''Malice'' is a
platform game
A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...
developed by
Argonaut Games
Argonaut Games is a British video game developer founded in 1982. It was known for the Super NES video game '' Star Fox'' and its supporting Super FX chip, and for '' Croc: Legend of the Gobbos'' and the '' Starglider'' series. The company wa ...
and published by
Mud Duck Productions
ZeniMax Media Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded in 1999 by Christopher Weaver and Robert A. Altman as the parent company for Weaver's video game publisher Bethesda Softworks. ...
in North America and Evolved Games in Europe, and was released in 2004 for the
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
and
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
.
The game's development cycle proved to be quite troublesome, with a change in publishers, cancellation and an eventual revival, the game's planned 2002 release would eventually be delayed to a Summer 2004 release.
''Malice'' was met with mixed reviews.
Plot
The game is about the return of a goddess named Malice, who attempts to defeat the evil Dog God with the help of the Metal Guardian; the Keeper of Universe, who needs to find eight Logic Keys to locate the Dog God.
Characters
* Malice is a redheaded goddess. Malice tried to save her world from the Dog God, an evil villain that seeks to destroy world after world. Malice failed, dying after having her head bitten off by the Dog God. In the afterlife, Malice meets Death, who promptly kicks her out of the underworld, telling her that there is no room for a goddess in the afterlife. Back to life, Malice then meets the Metal Guardian. He tells her that the Dog God is currently attempting to destroy the entire universe, and he needs eight logic keys to track down the god. He finally gives Malice a giant club before sending her off on her quest spanning twenty different worlds.
* The Metal Guardian is a giant clock who sends the newly resurrected Malice on her quest. He holds the knowledge of every and any living thing in the universe, except for Dog God, whom he needs eight logic keys to track. He asks Malice to find these logic keys so he can track down Dog God, which in turn would help Malice exact her revenge and save the universe. Much later in the game, the Guardian admits that he made a bet with the Siren Tree that Malice would only get four of the eight logic keys, only to be proven wrong. The Metal Guardian gives Malice her club, and also offers weapon upgrades and bonus features. After a certain point in the game, he will have a coin around him, unlocking bonus games. Four of these coins appear throughout the course of the game.
* Death appears in the beginning cutscene, finding the recently deceased Malice in the underworld. He informs the amnesiac Malice that she was a goddess, and as a goddess may not be in the underworld. He tells her to leave and settle the score with the Dog God. Death appears if Malice loses all of her hit points, becoming a ghost. Death complains, saying that goddesses are "administrative nightmares."
* The Dog God is Malice's archenemy, and the primary
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.[PlayStation
is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...](_b ...<br></span></div> of the game. He first appears in the beginning cutscene, where he bites off Malice's head. Without eight special logic keys, he cannot be tracked by the Metal Guardian. He travels from world to world, conquering and destroying. His ultimate goal is to destroy the entire universe.
<h1><br><p> Development</h1></p>
The game was originally intended to be a title for the <div class=)
with
Fox Interactive
Fox Interactive was an American video game publisher based in Los Angeles, California. The company published games based on 20th Century Fox properties such as ''The Simpsons'' and ''Die Hard'', yet also published several original titles, such as ...
appointed to publish the game, and would run on ''
Croc 2
''Croc 2'' is a 1999 platform game developed by Argonaut Software and published by Fox Interactive. The sequel to '' Croc: Legend of the Gobbos'', it revolves around the title character going on a quest to search for his missing parents, as well ...
s game engine.
After Fox backed out of publishing the game, Argonaut moved development of the title to the
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
, where it was announced as an exclusive on July 14, 2000, with no date or publisher announced. In August 2001, Argonaut announced that
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing would publish the game through their subsidiary
Sierra On-Line
Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game ge ...
, and that a
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
version would also be released.
In May 2002, it was announced that band members from
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band formed in Anaheim, California in 1986. For most of its career, the band has consisted of vocalist and founding member Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young. Keyboar ...
would be doing various voice-overs for the game, with singer
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer.
Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", an ...
doing the voice for Malice. The game was later shown off at Vivendi Universal's booth at
E3 2002
E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was an annual trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, with its final ...
. By June, the game was announced to be released in November.
In October 2002, Sierra and Argonaut agreed to delay the game to the Summer of 2003. However, Argonaut's financial issues proved to be troublesome, and in May 2003, it was announced that Vivendi Universal had cancelled their developer contract with Argonaut for the title and they would look into another publisher to publish the title, but in the end, gave back all rights to Argonaut, leaving them to have no choice but to cancel the game.
In January 2004, it was announced that the game was revived after
ZeniMax Media
ZeniMax Media Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded in 1999 by Christopher Weaver and Robert A. Altman as the parent company for Weaver's video game publisher Bethesda Softworks. ...
subsidiary
Mud Duck Productions
ZeniMax Media Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded in 1999 by Christopher Weaver and Robert A. Altman as the parent company for Weaver's video game publisher Bethesda Softworks. ...
purchased the publishing rights for the game in North America., with Evolved Games acquiring the European publishing rights a few weeks later. The game was silently released in June 2004 in the United States., and would eventually be Argonaut's final title released, as the company went out of business two months after the Xbox version came out in Europe.
Reception
The PlayStation 2 version of ''Malice'' received "mixed" reviews, while the Xbox version received "generally unfavorable reviews", according to the
review aggregation
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
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 ...
.
Henry Ernst of GamePro Germany compared the finished game to
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...
in a Bikini.
References
External links
''Malice''at
Mud Duck Productions
ZeniMax Media Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded in 1999 by Christopher Weaver and Robert A. Altman as the parent company for Weaver's video game publisher Bethesda Softworks. ...
''Malice''at Evolved Games
*
{{Argonaut Games
2004 video games
3D platformers
Argonaut Games games
Cancelled GameCube games
Evolved Games games
Mud Duck Productions games
PlayStation 2 games
Single-player video games
Video games developed in the United Kingdom
Video games featuring female protagonists
Xbox games