Page 15 - Old School Gamer Magazine Issue #21 Free Edition

In spite of what he’d change, McNeely firmly stands behind the game Powerslave ultimately became and believes it has stood the test of time. “I think from a feature standpoint some of things that make it special are the fast and fluid gameplay, the advanced difficul- ty, the system of progression and character building and the unique setting, but more than anything, I think it was the result of a unique combination of very talented, passionate and somewhat inexperienced game developers who came together to make a game with very little corporate oversight,” McNeely said. “We had the freedom to do almost anything we wanted and the result was a product made by dedicated gamers for customers that were just like ourselves, and I think the unbridled spirit of our ideas, development processes and personalities became the essence of the final product.”
hardware, played using a controller, can be just as fun, if not more fun, than first-person shooters designed for PC hardware, played with a mouse and keyboard,” McNeely said. “I hope the game can be looked back as a unique blend of art and technology that presented something new for gamers that was a bit different than anything else at the time. I also hope people appreci- ated the challenging aspect of the game and didn’t curse at the game too much while playing after dying and having to restart levels from the beginning over and over again. It was designed to be extra challenging, so I hope anyone that played it appreciated that.”
At a time when console first-person shooters were considered inferior to those on the PC, Powerslave was one that not only played fast and fun but was tough. Add in the killer score, narration from a voice-acting legend and gameplay that blended exploration and platform games and McNeely is confident that his game has made an impact.
“I think the game helped advance the ideas of what a first-person shooter can be on a console platform and helped open the door to the idea that first-person shooters designed specifically for console
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