only hope of overthrowing the SovKhan and his cybernetic army lies in a single captured Slave unit, which will have the mind of a specially trained Guardian agent permanently downloaded into it. The game follows "Slave Zero" as he wages war against the SovKhan's forces throughout every part of Megacity S1-9.
Battles were cited as both unique and memorable.
One drawback of the game is that it was originally designed to work with Windows ME
and is not compatible with Windows XP
and Windows Vista
. A small dedicated following has developed a number of CD cracks
in order to make the game compatible on newer systems. While this allows the software to become playable, it still requires that the owner possess the original software. The PC version was ported directly to Dreamcast which means Windows CE was used resulting in a lower framerate. The PC version uses the Ecstacy Engine. http://www.neoseeker.com/Games/Products/PC/Slavezero/
Infogrames
Infogrames Entertainment SA was an international French holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was the owner of Atari, Inc., headquartered in New York City, U.S. and Atari Europe. It was founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the proceeds from an introductory...
(now Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
) video game for the Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
Dreamcast and Windows ME
Windows Me
Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....
(see below).
Story
Taking place 500 years in the future, the game tells the story of Lu Chen, a sinister world overlord more commonly known as the SovKhan, who rules the Earth from a massive complex called Megacity S1-9. The only resistance to the SovKhan is from an ancient order of warriors known only as the Guardians. The SovKhan's army is nearly invincible as it is, and it is growing by the day, his most powerful units being 60-foot-tall humanoid robots called "Slaves". The Slaves themselves are grown from a combination of artificially created cybernetic embryos and a mysterious compound called NTR95879, referred to as "dark matterDark matter
In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is matter that neither emits nor scatters light or other electromagnetic radiation, and so cannot be directly detected via optical or radio astronomy...
" by the Guardians. Now the Guardians' only hope of overthrowing the SovKhan and his cybernetic army lies in a single captured Slave unit, which will have the mind of a specially trained Guardian agent permanently downloaded into it. The game follows "Slave Zero" as he wages war against the SovKhan's forces throughout every part of Megacity S1-9.
Critical reception
While the game received only fair reviews from critics, the average player rated the game much higher. Critics themselves were unimpressed by the game overall, but cited that the positive elements made it a "perfectly acceptable arcade game." In particular, the stylized artwork and BossBoss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
Battles were cited as both unique and memorable.
One drawback of the game is that it was originally designed to work with Windows ME
Windows Me
Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....
and is not compatible with Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
and Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
. A small dedicated following has developed a number of CD cracks
Software cracking
Software cracking is the modification of software to remove or disable features which are considered undesirable by the person cracking the software, usually related to protection methods: copy protection, trial/demo version, serial number, hardware key, date checks, CD check or software annoyances...
in order to make the game compatible on newer systems. While this allows the software to become playable, it still requires that the owner possess the original software. The PC version was ported directly to Dreamcast which means Windows CE was used resulting in a lower framerate. The PC version uses the Ecstacy Engine. http://www.neoseeker.com/Games/Products/PC/Slavezero/
External links
- Slave Zero News, a thorough source of Slave Zero information.
- IGN PC review 8/10
- IGN Designer interview
- GameSpot PC review 6.9/10
- IGN Dreamcast review 3.2/10
- GameSpot Dreamcast review 7.2/10