I-War (1995 video game)

I-War[lower-alpha 1] is a shooter video game developed by Imagitec Design and published by Atari Corporation exclusively for the Atari Jaguar in North America and Europe on December 15, 1995.[2][3] It was the last title developed by Imagitec for the Jaguar before the company ended their relationship with Atari Corp.,[4] who would discontinue the platform in April 1996.[5][6]

This article is about the 1995 Atari Jaguar video game. For the 1997 PC video game, see I-War (1997 video game). For other uses, see I-War (disambiguation).
I-War
Cover art in all regions
Developer(s)Imagitec Design
Publisher(s)Atari Corporation
Producer(s)Bill Newsham
John Skruch
Ted Taquechi
Designer(s)Emerson Best
Programmer(s)Andrew Seed
Karl Vest
Artist(s)Andy Noble
Composer(s)Alastair Lindsay
Platform(s)Atari Jaguar
Release
  • NA: 15 December 1995
  • EU: 15 December 1995
Genre(s)Shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer (up to two players)

When the databases of the Override mainframe supercomputer began mutating and blocking the I-Way computer network, the player is tasked in piloting an antivirus tank vehicle and enter into the virtual world to clear out the network, eliminate computer viruses and eradicate the mutated databases. The game was originally announced in late 1994 under a different title.[7][8][9]

I-War received mixed to negative reception when it was originally released.[10]

Gameplay
Gameplay screenshot

I-War is a shooter game that is primarily played in a first-person perspective, where the player takes control of an antivirus tank vehicle in order to enter into the virtual world of a worldwide computer network nicknamed "I-Way" and fight computer viruses, in addition of destroying mutated databases and collect datapods as main objectives through 21 different levels, each one increasing in scope and complexity as the player progresses through the game, with later levels introducing new enemy types and weapons that can be equipped for the player's tank.[11][12] Before starting the game, the player has the option to choose between three different types of tanks, with each having their own advantages and disadvantages. There are three difficulty levels that the player can choose at the options menu, while other settings are available by entering a cheat code. There is also a two-player versus mode.[11]

During gameplay, the player can change the camera angles by pressing their respective number on the controller's keypad, in addition of activating a level map and other features.[11] Unlike other games in the genre that were released for the system such as Cybermorph and Hover Strike, the levels in I-War are sorted into enclosed chambers with one-way teleportation in order to avoid repeating levels. Once the set number of mutated databases are destroyed and collecting the number of datapods within the respective level, the player has to come back to the starting point and enter into the Data Link bonus rounds, which involves grabbing datapods in an attempt to gain an extra life by either increasing or decreasing the tank's speed, while also acting as transition points to upper levels.[11] After completing the level, the player can choose to save or not their progress, which is kept via the cartridge's internal EEPROM, while high-scores and other setting changes are automatically saved internally.[11] If all lives are lost, the game is over.

Plot

In the future and after 20 years of being in development, the Override mainframe supercomputer, which is buried on the South Pole in order to keep its core at very low temperatures from overheating, went online on schedule and its main function is to handle information of the ever-increasingly complex internet, called I-Way, through advanced processing capabilities that the technology inside of the supercomputer offers and as such, society started depending on it and worked for years without exhibiting issues until its databases started mutating and computer viruses began to clog the I-Way, leading to delays, slow information transfers, among other issues that brings the Override to the point of self-destruction as a result of the now-mutated databases. In response to the situation, the player is assigned to pilot an antivirus tank vehicle in order to destroy mutated databases and viruses that are clogging the I-Way, in addition of collecing datapods.[11] After traversing multiple nodes, the player finally arrives to the Override Central Block and destroys the boss database by overloading it with viruses, saving I-Way in the process until next time.[11][13]

Development and release

I-War was originally advertised under the name Redemption in late 1994 and was also known internally as Dreadnaught,[7][8][9][14] with plans to be originally released around the second quarter of 1995.[15] The music was composed by Alastair Lindsay.[16] Development of the game was completed on December 11, 1995, a few days before release.[17] It was the last title produced by Imagitec Design for the Jaguar, as the developer started having issues with Atari during this period.[4] The game was showcased during the Fun 'n' Games Day event hosted by Atari.[18]

Reception
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Next Generation[19]
AllGame[20]
Atari Gaming Headquarters5 / 10[21]
Electronic Gaming Monthly15.5 / 40[22]
GamePro10 / 20[23]
Game Zero Magazine12.5 / 25[24]
MAN!AC48%[25]
ST-Computer68%[26]
ST Magazine58%[27]
Video Games[28]
VideoGames6 / 10[29]

I-War received mixed to negative reception since its release.[30]

Legacy

In 1997, two years after its release, the game's trademark was abandoned.[31]

Notes
  1. Also known as Netwar in some European regions.[1]
gollark: I could use a bincode-type thing, chunk messages into groups of maybe a thousand each, and run them through zstandard compression, and then have a few uncompressed statistics, but I don't want ABR to store too much state in memory.
gollark: Maybe it should gather data per hour. Or I could try and actually design some extremely densely packed representation.
gollark: Message contents and timestamps would be too big unless I have some ultra-compressed packed form.
gollark: That is a display issue. I'm talking about what needs GATHERING.
gollark: Well, yes, obviously that.

