Game:

Fade to Black (1995)

Duration: 16:44

19,709 views

53

This video was captured using the actual game on an actual Sony Playstation. Saving and loading times were removed for your consideration and enjoyment. However one was left in for comic relief purposes.

So this is Fade To Black which is the sequel to Flashback. Originally released for the PC on DOS, it was later ported to the Playstation. The DOS version featured more flat shaded Polygons in twice the resolution as where the Playstation ran at half the resolution but offered more texture mapped polygons. In addition the PS1 version also had better quality music. Not a major selling point but I thought it was worth mentioning nonetheless. Fade To Black was one of the first third person shooters that I can remember. I remember being wowed by the slick 3D graphics when I first saw the demo running on my computer. I was so excited when it came out for the Playstation that I bought it when it came out. However my fantasy came to an end when I actually began to play it. Being much younger back then I was not much into dealing with learning curves and never got past the first level. A year or two went by and I later traded it in for something I can't remember. Last year I found this game for 3 bucks and decided to give it another shot as more of an adult.

What you see in this video is the second time I ever made it to the second level. The first time was right before this capture to practice so I didn't look like a complete idiot wondering around and getting killed. After playing this game as a mature gamer, I still don't care for this game. Even though I have a much better handle on the controls now, I still think the game is too difficult for all the wrong reasons. My biggest problem with this game is that the controls are extremely sluggish to just plain unresponsive which make evading the enemy and their attacks almost impossible. The game is so cheap that you must memorize where most of the enemies are or you will die as soon as you enter a new room. Too many times I said "Looks Iike I'm gonna die." when I enter a new room and often times I'd find my self surrounded and then boned shortly thereafter. The enemy has very good aim no matter which pattern you choose to run in and your controls are too slow to react when you get caught by surprise. To keep from being totally screwed you can save on the fly so you don't have to go all the way back to the beginning when this happens. You see me save a couple times in this capture. I don't consider that fun. To add to this annoyance you must watch a stupid cinematic when you die which takes like 5 to 10 seconds to load and always looks stupid and outa place. I left an example of this in the capture. I don't know if the DOS version had this, but it's absolutely moronic.

Being one of the first third person shooters it's easy to understand why the controls are not even close to as streamlined as the third person shooters of today. Because of this the game has not aged well at all. While I actually still dig the visuals, I just can't get past it's controls. In the end I really wanted to like this game, but it just doesn't cut it. As it turns out the game looks like a lot more fun when you're watching someone else play it because you don't feel the struggle with the controls and don't see the many times I died to learn where all the enemies are. I would avoid this game and put the money towards a game worth owning.

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