Spigot
06-07-2009, 03:17 PM
According to many scientists, there are large portions of the world's oceans that have turned into giant garbage dumps. One upside of this phenomenon is that these watery trash heaps make fantastic settings for videogames, as seen in this week's selection for Turning The Spigot.
Sub Culture
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3637/3602465044_5f4de288c9.jpg?v=0
Year: 1997
Platform: PC
Rating: Eco Friendly
# of Players: 1
Sub Culture is one of Criterion's first games. Yes, THAT Criterion. It helped to push the limits of a nascent 3D graphics industry in ways that hadn't been seen before. It also happened to be an incredibly fun game that didn't get nearly the recognition it deserved.
In Sub Culture, you play as a submarine captain who is tasked with salvaging trash from the ocean depths, fighting off pirates and other hostile factions and trading goods with anyone who doesn't blow you out of the water first.
Oh, I forgot to mention one other thing. You are only a few inches tall, with your sub dwarfed by such everyday items as cigarette butts and bottle caps. In fact, these are the very items you will be collecting as salvage and trade goods. As you scour the ocean depths, you'll really get a sense of scale as you bump into the detritus tossed down from the surface world and dodge giant fish intent on gobbling you whole. One of my favourite aspects of the game is how it manages the physics of having a giant bottlecap hanging off the magnet on the bottom of your sub. It just feels right.
The game evokes a lot of the same feelings of exploration, trade and combat that is usually reserved for space sims like Elite and Freelancer. There is a greater story that unfolds during the course of your adventures and you have the option of playing for either side of the underwater conflict or working for both sides against the pirate menace. The story won't win any awards but it does keep the game moving when you're not trying to play the virtual stock market and keep yourself alive.
Ur1pCR1LVho
Sub Culture isn't going to be terribly easy to find from legitimate sources these days. A quick check at the usual spots for older games (Good Old Games in particular) yielded nothing although the game does appear on a number of abandonware sites. There was a sequel, of sorts, for the Dreamcast called Deep Fighter. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about it one way or another. Sub Culture, on the other hand, remains one of the first games I install whenever I upgrade my system and really holds up well despite its age.
Sub Culture
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3637/3602465044_5f4de288c9.jpg?v=0
Year: 1997
Platform: PC
Rating: Eco Friendly
# of Players: 1
Sub Culture is one of Criterion's first games. Yes, THAT Criterion. It helped to push the limits of a nascent 3D graphics industry in ways that hadn't been seen before. It also happened to be an incredibly fun game that didn't get nearly the recognition it deserved.
In Sub Culture, you play as a submarine captain who is tasked with salvaging trash from the ocean depths, fighting off pirates and other hostile factions and trading goods with anyone who doesn't blow you out of the water first.
Oh, I forgot to mention one other thing. You are only a few inches tall, with your sub dwarfed by such everyday items as cigarette butts and bottle caps. In fact, these are the very items you will be collecting as salvage and trade goods. As you scour the ocean depths, you'll really get a sense of scale as you bump into the detritus tossed down from the surface world and dodge giant fish intent on gobbling you whole. One of my favourite aspects of the game is how it manages the physics of having a giant bottlecap hanging off the magnet on the bottom of your sub. It just feels right.
The game evokes a lot of the same feelings of exploration, trade and combat that is usually reserved for space sims like Elite and Freelancer. There is a greater story that unfolds during the course of your adventures and you have the option of playing for either side of the underwater conflict or working for both sides against the pirate menace. The story won't win any awards but it does keep the game moving when you're not trying to play the virtual stock market and keep yourself alive.
Ur1pCR1LVho
Sub Culture isn't going to be terribly easy to find from legitimate sources these days. A quick check at the usual spots for older games (Good Old Games in particular) yielded nothing although the game does appear on a number of abandonware sites. There was a sequel, of sorts, for the Dreamcast called Deep Fighter. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about it one way or another. Sub Culture, on the other hand, remains one of the first games I install whenever I upgrade my system and really holds up well despite its age.