Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri

As a tactical first-person shooter, Terra Nova focuses on combat and takes place from a character's eye view in a three-dimensional (3D) graphical environment. The protagonist wears powered battle armor (PBA) that features lock-on targeting, jumpjets for limited flight, infrared and zoomed vision, and a rechargeable energy shield that protects against attacks. The player uses a freely movable mouse cursor to aim weapons and manipulate the heads-up display (HUD) interface. As with Looking Glass Technologies' earlier game System Shock, the HUD contains three "Multi-Function Displays" (MFDs). These screens may be configured to display tactical information, such as squad command menus, maps and weapon statistics.

The player is usually accompanied by up to three artificially intelligent squadmates, who may be given tactical orders such as holding a position, taking cover or rushing enemies. Squadmates may be commanded as a group or individually; for example, one half of a squad may be used to distract enemies while the other half attacks an objective. Each squad member specializes in weapons, reconnaissance, repairs, demolitions or electronics. Those in the latter four categories may be given special commands, such as repairing a teammate's armor or setting explosive charges. During missions, squad members radio in enemy sightings and status assessments.

Terra Nova is set in a science fictional depiction of the year 2327 and takes place in the Alpha Centauri star system. The setting's early inspirations were the novels Starship Troopers and The Forever War, and PC Gamer UK compared it to that of the 1986 action film Aliens. Over two hundred years before the beginning of the game, Earth is subsumed by a world government called the Hegemony, whose "Publicanism" philosophy PC Zone summarized as "communism without the economic restrictions". The Hegemony annexes colonies throughout the Solar System, but the inhabitants of Jupiter's moons reach an agreement that allows them to relocate to Alpha Centauri, where they settle on the Earth-like NewHope and the frozen Thatcher planets.

The settlers divide into twelve "Clans"—each with a military "Strike Force" to defend against bandits—and create the Centauri Council to govern the system. Trade is established with the Hegemony. As the game begins, an elite Strike Force called Strike Force Centauri is formed in response to increasing pirate activity.

Terra Nova was conceived in 1992, around the time that Looking Glass Technologies' first game, Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, was completed. Company co-founder Paul Neurath wrote a design document for a tactical, squad-based game with a science fiction setting, and he helped the team initiate its development. Artist Robb Waters created concept art. It was originally titled Freefall, because of the way the soldiers enter combat by dropping from aircraft.

Development was initially led by a newly hired programmer who envisioned the game as an exact simulation, in which every element was as realistic as possible. Programmer Dan Schmidt created the game's artificial intelligence, and he attempted to make squadmates intelligently follow orders and provide assistance, instead of merely "staying out of your way". Schmidt hired Eric Brosius and Terri Brosius, then-members of the band Tribe, to compose the game's music, which was called "orchestrally flavored" by the Boston Herald. As with their 1995 video game Flight Unlimited, Looking Glass Technologies self-published Terra Nova.

Although Terra Nova sold more than 100,000 units, it was a commercial failure because it did not recoup its development costs. Designer Tim Stellmach later characterized its performance as "a disaster". Despite this, the game was acclaimed by critics, and several publications drew comparisons to the 1995 video game MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat.

Edge compared the game favorably to System Shock due to its balanced combination of action and strategy, stating that in just two years Looking Glass "has metamorphosed from one of the industry's secret technology powerhouses to a hugely respected developer in its own right." John Payne of The Washington Post wrote, "Depending on your point of view, Terra Nova is either a stripped-down Mechwarrior or a souped-up Doom." However, he stated that it was enjoyable regardless of which perspective was taken. While he described the game's animation as "fluid", he found its graphics in general to be "fairly blocky, even at a distance".