REBEL MOON

Rebel Moon is a first-person shooter bundled exclusively with the Creative Labs 3D Blaster PCI or VLB 2D/3D accelerators. The game is only compatible with a video card utilizing the Rendition Verite 1000 Chipset.

The game takes place in the middle of the twenty-first century as rebels of the Lunar Defense Force (LDF) prepare to wage a war of independence for the moon throughout twenty-some colonies settled there. For decades, the lunar colonists had felt oppressed as they began to hold less and less sway in trade policies and executive decisions carried out for them on the behalf of the Earth. Though their numbers and armaments small, the beleaguered lunar colonists had finally reached their breaking point, and declared themselves independent of the Earth.

The United Nations, who had assumed total power over the lunar colonies, was furious and desperate at the development. The lunar colonies were absolutely necessary to feeding of the citizens of Earth, and due to this the United Nations could not possibly stand to accept anything but total victory over the Lunar Defense Force. However the LDF does not plan to lose: To them, they are fighting for their homeland and plan to defend it at all costs. That is where you come in...

The game features many different styles of mission goals: objectives ranging from sabotage (where the player must find and destroy enemy infrastructure), seek-and-destroy (where the player and other LDF soldiers must eliminate an enemy stronghold), and even defense missions (where the player and an allotment of LDF soldiers must successfully defend a Rebel objective). Depending on the type of mission, the player will be allotted a specific number of LDF soldiers in reserve to back up the player's main force. Managing the numbers of those reserve soldiers could spell victory or disaster in some missions. The player has a large arsenal of futuristic weapons at his/her disposal, ranging from laser pistols to chain-fed rail-guns and plasma rifles.

~from MobyGames 

Back in the 90s, if you wanted to have the best graphics out there, you needed a PC with a 3D graphics card. To entice customers to pick up their particular lump of soldered metal on plastic from a shelf littered with many others, manufacturers would bundle games with the purchase. Most were also released outside of the bundle, but Rebel Moon was exclusively packaged with the Creative Labs 3D Blaster.

This 2.5D FPS created by Fenris Wolf in 1995 took the Doom clone visuals as far as it could go at a time before 3D polygons changed everything for the genre. Levels are large, sprawling and maze-like, but also fun to navigate for the most part. Outside areas have an impressive draw distance with some amazing lighting effects to boot. It comes as a shame then, that each level's architecture is filled with duplicated grey walls and repeated sprite-based enemies. While this does allow the engine to show off it's lighting effects as bullets cast light-beams across the hallway as they head towards the target, it does make all 20-odd levels feel very similar and a little bland.

While the game overall is an enjoyable romp if a little average compared to the competition, there is one massive elephant in the room; Vox Day, the game's designer. Born Theodore Robert Beale before taking on the pseudonym of Mr Day, Vox is an avid proponent of cancerous ideology found in White Supremacy as well as an early and vocal member of the Gamergate controversy. In game design, the Rebel Moon series remains his biggest succes but it's his hand in perpetuating this dark era of gaming that has had the biggest cultural impact in the industry we all love. I don't usually want to go into the politics of the designers - I feel they take no part in the quality of the final product - but considering what this man has been involved in, I believe it's worth mentioning. More details can be found here.

In today's political climate, knowing what the designers have done in their personal life could be enough to taint the experience of this game. It did a little for me. Rebel Moon is not a great game by any means, but it is also not a bad one. It is competently made but does nothing new. And if you look past the nastiness behind the scenes, I guess it's worth it.

To download the game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber uses DOSBox to bring the game to modern systems. Novel included. Tested on Windows 10.

File Size: 60.3 Mb.  Install Size: 119 Mb.  Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

Download



Rebel Moon is © Fenris Wolf Ltd
Review, Cover Design and Installer created by me

Like this? Try These...