Tremulous
Description official description
Tremulous is a free, open source team-based FPS licensed under the GPL, and it uses the icculus.org Quake III ioquake3 source code distribution. Reminiscent of Natural Selection and the Quake 2 modification Gloom, the game mixes pure FPS with RTS elements, and matches take place between two opposing teams: humans and aliens. Rather than relying on pure action, you can build constructions and activate upgrades that are unlocked gradually while playing.
Each team is fundamentally different. Humans use guns while aliens are class-based and rely on speed and melee attacks. By killing foes, aliens earn frags that can be used to evolve to stronger mutations. Humans, on the other hand, either spawn with a weapon or a construction kit, and they earn credits by killing aliens. Those credits can be exchanged in the armoury for new equipment. When a team reaches a set amount of frags, a new stage of development is occupied. Aliens get access to advanced creatures with healing and construction abilities, while humans acquire new building options, better weapons and stronger armour. There are three stages in total.
Each race has important constructions that must be defended. For the aliens, the Overmind is vital. It controls the production of eggs and the upgrade abilities. Humans have a Reactor as a main power source. There are additional defensive constructions such as barricades, alien tubes and turrets, or hives, eggs and telenodes as extensions of the main structures. These have distinct abilities as well. In an advanced development stage, aliens can build them on walls or ceilings, and they slow down humans with creep, or spray acid when destroyed. The overall objective is to destroy the opposing team.
The game was originally developed as a total conversion for Quake III, but later, after the release of the 3D engine's source code, turned into a standalone product. It supports OpenAL with surround sound.
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77 People (55 developers, 22 thanks) · View all
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[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 84% (based on 8 ratings)
Players
Average score: 2.7 out of 5 (based on 9 ratings with 1 reviews)
Nice atmosphere, different player classes, but not much longevity.
The Good
The setting and atmosphere were nicely designed. I can't help but to think of the "Alien" movies with Sigourney Weaver. There is a good difference in playing style between humans and aliens. Also, both humans and aliens have different player classes to choose from. Humans are able to build different structures, and aliens could evolve into more powerful creatures. The most fun you could have is by becoming a more advanced alien and executing the attacks.
The Bad
It gets boring quickly. If you play as a human, most of your time will be spent defending your home base against the rushing alien attacks, and if you play as an alien, most of your time will be spent rushing the human base. That's it. There is really not much else to the game play. It also doesn't help much that the weapons the humans have access to aren't very interesting. Some of the structures you are able to build as a human don't serve a real purpose, and are mostly ineffective against the alien rushes.
The Bottom Line
This is an average FPS with some strategy elements which will keep you interested if you enjoy the presentation and atmosphere. The nice concepts are there, but their execution is just OK.
Windows · by merrick79 (5) · 2007
Trivia
Tony J. White, previously involved with additions for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, developed an unofficial Mac version and an administration tool for the game.
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Related Sites +
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Tremulous
Official game website -
Wikipedia
The Wikipedia article on Tremulous -
tremulous.tjw.org
Tony J. White's Tremulous site with an administration tool and unofficial Mac OSX builds.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Sciere.
Game added April 3, 2006. Last modified December 14, 2023.