1998 · Puzzle · Strategy

Sentinel Returns

PlayStation console exclusive

Prepare your mind, body and soul for a horrific game of hide and seek, where you are the hunted! From the people at Psygnosis comes this bone-chilling, mind-numbing strategy title that will make you dive into your brain and cringe with fear. The game is Sentinel Returns for the PlayStation.

Released: 1998
Platforms: PlayStation Windows
Genres: Puzzle Strategy
Developers: —
Publishers: SCE Studio Liverpool
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Themes: Action Science fiction
Country: United Kingdom
Age ratings: ESRB E
Composers: John Carpenter

About

Sentinel Returns is a video game developed by Hookstone, produced by No-Name Games and published by Sony (under the Psygnosis label) in 1998, for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation. It is the sequel to The Sentinel by Geoff Crammond and features 651 levels, a multiplayer mode and a soundtrack (titled "Earth/Air") composed by John Carpenter and arranged by Gary McKill.

The PC version has native support limited to a software display mode and an accelerated Glide mode, because in 1998, 3DFX cards were the de facto standard for gaming 3D graphics. However, modern computers can run the game in accelerated mode with the wrappers nGlide, dgVoodoo, OpenGlide or zeckensack's Glide wrapper, which translate Glide calls respectively into Direct3D or OpenGL calls.

›Story

Enter a surreal world where you must battle the Sentinel and his sentries over 650 chequered, 3D landscapes. Energy and movement are completely redefined in this unique blend of arcade and strategy elements. You, only known as an intelligent presence, move about the landscape by teleporting between robot "hulls". Any object in your field of vision can be absorbed for energy, as long as you also see the square of the landscape that the object is standing on.

By aiming at any square your can see, and spending energy, you can create a new robot hull and teleport your presence to it, or you can create neutral objects: trees to block yourself from the Sentinel's gaze, or boulders that can be stacked. You gain height in the landscape by creating a robot on top of a stack of boulders, until you can see the Sentinel's square at the highest point in the landscape and absorb him. The problem is that the Sentinel slowly rotates and ruthlessly absorbs anything in his field of vision that is more potent than a tree, including yourself. In later levels, his sentries will threaten you with absorption from several directions.

Keywords

abstract
game critics awards
playstation mouse support

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Controlling Synthoids that are standing at a higher level is fundamental to the game, because only the objects which occupy a visible square can be interacted with (the player character may absorb or create objects on a boulder if the sides can be seen). While doing so, the player must watch for the rotation of the Sentinel and be careful not to stand in an area which the Sentinel can see, or else it will start absorbing energy from the Synthoid, and when the energy is gone, the game is over.

Height is gained by placing a boulder on any visible square, and putting a Synthoid on the boulder. The player may then transfer consciousness to the new Synthoid, and absorb the old one. Stacks of boulders of any height may be created, if the player has enough energy. In order to absorb the Sentinel, the player must create a stack of boulders of sufficient height that the Synthoid on top can look down on the Sentinel's platform.

Development

The project was initiated by John Cooke, a fan of the original The Sentinel (he boasted that he is "probably the only person in the world to have finished the original game twice."). Cooke's Company, No Name Games, held the rights to any spin-offs related to The Sentinel, and negotiated for developer Hookstone to create the game for publisher Psygnosis.

The developers made a conscious decision not to stray too far from the highly regarded original game, instead focusing on refining the difficulty slope. At one point they planned for there to be 666 levels, and to not include the level-skipping mechanic from the original game.

Reception

The PC version received favorable reviews, while the PlayStation version received mixed reviews, according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. Next Generation said of the latter version in an early review, "Those who have fond memories of the original or who crave a new PlayStation experience should rent before buying. It's definitely an acquired taste." Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine gave the same console version a negative review, about two months before it was released Stateside.

The game was nominated for GameSpot's 1998 "Puzzles and Classics Game of the Year" award, which went to You Don't Know Jack: The Ride.