''Katharsis'' (also known as ''Blaster!'') is a horizontally scrolling shooter from Polish developer

Metropolis Software House Metropolis Software was a Polish video game developer founded in 1992 by high school friends Adrian Chmielarz and Grzegorz Miechowski. The studio gained success in Europe with their titles. By the end of 1997, Metropolis had expanded to included ...

and published by

CD Projekt CD Projekt S.A. () is a Polish video game developer, publisher and distributor based in Warsaw, founded in May 1994 by Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński. Iwiński and Kiciński were video game retailers before they founded the company, whi ...

in 1997.

Plot

In the year 2616, a ship leaves Earth and 18 months later the planet loses contact with the vessel. In 4720 AD, Earth is attacked by a foreign ship and the player is one of the few survivors. Their mission is to protect a bomb that will be used to destroy the enemy base.

Gameplay

Development

Led by Polish developer

Adrian Chmielarz Adrian Chmielarz (born 1971 in Lubin) is a Polish video game designer, programmer, creative director, producer and writer specializing in adventure games and first-person shooters. Chmielarz has co-founded and led Metropolis Software, People Can F ...

, the team aimed to combine classical mechanisms for

scrolling shooter In computer displays, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display, vertically or horizontally. "Scrolling," as such, does not change the layout of the text ...

s with the increase in capabilities of

IBM PC compatibles IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones ...

of the late twentieth century. The Polish premiere of the game took place on March 1, 1997; the game received online and television press and a competition was created. It had a US premiere on June 6, 1997.

Reception

''Meristation'' called the graphics and sound "novel". ''The AV Vault'' thought the game put more attention into its graphics than its controls. ''MerixStudio'' felt the game was surprisingly deep, complex and mysterious, and a notable example of Polish developers entering the side-scrolling market.

References

External links

*
Review
in ''PC Player'' {{video game stub 1997 video games DOS games DOS-only games Horizontally scrolling shooters Single-player video games Video games developed in Poland Video games set in the future Metropolis Software games CD Projekt games