''Swarm'' is a 1998

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a Video game genre, subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain typ ...

developed and published for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Reflexive Entertainment Reflexive Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Lake Forest, California. The company was cofounded by Lars Brubaker, Ernie Ramirez, James C. Smith and Ion Hardie in 1997. They developed nineteen games independently (for Mi ...

. The action is viewed from a

top-down perspective A variety of computer graphic techniques have been used to display video game content throughout the history of video games. The predominance of individual techniques have evolved over time, primarily due to hardware advances and restrictions ...

in outer space and uses

pre-rendered Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputting or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of footage that was previously rendered on different equipment (typ ...

3D graphics 3D computer graphics, sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics, are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the purposes of perfor ...

. The player controls an assault craft that battles against alien creatures in order to obtain special minerals called EZT nodules. The player is able to upgrade their ship with power-ups. In 2008, Reflexive released an updated version of the game as ''Swarm Gold''.

Plot

''Swarm'' is set in the Praulac

Nebula A nebula (; or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as in the Pillars of Creation in ...

, which is inhabited by a strange insectoid race called the Clagnor. Negotiations between humans and the Clagnor have failed, leading to an all-out war between the two races. The story follows Raul Mastesson, a prison

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts ...

given the task of fighting the Clagnor for a year. After this, if by any chance he survives, his name will be cleared unless he takes an offer for another year on the job for twice the pay.

Gameplay

Each sector or level consists of a ''finite'' wrap-around space area, in which Clagnor enemies,

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

s, weapon

power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a Game mechanics, game mechanic. This is in contrast to an Item (game), item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that ca ...

s, and EZT

nodules Nodule may refer to: *Nodule (geology), a small rock or mineral cluster *Manganese nodule, a metallic concretion found on the seafloor *Nodule (medicine), a small aggregation of cells *Root nodule Root nodules are found on the roots of plants, p ...

(a fictional substance ndron Zymithium Trisistalinedescribed as a fuel source) are placed randomly. The player enters and exits each level via a jumpgate that disappears after the level is started and reappears once it is completed. There are three types of levels in Swarm: "get all the EZT", "kill them all", and bonus levels. The majority of these are "get all the EZT" levels, in which the player's primary

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

is to collect all the EZT found in the level while fighting against the Clagnor and avoiding obstacles (e.g. asteroids and space junk). In the "kill them all" levels, which are mostly every 10 levels or so, there are no EZT crystals and the player's goal is to destroy all the Clagnor ''drones'' in the level. In the bonus levels, which are usually every 5 or 10 levels, there are neither Clagnor nor EZT in the area, and so the player can freely travel around and collect weapons, ammunition, and shield bonuses for a limited time. Because the level's goal is chosen at random, it means the player can potentially get 3 bonus levels ''in a row''.

Reception

The game received mixed reviews. ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'' said, "For gamers after some good old-fashioned, arcade-style action, ''Swarm'' delivers. Just don't go in expecting bleeding-edge graphics or an enthralling story because they're nowhere to be found here."

References

External links

* {{Reflexive Entertainment Games 1998 video games Multidirectional shooters Reflexive Entertainment games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in outer space Windows games Windows-only games Single-player video games

Plot

Gameplay

Reception

See also

References

External links