Incline Brahma force - The Most Prestigious Game You Never Heard Of

[Ash]

You're not ready for this. Brahma Force is a FPS game from 1996 that plays like a mix between Doom and System Shock, with a touch of awesome Japanese infusion, on the PS1 in 1996!

Spoiler

-Excellent fast-paced combat in the vein of Doom (so no mouse or analog sticks to look, but it's fine), yet with some notable additions like z axis looking, boosted jumps, managing inventory items, and using a shield mechanic.
-RPG-lite features such as an inventory, upgrading weapons, finding and equipping mech modules (perks), and multiple alternate fire mode setting for weapons.
-Fully customizable HUD and rebindable Controls, among many other config settings.
-Mature cyberpunk story involving what seems to be an AI as well as psychology themes, mechs and space, told through awesome tasteful classic style FMVs, audio logs, and electronic communications. It's pretty dark, the girl in the start of the video has lost her sanity and suicides!
-Solid level design, often open-ended, lots of typical things to interact with like explosive traps, computer monitors, resource crates, upgrade module units, switches, save stations etc. However it is sometimes very vertical too, and those boosted jumps and some platforming comes into play. Furthermore, there are good puzzle elements too, even including listening to audio logs from your UI for a door code, but the code is presented in a way that, for example and without spoiling anything, the average child would not understand, even if it isn't deep.
-Is tasteful and intelligent in everything it does. Not that uncommon in the 90s. My only criticism is a little too much ammo provided.

This is beyond impressive. So much so I recorded some gameplay for your viewing.



0-5 minutes is a epic boss fight that chewed through my inventory resources and also offers a taste of the excellent awesome story and presentation so far.
5-8:30 minutes I get stuck on a cool puzzle.
8:30 minutes onwards is what typical gameplay actually looks like. It's

 

[Ash]

Finished it. The final 5 or so levels are a bit disappointing, and the story goes out with a whimper. Doesn't take away from the game too much though. 8/10. Solid game.

PDF scan of the manual here: https://archive.org/details/brahma-force-1996/page/n11/mode/1up?view=theater

 

[Hag]

Nice visuals and level design indeed. Shame it's all so grey.

 

[lightbane]

The inspiration for the Ghost X mecha Dungeon crawler games produced by a Codexer, that like 4 people know about!

 

[Beastro]

Aw, judging by the name i was expecting a "so bad it's good" East Indian game.

 

[flyingjohn]

The only other place i find a rec for this is a Metal jesus video,which is weird since the guy very mainstream when it comes to his tastes.

 

[Nutmeg]

Jokes on you I heard of this a few years back from based zwanzig_zwoelf

 

[HeatEXTEND]

PS1? Damn.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Aw man, this was one of those games I played in demo version but could never find the full disc back in the day. Thanks for bringing it up, gonna look for a rom.

If you’re looking for another (non FPS tho) game about a e s t h e t i c mechs with cool gameplay, get Einhänder.

 

[Eisen]

Seems my type of game

 

[Ash]

Aw man, this was one of those games I played in demo version but could never find the full disc back in the day. Thanks for bringing it up, gonna look for a rom.

If you’re looking for another (non FPS tho) game about a e s t h e t i c mechs with cool gameplay, get Einhänder.

Well worth it. The game ended up being added to my classics list, and is probably the best shooter on the PS1 if we ignore PC ports like Doom and Duke Nukem 3D.
In ways, it is even better than those so it is insane almost nobody has heard of this, but...ultimately I should compile my final criticisms:

-The levels are sadly a little on the smaller side. For reference, take an average Doom Nukem level and reduce it by 30%. Big enough for sure, but noticably below most 90s legends. The quality of the level design is solid nonetheless.
-One of the weapon groups, the "launcher" a.k.a trench mortar, is borderline useless. It works on bosses, but normal enemies are super fast and just avoid it consistently. Maybe this is the point of it, and at least it isn't completely redundant, but if this was the intention it's just weird.
-Option units (perks or whatever) are hardly options at all. There isn't many, and you have six slots for them, so you're never faced with interesting choices or build customization in this regard. However one of the option units boosts movement speed by what the game calls "double" which, no it's probably more like 50%. But the game is already super fast, so when you get it you're running around at insane speeds exceeding the likes of Doom. Be sure not to miss this one. It requires using a banger on a breakable wall around 2/3rds way through the game.
-Slightly too much ammo. Though you do need it for the end boss. In this regard it is relevant, but I prefer ammo management to be always at play both short and long-term.
-Drops off a little in quality in the last 25% or so. Most levels become a bit too small and linear. Story remains cool but doesn't lead anywhere grand that the first half of the game implies.

Also flamin' hot take: I definitely enjoyed it more than System Shock 1 (which I rate 7.5/10 as an attempted objective measure; ignoring its innovation factor). But not SS2.
See this post for my criticisms of SS1: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/system-shock-1-remake-by-nightdive-studios.104619/post-8501407

 

[Ash]

PS1? Damn.

