Game:

Sentinel Returns (1998)

Category:

Preview

Duration: 0:30

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Trailer of Sentinel Returns from Psygnosis's 1998 press kit CD.
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PRESS INFORMATION:

Psygnosis unveils Sentinel Returns.
Sequel to classic strategy game features same addictive, chilling gameplay with advanced graphic redesign and musical score by John Carpenter.

Atlanta, GA – May 28, 1998 - The Sentinel, a 1980s strategy game by Geoff Crammond became an instant classic, with an elegantly simple design, sparse yet chilling landscape, and the slow tension of a psychological thriller. Now, Psygnosis unveils Sentinel Returns, the sequel to this first true virtual reality game that combines the same intensely compelling gameplay with stunning visual and sound enhancements including a score by master of terror, John Carpenter, who directed and wrote the soundtrack for horror movie, Halloween. Sentinel Returns will be available for both PC and the PlayStation™ game console in August.

Produced by No Name Games, and developed by Hookstone, Sentinel Returns takes advantage of over ten years of technical improvements to produce a graphic theme that is more distinctive and haunting then ever before. The stunning 3D animated graphic redesign uses advanced texturing, animation and lighting techniques to create four eerie themed play environments, Earth, Air, Fire and Water, as well as a final, most terrifying level called the Void.

Adding to the atmospheric sense of the game is a chilling score by John Carpenter, a musician and director known as the master of superb pacing and unrelenting. Carpenter’s many credits include Halloween, Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog and Escape from New York, among others. Sentinel Returns also features vastly improved sound, with Q-Sound technology that adds to the player’s feeling of being surrounded and trapped.

As in the original title, the gameplay in Sentinel Returns is startlingly abstract. Rather than being an object in the game universe, the player is a presence that moves through the landscapes by transferring to different bodies. Alternately absorbing and expending energy, the player seeks to gain control of each level by rising to its highest point in an effort to reach to the final, ultimate battle against the nightmare that is the Sentinel. At each level, the player must also avoid the deadly, invisible energy-draining beams of the opposition.

Sentinel Returns also features the same, signature sense of claustrophobia and panic, which comes from both the unearthly, atmospheric environment, and the players limited ability to survey the landscape. Scrolling deliberately engenders a sense of sweating paranoia as players enact their strategies, or, if feeling their energy being drained, struggle to look around in order to escape the deadly beams.
Other refinements that enhance Sentinel Returns include a more gradual learning curve that lures the gamer with deceptively gentle play that becomes progressively more addictive and challenging. Sentinel Returns also features more than 600 levels, as opposed to the original 10,000; however in the new version, all levels must be sequentially attained and conquered. Another major enhancement is a network option, which adds a whole new dimension to the game by allowing multiple players on a single playfield, racing against each other to finish each level.

Please note: Geoff Crammond is not involved with this project.

General Information
Format: PlayStation, PC CD-ROM
Launch: PlayStation – 3rd Quarter 1998, PC CD-ROM – 3rd Quarter 1998
Genre: 3D Strategy
Number Of Players: PlayStation – 1, PC CD-ROM – 1-4
Developer: Hookstone


Key Features
-Featuring the music of John Carpenter
-650 progressive levels of addictive puzzle solving
-Absorbing gameplay stretches your strategy and arcade skills to the limit
-Atmospheric 3D environments convey that “being there” feeling
-Stunning visuals and animations give Sentinel Returns an eerie graphic style all of its own
-Multiplayer options allow up to 4 players to join the action
-Based on an original concept by Geoff Crammond

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