''Warning Forever'' is a

freeware Freeware is software, often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the free ...

fixed shooter 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 ...

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 ...

written by Japanese developer Hikoza T Ohkubo and released under the name of his software house, Hikware.

Gameplay

The game is broken into stages; each stage is a single boss battle, resulting in a constant stream of bosses. To progress to the next stage, the boss must be completely destroyed within the time limit. The game starts with a default time limit of 180 seconds, with 30 seconds rewarded for every boss defeated and 20 seconds lost for each time the player is destroyed. The player flies a small green ship. There are no

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 - the player's only weapon is a very rapid-fire revolving cannon which is fired by holding down the shoot button (Z key by default). By default, it fires straight ahead with a small spread. Alternatively, after the switch button (D key by default) is pressed, a green arc is displayed originating from the ship and widening as distance increases. This arc represents the spread of the weapon fire and does not change while the weapon is firing. It can, however, be modified based on the ship's motion while not firing. The arc will rotate slowly to face the direction opposite the ship's motion. Also, the arc will widen as the player moves toward the enemy and vice versa. The main gameplay feature is the bosses change from stage to stage. Based on how a boss is destroyed, the next boss will adapt itself to defend against previously used strategies and force the player to change tactics. For example, if the front section of one boss is destroyed the next boss will have increased armor in that area. If the player's ship is hit by a certain kind of weapon, but still defeats the boss, the next boss is likely to have more weapons of that type. The game does not include music, but provides instructions in the read me file on how to provide one's own music. It also includes sound effects.

Reception

Download.com awarded the game a 5-star editor's rating and described the game as a classic in the making, "Warning Forever will entice nearly every gamer who enjoys a space shootout". The staff of

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, writing for gaming blog 1up.com said "This game is among the most addictive platform shooters in the business".

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

's Jim Rossignol named ''Warning Forever'' among a top 20 list of ''Summer of PC''

Freeware Freeware is software, often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the free ...

games in 2006. Other reviews are from

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

and

Rock, Paper, Shotgun ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' is a British video game journalism website. It was launched in July 2007 to focus on PC games and was acquired by Gamer Network, a network of sites led by ''Eurogamer'', in May 2017. History ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' ...

. This game is part of the permanent collection of the travelling exhibition Game On 2.0, shown for instance in the

Ontario Science Centre The Ontario Science Centre (OSC; originally the Centennial Museum of Science and Technology) is a science museum and organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its original location opened to the public in 1969 and was located near the D ...

2013, as example in the category

Indie game An indie video game or indie game (short for independent video game) is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A ...

s.GameOn/Games
at ontariosciencecentre.ca (2013-05-20, archived)

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site
2003 video games Fixed shooters Freeware games Indie games Single-player video games Video games developed in Japan Windows games Windows-only freeware games