''2400 A.D.'' is a

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

Chuck Bueche Chuck Bueche (also known as Chuckles) is a video game programmer best known for co-founding Origin Systems and his involvement with the '' Ultima'' video game series. Bueche was a high school friend and university roommate of Richard Garriott in A ...

and published by

Origin Systems Origin Systems, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. It was founded on March 3, 1983, by Richard Garriott and his brother Robert Garriott, Robert. Origin is best known for their groundbreaking work in multiple genres ...

in 1988. It was originally released for the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

with a version for IBM PC compatibles later the same year. Poor sales resulted in the cancellation of both a

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

port and a sequel, ''2500 A.D.''

Plot

This post-apocalyptic RPG casts the player as a member of an underground resistance organization trying to free the human inhabitants of planet XK-120 from the clutches of a tyrannical race of robotic oppressors known as the Tzorgs. The ultimate aim is to destroy the robots' central control.

Gameplay

The player is an ordinary citizen who lives in the futuristic city Metropolis. The city has been conquered, and its population enslaved by an alien race known as Tzorgs. They have sent robots to maintain order in Metropolis, turning it into a police state. There are rumors of an underground resistance movement, but finding the resistance is dangerous, and being caught by the robots will lead to being thrown in prison... The gameplay style is similar to the '' Ultima'' series, also from

. The entire game is viewed from top-down perspective. The various commands (search, open, talk, etc.) are executed by pressing a correspondent key on the keyboard. Battles take place on the same screen as exploration, and require the player to press A (for "attack") and a directional key to aim at the enemy. The game is set entirely in the big city, with streets and buildings to explore, items and weapons to buy, and people to talk to.

Release

In addition to a large fold out city map, ''2400 A.D.'' was packaged with a set of three lead figures. All three depict heavily armed robot soldiers and were cast by

Grenadier Miniatures Grenadier Models Inc. of Springfield, Pennsylvania produced lead miniature figures for wargames and role-playing games with fantasy, science fiction and heroic themes between 1975 and 1996. Grenadier Models Inc. is best known for their figure ...

. A

port was in development by John Romero, but was shelved due to poor sales of the original

version. Romero left Origin in June 1988. The Commodore 64 port was once again resurrected and Ocean Software programmer Allan Shortt worked on the port, but it was shelved at 85% complete.

Reception

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'' in 1988 criticized ''2400 A.D.''s graphics and several other flaws with the game's structure and plot. It concluded "the game lacks intensity and is a disappointment. There are practically no puzzles, and hardly any challenge". In 1993 the magazine called ''2400 A.D.'' "a science fiction cartoon pretending to be a real game" that "may be good for a summer afternoon or rainy day when you want something that isn't mentally taxing or especially involving".

Legacy

Bueche developed a sequel titled ''2500 A.D.'', but it was halted in development because of poor sales of ''2400 A.D.''

References

External links

* * {{Origin Systems 1988 video games Apple II games Cancelled Commodore 64 games DOS games Post-apocalyptic video games Role-playing video games Origin Systems games Video games developed in the United States Single-player video games