''Criticom'' is a 3D

fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

video game developed by

Kronos Digital Entertainment Kronos Digital Entertainment was an American computer animated, computer animation and video game developer founded by Stan Liu in 1992. They first began to develop original properties, beginning with their visually appealing early 3D graphics, 3D ...

and originally released in November 1995 in the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, March 1996 in Europe and October in Japan by

Vic Tokai Tokai Communications Corporation Inc (known as Vic Tokai Corporation until 2011) is a telecommunications company in Japan providing DSL services and network solutions. Its headquarters are in the in Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture. In ...

for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

. The

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

version was released in early 1997.

Gameplay

The fighting action takes place on a round, elevated platform. Each fighter begins the fight with a full power meter and one power meter refill in reserve that is activated when the primary meter is depleted. There are no rounds. The fight runs until one fighter is knocked out (no more power in their meter), one is knocked out of the arena (or steps/jumps out), or the time runs out. As the game progresses, the player gains access to two additional "levels" for the character, which unlocks new moves and gives the character a new appearance.

Plot

Two alien races, the Nezom and Zerai clans obtained a powerful crystalline stone called "The Relic", and anointed themselves "The Chosen Ones". The Chosen Ones used this power to subjugate the other races, exterminating those that failed to comply. After this era of war, The Chosen Ones began to enjoy a new age of peace. However, The Relic was stolen and The Chosen Ones' power was shaken. Now, warriors from all over the universe seek the relic, each with their own ambitions.

Development

''Criticom'' initially had a comic book character license and

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

as its publisher. As the game neared the end of the design phase, Sony took the license from

and give it to one of their European subsidiaries. Rather than completely abandon their design work, Kronos opted to create new characters and shop the game concept to other publishers. Kronos president Stan Liu recounted:

Reception

The first news and screenshots of the game sparked an enthusiastic reaction from ''

VideoGames Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedback ...

'', which called it "one of the coolest fighting game experiences in a long time", but ultimately went on to receive mostly negative reviews, as critics found the strong character designs and graphics to be outweighed by the poor animation and gameplay. Reviewing the PlayStation version in ''

GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...

'', Scary Larry praised the game's interesting characters, "gorgeous" backgrounds, and sound effects. However, he felt the sluggish moves, particularly the throws, give the game less impact and make it more of a holdover until the next installment of ''

Virtua Fighter is a series of fighting games created by Sega-AM2 and designer Yu Suzuki. The original ''Virtua Fighter'' was released in October 1993 and has received four main sequels and several spin-offs. The highly influential first ''Virtua Fighter'' game ...

'' or ''Toshinden''. A reviewer for '' Next Generation'' said the game has impressive graphics, making particular note of the realistic lighting and shadow effects, but looks poor in motion due to the animation being done "by hand", without

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...

. While he found the character designs to be consistently "clever and imaginative", he deemed the game an overall failure due to the way the choppy frame rate interferes with the gameplay. Rich Leadbetter of ''Maximum'' remarked that the game has excellent graphics but poor animation and unexciting moves, and compared it unfavorably to ''

Zero Divide is a fighting video game that was released for the PlayStation in 1995. Ports and sequels *''Zero Divide'', Windows (1996) - developed by Kinesoft and published by GameBank in Japan, and Interplay in the United States. In 1999 it was included ...

'' and ''

Tekken 2 is a fighting game, the second entry in the ''Tekken'' series. It was released in arcades in 1995, and for the PlayStation in 1996. The original arcade version of the game was released in ''Tekken 5''s Arcade History mode for the PlayStation 2, ...

''. '' PlayStation Magazine'' called it "a challenging combat game that only reveals its depth with time".''PSM'' 12 ''GamePro'' named the Saturn version the worst fighting game of the year, stating that compared to the PlayStation version of the previous season, it has "even slower gameplay, choppy, simple graphics, and no chance at being any fun." According to Kronos president Stan Liu, the game was a commercial success, partly because it had been completed on budget and on time, and partly because it sold in respectable numbers, which he attributed chiefly to it being a fairly early PlayStation game.

Sequel

Kronos Digital Entertainment's next fighting game, ''

Dark Rift ''Dark Rift'' is a 3D computer graphics, 3D fighting game, fighting video game for the Nintendo 64, notable for being the first N64 game to use 60 Frame rate, frames per second. It has been referred to as the Nintendo 64's first native fighting ...

'', was originally announced under the title "Criticom II", and includes the character Demonica from ''Criticom''.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Criticom''
at

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1995 video games 3D fighting games Fighting games Multiplayer video games PlayStation (console) games Science fiction video games Sega Saturn games Vic Tokai games Video games developed in the United States