References
  1. "Cahier Loisirs / Test - Les Nouvelles Du Mois". ST Magazine (in French). No. 99. Pressimage. November 1995. p. 60. Archived from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  2. "Atari Corp.'s Jaguar 64 hits mass market price; in time for holiday sales, Jaguar now $99". TheFreeLibrary.com. Business Wire. December 15, 1995. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  3. Castle, Justin (July 21, 2018). "Historical Atari Jaguar UK Magazine Advert/Reviews Collection" (PDF). Issuu. p. 340. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  4. Hawken, Kieren (January 2013). "From The Archives: Imagitec Design". Retro Gamer. No. 111. Future Publishing. pp. 30–35. Archived from the original on 2016-02-21. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  5. "Atari and JT Storage Reorganisation Plan". onecle.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2006. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
  6. "ATARI CORP Annual Report (Regulation S-K, item 405) (10-K405) ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS". Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  7. Yarusso, Albert. "Catalog - Atari (1994)". AtariAge. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  8. Yarusso, Albert. "Catalog - Atari (Europe) (1994)". AtariAge. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  9. "Payment Schedule for Jaguar games to Developers" (PDF). atarimuseum.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-12-11. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
  10. Hawken, Kieren (July 2013). "Minority Report Special: Jaguar - I-War". Retro Gamer. No. 118. Imagine Publishing. p. 47.
  11. I-War game manual (Atari Jaguar, US)
  12. "Next Wave - Jaguar - I-War". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 78. Sendai Publishing. January 1996. p. 138. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  13. "Ending for I-War (Atari Jaguar)". vgmuseum.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2018-10-03.
  14. "The Atari Jaguar Game by Game Podcast: 26 - I-War". atarijaguargamebygame.libsyn.com. January 29, 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  15. "Feature - XT Generation Report - Atari Jaguar". MAN!AC (in German). No. 20. Cybermedia. June 1995. p. 40.
  16. Powell, Wes (July 20, 1998). "Alastair Lindsay Interview - Imagitec Tunesmith Takes Note". Jaguar Explorer Online. Vol. 2 no. 2. White Space Publishers. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  17. Dragon, Lost (July 5, 2017). "The Ultimate Jaguar Unreleased/Beta/Source/Dev Master List! - Page 5". atari.io. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
  18. "Atari's Fun 'n' Games Day". GamePro. No. 78. IDG. January 1996. p. 60.
  19. "Finals - Jaguar - I-War". Next Generation. No. 14. Imagine Media. February 1996. p. 168.
  20. Scoleri III, Joseph. "I-War - Overview". AllGame. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  21. Iida, Keith. "AGH Jaguar Review: I-WAR". atarihq.com. Archived from the original on 2018-04-18. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  22. "Review Crew - I-War". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 78. EGM Media, LLC. January 1996. p. 46. Archived from the original on 2018-07-28. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  23. Nihei, Wes (March 1996). "ProReview: I-War". GamePro. No. 90. IDG. p. 68. Archived from the original on 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  24. Benjamin (1996). "The Final Word game review - I-War -- Imagitec". Game Zero Magazine. Game Zero. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  25. Forster, Winnie (March 1996). "Spiele-Tests - Jaguar - I-War". MAN!AC (in German). No. 29. Cybermedia. p. 78.
  26. "Jaguar-Spiele - I-War". ST-Computer (in German). No. 117. falkemedia. February 1996. p. 63.
  27. Abramson, Marc (May 1996). "Cahier Loisirs / Jaguar - JAG, Encore Et Toujours! - I War". ST Magazine (in French). No. 105. Pressimage. pp. 57–59. Archived from the original on 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  28. Karels, Ralph (August 1999). "Special - Atari Jaguar - Komplettübersicht Jaguar-Modul-Games - I-War". Video Games (in German). No. 93. Future-Verlag. p. 56. Archived from the original on 2018-08-04. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
  29. O'Connor, Frank (January 1996). "Reviews - I-War". VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine. No. 84. L.F.P., Inc. p. 88. Archived from the original on 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  30. A. Jung, Robert. "The Atari Bin - Jaguar Reviews - I-War". electric-escape.net. Archived from the original on 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  31. K. Fagan, Maximina (March 18, 1997). "I-WAR - Trademark Details". justia.com. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
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