Novastorm also known as Scavenger 4. Released on a fairly eclectic collection of platforms. 3DO - naturally, PC, FM Towns Marty and something called a Playstation - surely that will never catch on.
Psygnosis have always run either too hot or too cold. You cannot argue however that they have certainly had their moments. Particular favourites of mine were G-Police and Colony Wars these games clicked with my psyche and were reasonably enjoyable to play. As was, lest we forget, Wipeout a game that has few hints of Novastorm in it.
Darker moments have been such style over content classics as Shadow of the beast on the Commodore Amiga and sadly... Novastorm. It's great a shame. I wanted to make you get a copy of this game.
The storyline is a whopper of a cliche - save the human race from a neural computer gone loopy, using only a experimental fighter craft - Scavenger 4.
Cough. Draxons revenge. Cough. Cough. Terminator 2. Cough. Etc. Cough.
Novastorm fails the moment you launch. Your craft, the Scavenger 4, has no inertia, no feel, no sense of flight, it behaves more like a mouse pointer - and the game is killed right there. Which is inexcusable - especially since the PC version didn't suffer from this. Because of this Novastorm is a very below mediocre shoot'em up. It is also a difficult game. You run out of screen when trying to dodge bullets and you get the feeling the game is vindictively trying to kill you. Rather than balancing the difficulty however, Psygnosis saw fit to throw lives at you, giving you the option to have up to nine.
The development team was also clearly split into two. On one side the people who crafted the astounding streamed from CD scenery and on the other the club-footed drunk ape who designed the enemy ships. Perhaps that is unfair? The end-of-level bosses are actually pretty good. OK - Very good. Some are well animated and if I'm to be fair they are varied. It is only the rank-and-file enemy ships of which there are a few, that show all the imagination of a baked bean - as do the power-ups all of which seem to have been inpsired by R-Type, 1942, 1943, etc., and everything else that went before it. Nil points for creativity there.
Content then is well below par in my opinion but what of style you cry? Novastorm actually came with a free wheel-barrow and plunger to cram in the extra style and this is partly why I have soft spot for Novastorm.
I have owned, in the past 11 years, three copies of Novastorm - all second-hand, each time I sold it, I regretted it and ended up tracking down a new copy. Don't ask me to explain - I don't think I can.
First of all - box art. A recent UK magazine covered Psygnosis box art and Novastorms is in the classic pre-Sony vein. A little bit retro - harking back to the mid to late eighties Amiga demo scene style but none the less - very good. I got a warm nostalgic glow from the box art, even in '95.
In terms of music, Novastorms is either a love it or hate it. Grunge in the 90's wasn't really my thing, other than a handful of tunes by the late Kurt Cobain, and it was good too to see that it wasn't Psygnosis thing either. Think Ridge racers techno sound track or probably more like Wipeouts sound track. Heavy beats with organic sounds. I'm no music critic - yes OK!
Graphics - I am a self confessed graphics whore - which makes you wonder why I spend all my time playing 11 old games and not bleeding edge Xbox 360 games - all the same I am. Novastorms sprawling, sweeping, beautiful, rolling landscapes, all of cause streamed from CD, are nothing short of breath taking. Firstly they are detailed and well animated, secondly they are well thought out and imaginative. The biggest shame about this is I cannot find a cheat to remove the game and just let the scenery scroll on by.
Ultimately Novastorm is a niche of history. Mostly now forgotten in all the noise and commotion but it shows Psygnosis path towards Wipeout. It also shows an attempt to embrace an underground youth culture via the music and shows a progression for the streamed from CD Goliaths that became so popular to dismiss once the Playstaion era really took effect. And for all that it's worth a look.
Quite rare.
3DO Kid.
