Spawn: The Eternal

Spawn: The Eternal is a video game developed by Sony Interactive Studios America and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation, based on the comic book character Spawn created by Todd McFarlane and produced by Image Comics. It was released on December 1, 1997 in North America and received poor reviews. When played on a CD player, the disc would be revealed to contain a lengthy audio interview with Spawn creator Todd McFarlane.[1]

Spawn: The Eternal
Developer(s)Sony Interactive Studios America
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Hudson Soft (Japan)
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
  • NA: December 1, 1997
  • EU: April 1998
  • JP: September 17, 1998
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Development

Development on the game began in early 1995. The game's original format was scrapped in 1996 so that it could be redesigned in the same 3D maze style as the popular Tomb Raider, leading to the development cycle being stretched out to two years.[2] A release date was announced for August 1997 to be released around the same time the Spawn film was released in theaters,[2] but pushed back to December due to further delays.

All of the character animations were recorded at Sony's in-house motion capture studio in San Diego.[3]

During development the team regularly sent unfinished copies of the game to Todd McFarlane and his right-hand man Terry Fitzgerald, who would review the game and provide feedback.[3]

Reception

The game received a generally negative response from critics. GameSpot scored the game 1.8/10, citing poor controls, buggy graphics, and a camera which moves far too slow to keep up with the player character.[4] IGN gave the game a 2/10, complaining of grainy textures, simplistic combat, overly easy puzzles, and general lack of challenge.[5]

Next Generation reviewed the PlayStation version of the game, rating it one star out of five, and stated that "Dishearteningly, Spawn: The Eternal will probably sell just because of the attached license, proving that we haven't learned a damn thing in all of the years of movie-licensed games, from E.T. up to this atrocity. Shame on Sony."[6]

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References
  1. DeGayla, ed. (30 September 1998). The Big Playstation Book: Prima's Unauthorized Game Secrets. Prima Publishing. pp. 321–323. ISBN 978-0-7615-1645-3.
  2. Brown, Steve (August 1997). "Junk Drawer: Video Games". Wizard (72). pp. 84–85.
  3. "Spawn: Horror Is Coming to the PlayStation". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 95. Ziff Davis. June 1997. pp. 70–71.
  4. Smith, Josh (March 18, 1998). Spawn: The Eternal review, GameSpot.
  5. Douglas, Adam (December 9, 1997). Game Review, IGN.
  6. "Finals". Next Generation. No. 38. Imagine Media. February 1998. p. 114.
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