Precursors (video Game)
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''The Precursors'' is a 2009 first-person shooter game developed by Ukrainian game studio Deep Shadows. The game was released for
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in Russia on 4 December 2009. It was then released worldwide through
GamersGate GamersGate AB (formerly Gamer's Gate) is a Sweden-based online video game store offering electronic strategy guides and games for Windows, macOS, and Linux via direct download. It is a competitor to online video game services such as Steam, GO ...
on 21 December 2010 and through
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on 4 February 2017. It is set in a futuristic
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environment where many political factions are engaged in an
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. The player is able to explore a multitude of planets, travel through outer space to complete missions, obtain information, and buy weapons and supplies in an
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free-roaming environment. It received mixed reviews from critics.


Gameplay

The game features a free-roaming world, with vast open areas, diverse weapons and a multitude of land, air and space vehicles. The player will be able to do a multitude of missions on six different planets or moons and even the interior of spaceships and space stations. Different vehicles can be used in engagements on the ground ranging from simple buggies and flyers to hover tanks and mechanical robots. After getting a spaceship, the player can also engage in space trade and combat with other factions in between the planetary missions. The player's spaceship can be upgraded throughout the game and the player character himself can be developed using a perk system.


Factions

There are seven main factions in the game. Two being aliens and the rest representing various humanoid factions which are split into separate alliances that are usually fighting each other. These factions are the Empire, the Democratic Union, the Free Traders, the Clatz of the Nest, the revolutionary Clatz, the bandits and the civilians.


History

''The Precursors'' has been in development for PC and
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from
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
-based developer Deep Shadows; the Xbox 360 version was later cancelled. The game was built based on Deep Shadows in-house
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''Vital Engine 3'' which also powers '' White Gold: War in Paradise''. The game was first demonstrated in August 2005 at the
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in
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,
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and at the
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in
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in May 2006. ''The Precursors'' was released on the 4 December 2009 as retail for the PC in Russia.http://www.russobit-m.ru/catalogue/item/predtechi/ The Precursors at Russobit-M In May 2010, a spokesperson from Deep Shadows confirmed that the console version of the game has been put "on hold" indefinitely. In December 2010, an English version was made available via
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by
GamersGate GamersGate AB (formerly Gamer's Gate) is a Sweden-based online video game store offering electronic strategy guides and games for Windows, macOS, and Linux via direct download. It is a competitor to online video game services such as Steam, GO ...
.http://www.bluesnews.com/s/117122/english-precursors-and-xenus-2-released English Precursors and Xenus 2 Released and
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Beamdog. On February 4, 2017 a Steam re-release followed. After the end of official support by Deep Shadows, remaining bugs and issues, like the missing voice overs in the localized English version, were fixed by the
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via
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es which also form the base of and are included in the current English
digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of information or materials through digital platforms. The distribution of digital ...
versions of the game.


Reception

''The Precursors'' received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to
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website
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
.


See also

*
Parkan (videogame) ''Parkan'' is a series of video games that combine space flight and trade simulation with first-person shooter style game play. Namely it allows players to board ships. "Parkan" is the name of the spaceship, which means boomerang for its shape. * ...
* '' White Gold: War in Paradise''


References


External links


Deep Shadows' official website
(English language section) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Precursors (Video Game) 2009 video games Deep Shadows games First-person shooters Open-world video games Role-playing video games Russobit-M games Science fiction video games Single-player video games Space trading and combat simulators Video games developed in Ukraine Video games set on fictional planets Windows games Windows-only games