Forgotten oldies - Cybermage: Darklight Awakening

[Zakhal]

Just upload the full game to megaupload and post the link here.

It's not piracy because... nobody here will ever fucking find that game in a store anymore.

cdaccess has 27 copies available for 15$ each:
http://www.cdaccess.com/html/quick/cybermagpr.htm (full retail)
http://www.cdaccess.com/html/quick/cybermagpo.htm

amazon.com has 11 copies available starting from 4 dollars:
http://www.amazon.com/CyberMage/dp/B000 ... 456&sr=8-1

Im not sure whether to get this allthough 15$ for CIB is a good deal. I have a faint memory that the game was not really that good.

On one level, CyberMage is something of a disappointment. It's really just another supercharged Doom clone, closer in execution to Dark Forces than System Shock. But don't let my minor discouragement keep you from buying this game! The sheer amount of time that I spent coming back to CyberMage again and again is enough to tell me that, despite my criticisms, I was really enjoying it. It's one of those "Just one more level before I go to sleep" sort of games. Warts and all, CyberMage is without question a serious contender to the throne of top post-Doom blast-a-thon. It's too bad it settled just for that.

Ah thats why I didnt like it. After system shock it seemed vastily inferior. If its only a glorified doom I doubt it has aged well. I have plenty of better shooters left to play and new ones are released all the time.

 

[Mareus]

I decided to add a poll, just to get a quick overview of the game's reputation on the codex.

 

[udm]

It was designed by none other than David Bradley of Wizardry fame, amirite?

One and the same. Seriously, this game is really good and if you haven't played it you should. I am really interested if anyone on the codex played it and if they found it interesting as me.

The game was awesome. It was way ahead of its time, in terms of presentation and gameplay. I'll even go as far to say that the game is nearly as cinematic as Half-Life. I can't really remember too many details about it right now, but there was a scene where you had to escape the park or something

I didn't finish the game though. It just got waaaay too tedious later on

 

[Lord Chambers]

Holy crap, I've been looking for this game for a long time. I could never remember what the hell it was called, and it never showed up on my searches at underdogs or mobygames.

 

[flabbyjack]

Holy crap, I've been looking for this game for a long time. I could never remember what the hell it was called, and it never showed up on my searches at underdogs or mobygames.

That's cause it's terrible. Stick with Hexen and Duke Nukem.

 

[NiM82]

Agreed, it was pretty forgettable imo.

 

[Lord Chambers]

Whatever, I want a Lets Play so I can see why I used to be so obsessed about this game.

 

[Elwro]

This reminds me about Strife, which also tried to be a more ambitious shooter. Quite enjoyable, though iirc I found it very hard.

 

[Claw]

The controls are very dubious.
I couldn't map any function to A, S and D for no particular reason, so no WASD setup. Also, you can only look up and down with keys, apparently. also, grenades suck.
I don't feel very motivated to keep playing, especially since visiting classic-gaming.net reminded me that I've wanted to play Flashback for a long time. I don't know why I didn't yet.

 

[ghostdog]

Yes, the controls and the combat in general was what killed the game for me. Just ditch cybermage and play Flashback ...and Another World if you haven't already.

 

[ecliptic]

This reminds me about Strife, which also tried to be a more ambitious shooter. Quite enjoyable, though iirc I found it very hard.

Strife was pretty awesome.

 

[Mareus]

Duke Nukem was just a good FPS, but it did nothing more. I got bored after 2 hours of killing things, just as with almost every shooter. Cybermage is different, because it tried to give you more from FPS genre. It was way ahead of it's time and although the controls need some time to get used to, the game is much better than any FPS from that era.

 

[DraQ]

This reminds me about Strife, which also tried to be a more ambitious shooter. Quite enjoyable, though iirc I found it very hard.

Strife was pretty awesome.

Yes it was, although I only played zdoom port.

Just ditch cybermage and play Flashback ...and Another World if you haven't already.

AW was awesome, plus it's been rerelased not long ago, with modern systems compatibility and somewhat overhauled gfx.

 

[Argosy]

If you want to remap the keyboard controls, use AutoHotKey. I can't imagine playing games like this and System Shock without it.

http://www.autohotkey.com/

 

[Section8]

I can't imagine playing a D. Dubya game without furfags. And yes, Cybermage has them.

 

[agris]

Yes, the controls and the combat in general was what killed the game for me. Just ditch cybermage and play Flashback ...and Another World if you haven't already.

Still feel this way ghostdog ?

 

[ghostdog]

Yes, the controls and the combat in general was what killed the game for me. Just ditch cybermage and play Flashback ...and Another World if you haven't already.

Still feel this way ghostdog ?

I guess...? I haven't tried the game since that time.

 

[agris]

Yes, the controls and the combat in general was what killed the game for me. Just ditch cybermage and play Flashback ...and Another World if you haven't already.

Still feel this way ghostdog ?

I guess...? I haven't tried the game since that time.

that's a shame, looks good on paper

 

[Spukrian]

Many, many years ago I played this on a computer with Win98 (or was it WinXP?). Never finished it because Dosbox would crash at a certain point. I should go back to it sometime, it was pretty good. Real shame and strange the game isn't on Gog.

 

[Ash]

Oh, I like it. It's Bradley. I liked everything he made. Haven't tried DUngeon Lords yet, but will one day [I'll likely even like it. o.o]

Besides, nothing wrong with FPS with RPG elements. Deus Ex, System Shock are great.

I remember that my mother wanted to buy me this game when I was 14 or so and I said it had too bad reviews.

Yeah, the press was bad than almost as it is now. I guess they were too busy praising the upcoming Duke Nukem.

As they should. You say Cybermage is the only one that tried anything new with FPS, but that is just fake news revisionist history. Almost every 90s FPS tried something new and Duke Nukem 3D is one of the most revolutionary FPS of them all.

Here is what it added to the FPS genre:

-Swimming
-Flying (jetpack).
-Advanced AI.
-Platforming.
-Rooms upon rooms; more advanced 3D.
-Unimportant graphical fluff that is still cool and notable, like mirrors.
-High degree of environmental interactivity and scripted events, all of which do not interfere with the core of FPS, but enhance it. Not innovative features for the time in itself, but innovative in how they retain FPS focus instead of turning the game into a talking to people simulator, environment-frobbing sim, or on rails set piece cinematic shit.

Also Strife did talking to NPCs in an FPS first.