''Seventh Cross: Evolution'', known in Japan as simply , is a video game for the
Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
Dreamcast video game console. It was released in Japan on December 23, 1998. A sequel titled ''Ninth Will'' was announced shortly after the game's North American release,
but it was apparently cancelled.
Gameplay
The theme of ''Seventh Cross'' is evolution. The player begins with a protist, and through eating and consuming, progresses through two other stages until it becomes an animal. The game begins in a lagoon, where the player's organism must avoid predators while nourishing itself. If the creature dies, it is returned to its lowest form unless it has successfully evolved into its 'origin' stage, in which case the creature regresses to that instead. After death, any parts gained by evolution are kept, but any gathered food is lost.
Seventh Cross contains six stages, each with a boss. The stages take place in different
biome
A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...
s, ranging from the pond to a barren future.
Evolving
The creature gains parts by touching the monolith in each level. Six colors, chosen at the beginning by the player, are mapped to six attributes: offense, defense, psi power, intelligence, dexterity, and healing. By creating patterns with these colors on a 10×10 grid, and possessing the required amount of EVP, the creature may gain a new part it may add to its head, body, legs, or arms. The logic behind what patterns yield what parts, however, remains unclear.
These parts may be "equipped" any time, but each require specific amounts of nutrients found in certain foods, among which are protein and fiber. After a while, the player may add enough parts to the organism to fend off and even kill other creatures, fight the stage's boss creature and advance to the next stage. Each part has different attributes that enhance particular areas like movement speed and attack strength. These parts may be added ala carte; that is, a lynx's head may be placed upon an organism with a crab's body and frog's legs. This may result in odd combinations of creatures akin to Microsoft's ''
Impossible Creatures
''Impossible Creatures'' is a 2003 steampunk real-time strategy game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Its unique feature is that the armies used in gameplay are all created by the player, and involve combi ...
''.
Reception
The game received "unfavorable" reviews according to video game
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
GameRankings
GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
.
[ Blake Fischer of '' NextGen'' said of the game, "The very, very patient may consider this a diamond in the rough (very rough), but most won't be able to stomach the first-generation ]PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
look and feel."[ In Japan, '']Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' gave it a score of 24 out of 40.[
]
See also
* Spore (2008 video game)
* L.O.L.: Lack of Love
* Evolution: The Game of Intelligent Life
* E.V.O.: Search for Eden
*SimLife
''SimLife: The Genetic Playground'' is a video game produced by Maxis in 1992. The concept of the game is to simulate an ecosystem; players may modify the genetics of the plants and animals that inhabit the virtual world. The point of this game is ...
*SimEarth
''SimEarth'' is a life simulation video game, the second designed by Will Wright and published in 1990 by Maxis. In ''SimEarth'', the player controls the development of a planet. English scientist James Lovelock served as an advisor and his G ...
References
External links
*{{moby game, id=/25360/seventh-cross-evolution/
1998 video games
Biological simulation video games
Dreamcast games
Dreamcast-only games
HuneX games
Single-player video games
UFO Interactive Games games
Video games about evolution
Video games developed in Japan