| Terminal Velocity | |
|---|---|
 Cover art | |
| Developer | Terminal Reality |
| Publishers | |
| Producer | Tom Hall |
| Designers |
|
| Programmer | Mark Randel |
| Composer | Kyle Richards |
| Engine | Photex |
| Platforms | DOS,Mac OS,Windows 95,Android,iOS,Windows 10 |
| Release | |
| Genre | First-person shooter |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
Terminal Velocity is a 1995shooter video game originally developed byTerminal Reality and published by3D Realms forDOS andWindows 95, andMacSoft forMac OS. It is an arcade-style flight combat game, with simpler game controls and physics than flight simulators. It is known for its fast, high-energy action sequences, compared toflight simulators of the time.
The game received generally positive reviews. Critics often compared it toDescent and praised its graphics, although some were turned off by what they thought to be the gameplay's lack of depth. Terminal Reality also developed a similar game,Fury3, published that same year byMicrosoft. It uses the samegame engine and basic game mechanics, but was designed to run natively on the newWindows 95 operating system, leading it to be described as essentially the Windows version ofTerminal Velocity.[1][2]
Terminal Velocity is acombat flight simulator. The player's craft has noinertia, meaning itscourse can be changed instantly and can fly at low speeds without falling. There are seven different weapons, ranging from guns, blasters and rockets to homing missiles and a rare secret weapon. Additionally, the player's craft possesses powerfulafterburners that allow it to move at very high speed, which is useful in order to evade attacks, but sacrifices the ability to return fire temporarily (they can be selected like weapons, and if they are, the fire button will ignite the afterburners). The craft is able to survive some hits, and even some collisions with the terrain, including tunnels.
Each of the 27 missions consists of several objectives, e.g. enemies which must be destroyed, tunnel entrances and exits, mere checkpoints, and an extraction point. At the end of each planet is aboss enemy that must be destroyed before either proceeding to the next planet or completing the episode.
The story is set in the year 2704, when the Alliance of Space-Faring Alien Races (ASFAR), of whichEarth is a member, suddenly turns against Earth and their fleet ravages the planet, starting a war. The player flies a powerful starfighter, the TV-202, in a series of missions to defeat the enemy. In Episode 3, the player learns that a huge supercomputer known as Xenocidic Initiative (X.I.), located on Proxima Seven, is responsible for the war. Their final mission is to eliminate it. A hidden mission can take place after the main plot only in the CD ROM version where the player must investigate a sudden metamorphosis of an unknown nearby planet and destroy the force that changed the face of the planet. It is revealed here that this force drove a man named Sy Wickens into insanity, and how the X.I. Supercomputer had "accidentally" digitized Sy Wickens' persona.
Terminal Velocity (called "Velocity Brawl" during development)[3] was co-produced byTom Hall. The main programmer of the game wasMark Randel, the former lead programmer ofMicrosoft Flight Simulator.
The game has three episodes, the first of which was distributed asshareware. Each episode features three different worlds, making a total of nine levels; the only exception is the final planet of Episode 3, Proxima Seven, which has only two stages. Following the release of the shareware version, publisher 3D Realms was inundated with requests that the game be playable with amouse, leading the company to include a mouse option in the commercial version of the game.[4]
The originalfloppy disk release was followed by aCD-ROM version. The CD-ROM version added 70 MB of extended pre-rendered 3Dcut scenes, a bonus hidden planet, higher image resolution (including more detailed textures) and support for 8-player network multiplay. The Macintosh port was published separately byMacSoft.
In June 2015, to celebrate the game's 20th anniversary, the game's original developer and one of the co-founders of Terminal Reality,Mark Randel, released a version forAndroid andiOS, published by Trebuchet Entertainment.[5][6]
A remastered version, subtitledBoosted Edition, was released on March 14, 2023 for Windows,Nintendo Switch,PlayStation 4 andXbox One.[7] It adds widescreen support, upscaled graphics and extended draw distance.[8]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Computer Gaming World |   [9] |
| Computer and Video Games | 91%[10] |
| Edge | 8/10[11] |
| GameSpot | 6.9/10[12] |
| Hyper | 92%[13] |
| Next Generation | [14] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 86%[15] |
| PC Zone | 80%[16] |
| TouchArcade |  (iOS)[17] |
| MacADDICT | (MAC)[18] |
| PC Review | 8/10[19] |
Terminal Velocity received generally favorable reviews from game critics, who typically compared its gameplay toDescent.GameSpot praised the visuals as immersive and providing a sense of high-speed action, calling the game a "proverbial quick fix" for players seeking a few minutes of fast-paced exhilaration.[12]Edge wrote that the game offered "the most convincing sensation of high-speed, low-level flight yet on the PC", comparing it toDoom and praising its intense action, simple gameplay for a flight simulator, and the eight-player multiplayer mode, which it called "probably the best network game sinceDoom".[11]Computer Games Strategy Plus summarized the game as "Descent outdoors" and "a little more than a superb facelift ofSkyfox". It described the execution as "impeccable", but felt that map exploration was limited by the levels' structure often being point-to-point.[20]PC Gamer, however, argued otherwise, noting that there is no time limit for completing missions.[15]
Computer and Video Games favorably comparedTerminal Velocity toStar Wars, praising its "individuality" such as secret tunnels and hidden ships for adding to the polygonal shoot-'em-up's longevity and recommending that the player use a joystick.[10]Hyper particularly lauded the game's graphical engine and soundtrack. It praised its utilization ofGouraud shading and light sourcing effects and theSound Blaster AWE32 card, and noted that the music is synchronized to the player's current situation.[13]PC Zone wrote that the game's visual quality was nearly comparable toMagic Carpet, and found the CD version of the game to be superior to the floppy disk version. However, it expressed disappointment when the game failed to impress the magazine the same way asDoom, as it found the game to lack originality in its genre.[16]PC Review praised the aspect of the levels' open environment across which the player is free to roam, calling the game "X-Wing in the mountains".[19]
Computer Gaming World also found the game's visuals to approach the quality ofMagic Carpet, but felt that the gameplay was repetitive and lacked depth, believing that the developer's made a mistake to make it a simplistic arcade action game to the point where everything is nonstop mayhem.[9]Next Generation, while acknowledging that the game is "fun to play" and has a uniquely wide variety of open locales, gave it an overall negative review. Arguing that the game is afirst-person shooter and that "the genre, as currently exploited, is beginning to wear thin", it gave it two out of five stars.[14]MacADDICT praised the multiplayer mode over the Ethernet and AppleTalk networks, but criticized the music and the inability to fire one's weapons and steer simultaneously. It concluded that the game was an acceptable addition to the selection of flight combat games for Macintosh users, which was limited compared to Windows users.[18]TouchArcade wrote thatTerminal Velocity was not as memorable as other classics of its time such asDescent, but that the iOS port was a straightforward game well suited for mobile users wishing to experience 1990s' flight simulators.[17]
The game sold 200,000 units.[21]
The big difference between Fury3 and Terminal Velocity is that Fury3 runs in Windows.
It looks likeTerminal Velocity. It plays likeTerminal Velocity. ... It'sFury³ ... a game that's already been released under a different name.