Crusader: No Regret™

While No Regret isn't that unlike the first game, it still is one hell of a great action game with almost non-stop shooting coupled with explosives being thrown and fired at unlucky WEC guards and whatnot. However, one change they made to the game was that you no longer have a limited inventory, but rather can carry all the guns you find like in most FPS games of the 1990's. Its also still got those cheesy FMV sequences like the first one and we get to see Everett "Woody" Skaggs as WEC chairman Nathaniel Draygan once again as he continues with the WEC's attempts at absolute control over the population while also taking out the Silencer Captain. The controls are still the same like in the first game, so you'll be blasting guards and robots away in no time. And as usual, its still got an absolutely awesome soundtrack done by Andrew Saga and Dan Grandpre that'll have your adrenaline flowing all throughout the firefights. A must have for those who enjoyed the first game despite its clunky controls and sometimes unfair jumping sections.

Personally, I could think of no bigger wish looking at this game than to see it remade, exactly as it is, in full 3D with all the content it was meant to have. I consider this to be one of the best games ever made, and Electronic Arts biggest mistake since they rushed it and mistreated the actual developers of the game. The amount of detail and thought that went into every map, the humor that listen to in the back of my head from time to time, and the replayability that exists in this unfinished series is simply astounding. I really do hope someday to see the sequel to the series done as it should be, and I find myself incapable of imagining that this game was rushed. It pains me a bit to wonder what this could have been with the appropriate time and care it should have had. Screw Master Chief and his fancy regenerating shield and battle armor, Tin Man was walking around in the comparative equivalent of a rubber tube for protection and fighting against far more tremendous odds before Bungee was even a thing. Thank you, Origin Systems. Thank you, Tony Zurovec.

Man, these two titles were great! The gore, the gameplay, the sci fi feel. Even now they look great, for what they are. The plot was fantastic, too. I remember playing them way back when, and looking at all the crazy tech in the maps, particularly the three-screen, extra huge desktop pcs and thinking "man, that's so futuristic". Hilarious that PC's are becoming smaller, not bigger, in hindsight. No Regret and No Remorse deserve a new sequel, and GoG deserves our money for making these games accessible to new pc's.

CRUSADER is like a Paul Verhoeven game: it's got Robocop's ultra-violence robot mayhem, Total Recall's futurism, and Starship Trooper's zaniness. This game is like Prince of Persia if it was a space opera with guns, in 3D. CRUSADER plays like a PSX Resident Evil if it was less of a WWII thank and more of a Star Fox Landmaster. It's a shooter for the thinking man. CRUSADER has near-stereoscopic animations in marvelously crafted pre-rendered 3D sprites. 20 years later, it still looks snappy, shinny, and ridiculously detailed. Everything about Crusader screams quality. The level of polish and attention to detail on all fronts is remarkable: the gameplay is rock-solid and glitch-free. The physics are tight, the animations are smooth, and the graphics are hyper-realistic. Level design is flawless; FX are impressive by today's standards. The gore is unmatched; it's less crass than Postal or Mortal Kombat, and more over-the-top like a Robocop. People complain about cut-scenes. I disagree. The dialogues were fun in a “Verhoevean” kind of way; probably not as smart or sardonic, but campy cool. There's a character: Colonel Stephon Ely, compare his lines and delivery to that of Sergeant Johnson in all the HALO games and you'd see just how good Crusader's script was 20 years ago. About the controller, I agree that it's complex. This is the type of game that requires you to study a manual. Sure, manuals aren't necessary nowadays, but neither were they back when Super Mario Brothers debuted. Crusader is a smart shooter for the thinking man (or woman) that requires a certain amount of planning and strategized approach to combat. When it comes to all-out shooting action and explosions, there's plenty of that too. You’ll just die more often if you go about mindlessly. I prefer a pad over a keyboard and Crusader rocks with a PSX or X360 controller. I laid-out a mapping schematic that has worked great for me, in case you’re wondering check it out here: http://bit.ly/1w330YQ

I loved playing this game and its prequel, No Remorse, when they first came out. I got hooked on the first one's demo which came in the mail on a CD, and as soon as No Regret came out, went and bought it from EBX. Those were the days when the tech was low quality, but the games were all about adventure and violence. The Crusader series was an absolute blast with its querky live action pop-up screens and animated cutscenes. It had the right amount of challenge with just enough options to be different on a second playthrough. They should have made a trilogy. Would defintely recommend to those new to it.