Volition

With the recent buzz about their latest game Saints Row I figured it would be a good time to take a look at its developer: Volition Inc.. Their games vary a lot in quality but they have had their moments.

The company started small in 1993 as Parallax Software. It was formed by ex-Looking Glass employees Mike Kulas and Matt Toschlog.

Apogee published the shareware version of their first game in 1994 with the full version released in early 1995. Descent became a huge hit. First-person 3d games had become mainstream with games like id's Doom and other "corridor games". Descent took things further by adding full 360 degree movement. There were other flying games that previously did this but not at this level of technology or in the same style.

Unfortunately, it was also very motion-sickness inducing for many gamers including myself. The game was also ported to Playstation.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../DescentPC.png

Descent II(1996)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...escentiipc.jpg

Parallax split into two companies in 1997, Volition and Outrage Entertainment. Outrage went on to make Descent 3 and the odd multi-format third-person action game Alter Echo. An action/strategy game called Rubu Tribes was in development for PS2 but it was cancelled in 2001.

I'm not a big fan of space sims but 1998's Descent: Freespace had a certain accessibility to it and I really enjoyed it. That's not to say it was dumbed down; it just had a really elegant interface and played really smoothly.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../freespace.jpg

Volition dropped the Descent name for the 1999 sequel Freespace 2 since the game had become popular enough to stand on its own.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...freespace2.jpg

Volition was purchased by THQ in 2000. Outrage was also acquired by THQ a couple years later.

The first Western developed game shown for the new PS2 console was Volition's Summoner. I never spent much time with this RPG but it seemed decent enough. It was also available for PC.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...r/summoner.jpg

Red Faction was one of my most anticipated first-person shooters for 2001 thanks to the hyped "Geo Mod" technology which was to allow the player to alter the environment in real time. I was disappointed when I bought the game and all it did was let you blow holes in some walls. It was still cool though and a solid FPS, just not what it was hyped to be. Red Faction was first released on PS2 and later ported to PC, Mac and N-gage.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...redfaction.jpg

Summoner 2(PS2/PC, 2002)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...summoner2b.jpg

Red Faction 2 was released in 2002 for PC, PS2 and Xbox. I only played the demo and it was pretty good although still kind of generic like the first.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...edfaction2.jpg

In early 2005 The Punisher was released for PS2, Xbox and PC. It was decent action game but nothing close to the quality of Capcom's use of the comic license over a decade earlier. The only thing that stood out was its interrogation system where you could grab an enemy, choose a style of punishment and if you held the analog stick in the right place for long enough they would break down and give you information.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ter/punish.jpg

And so we come to Saints Row. I haven't played the demo of this game yet as I'm a poor bastard without an Xbox 360 but it's definitely on my list of games to check out as I'm a big GTA fan.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../saintsrow.jpg

What do you think of Volition's games?

That's an RF Online pic, I believe, not Summoner 2.

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Originally Posted by alan_fatima

That's an RF Online pic, I believe, not Summoner 2.

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Yeah, I just noticed. I'm a dumbass. I'll fix that.

They need to find a way to get the Freespace name back from the rotting corpse of Interplay and then make a third one.

I didn't even realize Volition had been around so long. They seem to make descent but not outstanding games. I liked what I saw in the Saints Row demo. Looks like it'll fit an empty space in the 360 catalog pretty well.

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Originally Posted by Rumpy

They seem to make descent but not outstanding games.

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FREESPACE 2

I adore the Freespace series. Freespace 2 is still my favorite 3D space shooter of all time. I liked the first Summoner (pc version) though never played the sequel.

I would love another Freespace or Descent. I tried out the Saint's Row demo today and didn't care for it.

Descent and Freespace games were their lone hits, they were always very proficient technically but couldnt keep it up on the gameplay end.

I really liked Descent 3, wish they kept that series up.

Again, Freespace 2 wasn't only one of the most gorgeous games of its time (and it holds up), it also played extremely well, had a great plot, tons of fantastic set pieces... everything was about as close to perfect as you could hope for.