Not even so much the PS1 that is impressive. PS1 makes up a significant portion of the golden age after all, so many great games. It's the fact it was 1996 - early days for the PS1 AND the FPS. It has looking up and down, for example. And you'll be doing both a lot. This wasn't even quite commonplace on PC in 96, only just becoming the standard with Quake and Nukem. The combat is also super good.
And the fact it has super jumps, or just jumping at all. Again, was only just becoming a thing in FPS in 96. But it goes one step further with variable boosted jumps, and combat + platforming challenges that make use of this variable jump.
I also cannot think of a single game 1996 or prior that blended RPG elements and FPS this well. SS1, barely, but even that game didn't have weapon upgrading and "option units", disappointing as they both may be (weapon upgrading is damage only, but you do get like 20 weapons or some shit in total). There's cybermage and strife of course but both are rather lame, forgettable games.

Lastly, some impressive technical details: the framerate is consistent & smooth. The HUD and controls are fully customizable. It is also fully 3D, even the enemies, without looking like shit (see: Terminator: Future Shock).

So yeah, moving forward any ignoramus pulls the usual "muh console shooter" ignorance, this prestigious gem should be posted in response. It's a fucking good game. Not that there aren't other monocled console FPS (e.g Turok, Doom 64), but this one has a complexity boner and no technical asterisks* which earns it extra prestige points.

*such as framerate issues which can sometimes be a problem on consoles, or limited control rebinding.

 

[Ash]

The inspiration for the Ghost X mecha Dungeon crawler games produced by a Codexer, that like 4 people know about!

Wait, what game? Are we talking about zwanzig_zwoelf ? I'm intrigued.

Here we go:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/...er__The_Ghost_Hunter/?curator_clanid=33855917

Grid-movement & turn-based, so definitely not at all the same unfortunately.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Lastly, some impressive technical details: the framerate is consistent & smooth.

Yeah it looks to run very well for early ps1 and what it does, impressive.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

The inspiration for the Ghost X mecha Dungeon crawler games produced by a Codexer, that like 4 people know about!

Wait, what game? Are we talking about zwanzig_zwoelf ? I'm intrigued.

Here we go:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/...er__The_Ghost_Hunter/?curator_clanid=33855917

Grid-movement & turn-based, so definitely not at all the same unfortunately.

Not the same indeed -- my main source of inspiration was Carmine for PC-98. I took some inspiration from the Kileak trilogy (BRAHMA Force being the third game) and other mecha media, though.

 

[Eisen]

The inspiration for the Ghost X mecha Dungeon crawler games produced by a Codexer, that like 4 people know about!

Wait, what game? Are we talking about zwanzig_zwoelf ? I'm intrigued.

Here we go:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/...er__The_Ghost_Hunter/?curator_clanid=33855917

Grid-movement & turn-based, so definitely not at all the same unfortunately.

Not the same indeed -- my main source of inspiration was Carmine for PC-98. I took some inspiration from the Kileak trilogy (BRAHMA Force being the third game) and other mecha media, though.

There are other games? Damn, i need to try it too

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

The inspiration for the Ghost X mecha Dungeon crawler games produced by a Codexer, that like 4 people know about!

Wait, what game? Are we talking about zwanzig_zwoelf ? I'm intrigued.

Here we go:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/...er__The_Ghost_Hunter/?curator_clanid=33855917

Grid-movement & turn-based, so definitely not at all the same unfortunately.

Not the same indeed -- my main source of inspiration was Carmine for PC-98. I took some inspiration from the Kileak trilogy (BRAHMA Force being the third game) and other mecha media, though.

There are other games? Damn, i need to try it too

Yes, but they're closer to first-person dungeon crawlers in terms of game design.

The first Kileak is kinda meh, but Epidemic (Kileak 2) is a good game that won't take too long to finish. I enjoyed it thoroughly -- it takes the dungeon crawling elements of the first game and builds upon them.

BRAHMA Force adds verticality and makes the gameplay a lot smoother.

There's also Robotica (Daedalus) for Sega Saturn -- think Kileak, but turned into a roguelike FPS.

You may also want to check out Space Griffon VF-9 if you're into mecha games -- it's a remake of Hamlet from PC-98.

 

[lightbane]

I wonder how many of these are in English, I'll have to check.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

I wonder how many of these are in English, I'll have to check.

All of them.

I also recommend playing through Tetsujin series on the 3DO. The original is very cool and plays like a resource management 'puzzle' through each floor -- enemies respawn whenever you replenish health and ammo in the repair station, so it's more about figuring out how to kill each enemy type efficiently and reach the next floor (and repair station) alive. It runs like ass on the original hardware, so an emulator is a preferred way to play this game.

Tetsujin Returns is more of a straightforward FPS and has a few mechanics that make it feel like a modern game -- you have regenerating health and energy, and you can use the energy shield to avoid taking damage.

Both games are available in English.