Alex Kot - Chasm: The Rift (1997)
Composer: Alex Kot
Console: MS-DOS
Game Release Date: 1997-11-30
Bootleg Release Date: 2021-10-04
Ripper: SniperJunkie
Runtime: 39:59, 9 Tracks
Thanks ModDB for setting up a page for the game because otherwise I don't think I would have gotten to it until a few more years. At the time DOSBox was a pain to set up and I was constantly having issues. I am much better now but geez. That thing needs a better quickstart guide.
Chasm: The Rift is a FPS developed by Action Forms released back in 1999 for the MS-DOS though I struggle to know why they wouldn't have just released it for Windows natively but w/e. Action Forms is way more known for Cryostasis and the Carnivores series but I know them more for Vivisector: The Beast Within. Plus, I have already posted up Vivisector's soundtrack to the blog. The game is very similar to Quake, which had come out around the same time. You can't really mention this game without writing a little bit about Quake. There are just a lot of similarities. Now I haven't personally played Quake but I know enough about it, plus seen lots of gameplay. They are kinda similar. Both have that very distinct 3D style to it, plus the whole run-n-gun style and depressive, pseudo-futuristic atmosphere.
I found out about Chasm shortly after I beat Vivisector: The Beast Within. I was still in a bit of a early 3D shooter mood and wanted something similar. I ended up playign You Are Empty. After that and wouldn't end up touching Chasm until early this year when I found a page dedicated to preserving the game and helping it run on modern systems. I had tried a the game on DosBox but couldn't really get it running at optimal settings. The page (which I will link below) had it easy to set up and run.
I never really found Chasm to be the fast like Quake and DOOM. The awkard aiming controls (always felt like the sensitivity was either too low or too high). The whole thing always felt like a goldeneye game, where you had to move meticilously, take a shot, hide and take another shot. I never felt that charging in DOOM-style would work and always had to play slow and methodical. I mean, it worked. The game's depressive atmosphere tied well together with the way I had to play. I didn't find the game that hard aside from some occasional areas where I had no idea where to go or ran out of ammo for the main guns and had to resort to guerilla tactics.
The game has a plot but it's barely there. You are some kind of soldier out to take out the Timestrikers, some kind of alien group messing with the space time continuum. Apparently you go to different eras but there's really nothing in the levels that clearly distinuighsues them. Egypt and medival England both have the same empty and deadpan level design. And sure they look different but nothing in it really screams medieval or ancient. You may as well be in some tomb but in modern day. All the enemies are the same. Darkest of Days did a better job at the different eras than this. However, Chasm is a better game than that. It's just a limitation of the engine I feel. That said, all levels do give off a cyberpunk and vaguely dystopian feel to it. All sorts of brown, clunky machinery and that dreary look the whole game had. It was alright.
Aside from the aforemntioned issues the run was kind of plain. Not much crazy stuff happened. But as I was playing I was playing it less as a boomer shooter and far more as a stealth game. Peer around corners, make sure the room is safe, if not get ready to shoot and then duck back behind the corner.
There was one thing though. In Level 12 there's a section where you have get invisibility. Right after you need to make your way to a room where you are ambushed by 4 vikings. I entered still invisible then charged one of the ones close to the switch. I wasn't sure exactly what happened but I was somehow pushed out of bounds and glitched through the wall into near the end of the level. I "teleported" into in the room with the bridge that creates itself. It was a room just before the boss of the level. I haven't tried to re-create it but it could definitely be a viable speedrunning strategy. The boss was neat. The strategy was the same for the other fights, push a bunch of buttons to kill him. Still enjoyable though.
As for the final boss. I don't think it was very clear what had to be done. See, most of the bosses were killable with regular weaponry but required either lots of bullets or some kind of switch or gimmick you could use to instantly kill him. Plus, all of the bosses up to the point were killable with guns only (it would take all your bullets but it was possible). It wasn't really clear you had to jump in the boss when he was stunned. Whatever. That didn't dampen my opinion of the game.
The game is a forgotten boomer shooter with a small but dedicated following. I enjoyed it, though there are better games. If you want a boomer shooter or want to play guerilla style give this one a shot. The game is abandonware.
The music was composed by Alex Kot. I can't find any information of who he is. There is a musician of that name on Facebook but no confirmation it's the same guy. This appears to be the only game he ever composed for. Mirsoft (a website my AV hates) lists three composers for the game. It includes Sean Spitzer and Robert Sallade. Like Kot there is barely any info from these guys.
The music is mostly dark ambient, a bit of drone and some minimal techno. So this leads me again to my whole, play the game slowly and tactfully instead of fast like Quake or DOOM. All the music is really slow. There are few upbeat tracks and the minimal techno songs are in no way pumped up. Strangely enough it's like a stealth soundtrack. This could fit with Dishonored or Thief.
I would say the definitive version for now is this ModDB DOS version. It's possible the Windows remake, PanzerChasm may beat it out but afaik that version is still early in development.
This rip is from KHInsider and ripped by SniperJunkie. It is in 320kbps. This version is not the exact same as I have titled the tracks and fixed up all the ID3 tags.
Download: aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWdhLm56L2ZpbGUvQ0l3RzFhcEMjMmZPbG90ZHFwY3FVVnl2Vk56TWRhVlowLURERmZyNl9STG55OTdMSTFsYw==
p@ss: timestrikers
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