I agree that the rest of their games were more style than substance, however. Even if they don't do another Freespace game, they need to give the space sim genre another shot because it's pretty clear that's where their talent lies. Those games were leaps and bounds above everything else they've done.

Sadly they don't want the Freespace license anymore. Freespace 2, while awesome, only sold something like 20,000 copies. There just wasnt a market for Space Sims at the time,and it seems there still isnt.

I actually had a blast with Red Faction. The story was no good, the action was mediocre, and the multiplayer was dull, but it still had something that hooked me long enough to still be playing it five years later.

Neo proves once again that he's the best poster on TNL, hands down.

I actually had contact with Volition through THQ about the time when Red Faction was coming out. Red Faction's GEO MOD technology sounded so awesome, and the gameplay was decent enough to draw people in. Unfortunetly all it turned out to be, like you mentioned, was a glorified demonstration of destructable environments in an otherwise completely mediocre game. Yet somehow the game turned out better than the sum of its parts.

They were really cool guys though. Pleasant to speak with and usually forthcoming on questions.

To me, the best thing VOlition ever did was the video "Summoner: Geeks".

It was on a preview disc for Summoner, and I think it might have been unlockable in game as well.

EDIT: http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/220487

Isn't Freespace 2 legally free due to that EULA clause?

If so, everybody download it.

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Originally Posted by Tain

Isn't Freespace 2 legally free due to that EULA clause?

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Yes it is. The HotU version is severely gimped, though.

I remember downloading the full, non-ripped images from an http site pretty easily when I went and looked.

Here we are:

http://www.freespacezone.net/

People need to start with the downloadin'.

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Originally Posted by sethsez

They need to find a way to get the Freespace name back from the rotting corpse of Interplay and then make a third one.

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FTW

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Originally Posted by sethsez

FREESPACE 2

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FTW!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Korly

To me, the best thing VOlition ever did was the video "Summoner: Geeks".

EDIT: http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/220487

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Is this where the audio track for the 8-bit theater animation came from?

I loved Descent back in the day. It was very fresh, original and immersive. I was never bothered by the whole motion sickness thing (3D games have never bothered me- I really can't imagine how it affects people like that). Very cool soundtrack, BTW.

I really enjoyed the original Red Faction a lot. The weapon selection, design, and reload animations were really cool, as was the overall design work of the game. The control was tight and the level design was solid. The Geo-Mod stuff was very cool- when it worked, that is. I have to agree that it didn't end up working like they had hyped it. They claimed you'd be able to blow up anything at any time, which wasn't nearly the case.

Red Faction 2 was a little disappointing. The weapons and their design were fairly lame compared to the first game. Actually, the overall visual design was unappealing. There was this whole "Russian motif" going on that I didn’t like. They claimed that they expanded the Geo-Mod stuff, but I sure didn't notice. If anything, there was less of it.

I thought the Summoner games looked really lame. Never tried them.

As for The Punisher, that's a game I totally dug a lot. The humorous interrogation/torturing mechanic aside, it's a solid, bad-ass third-person action game with a shitload of variety in regards to weapons and combat options. Also, the black humor was refreshing and the character model for Frank Castle is one of the greatest things I've ever seen in a game. It's perfect. I keep hearing rumors of a sequel but I haven't seen or heard anything concrete yet.

Sopot was cool.

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Originally Posted by g0zen

Sopot was cool.

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It was funny when you caught him, and your character put on Sopot's little hat backwards while he was leading him away at gunpoint.

I always liked the little speeches he'd give at the title screen. Very inspirational.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tain

I remember downloading the full, non-ripped images from an http site pretty easily when I went and looked.

Here we are:

http://www.freespacezone.net/

People need to start with the downloadin'.

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you are a god among men. I wanted to try it out after seeing the screenshots above and reading about it some more.

The first Summoner was actually a pretty good game if you could get past some of the gameplay issues and ugly graphics. I freely admit that I didn't give it a real chance at first, but a friend of mine insisted and I wound up liking it. I definitely recommend Summoner 2, as it plays nothing like the first. Especially the Gamecube version.