Chaser

aka: Chaser: Défiez l'enfer, Chaser: Fight Your Way Through Hell, Chaser: If You Can Hold A Gun You're Not Dead
Moby ID: 9632
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Description official descriptions

In the year 2044 the UN established MARSCORP (Martian Security and Economics Committee). Its president Samuel Longwood gradually became unpopular with other companies by acquiring a considerable amount of wealth from dubious sources. Meanwhile, a man named John Chaser, wakes up on board the spaceship H.M.S. Majestic. He does not remember who he is, but after a very short time he finds himself fighting for his life, persecuted by mysterious men in black uniforms. Chaser must survive, regain his memory, and regain the dark secrets of Earth and Mars.

Chaser is a traditional cutscene-driven first-person shooter with some sneaking and submarine-navigating segments. The player character fights his way through indoor and outdoor levels, utilizing standard modern-day firearms as well as a "bullet time"-like feature (called "Adrenaline" in the game). Multiplayer offers Deathmatch as well as team-based modes such as Capture-the-Flag.

Spellings

  • Chaser: Вспомнить все - Russian spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

129 People (101 developers, 28 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 67% (based on 30 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.2 out of 5 (based on 38 ratings with 6 reviews)

One of the few games I have actually thrown away.

The Good
I so SO wanted to like Chaser: It had a great game engine for its time with lots of environment tricks; the audio (especially the music) was fantastic; the story setting was my cup of tea (sci-fi). The opening sequence where you have to get off of a ship while it is in the process of breaking up wasn't original, but was well executed. After the first 20 minutes, I was pumped.

The Bad
The rest of the 20+ hours I wasted trying to finish this game was so wrought with frustration that I broke down and just started cheating in an effort to just get to the next damn level. I don't have a problem with the difficulty of games as long as they're engaging, but level after level just went on and on and on... it was beyond tedious. Unreal 2 did the same thing, but at least they announced when a level was going to be tedious; you had warning. Like others have said before, this game had tons of potential and simply squandered it. The voice acting was stiff, the levels were monotonous, and for being a sci-fi game it had surprisingly few sci-fi weapons or locales.

Ultimately, it was a disappointment because there were so many missed opportunities. There was no coherent storyline other than a lame attempt to string together all of the completely different levels that were created. Wait, I take that back -- the very very end of the story (spoiler warning!) had some thought, but only because it was a lame rip-off of Total Recall (except this time the ending ended on a sour note, almost as if the developers were mocking you for actually completing their game).

And, oh yes, you can't install the game under Windows XP Service Pack 2 or higher -- I had to uninstall SP2 to install the game, then reinstall SP2. JoWood has acknowledged the problem and publicly stated there will be no fix. Great.

The Bottom Line
Don't bother. Honestly, there's no point -- I could have spent the 20+ hours playing some other game instead. Hell, I could have played Tron 2.0 for a fourth time.

(Yes, I really did throw the game away -- and I'm one of the founders of MobyGames, I never throw games away!)

Windows · by Trixter (8952) · 2004

A lot of potential - more flaws and design-blunder

The Good
You can really guess that Cauldron, the designers of chaser, aren't incapable. Chaser features some nice ideas (for example the atmospheric submarine-mission), from time to time really nice graphics and generally a lot of good ideas, but...

The Bad
... somehow, they weren't able to fit everything together. There are so many design- and gameplay-related flaws, bugs and inconsistencies, that it hurts! It begins with a wannabe-immersive-story, the ultra-linear leveldesign and the bad AI. And it doesn't end...

The Bottom Line
Chaser tries to be a good shooter with innovative features, good graphics and a nice story. But it fails and fails and fails. It seems, like JoWood, the publisher, wasn't able to control and direct the gamedesign-process. So, what remains, is a substandard shooter with some nice moments - and many frustrating...

Windows · by Felix Knoke (149) · 2003

Great first-person shooter, with excellent sound and graphics

The Good
JoWooD's first-person shooter, Chaser, is an impressive game in which you play John Chaser, the man who has no memory of who he is and why he is being hunted. In my opinion, this game is impressive because it is more advanced than any other FPS that was available at the time. The visual effects, audio, and the game mechanics are amazing.

Chaser is divided up into missions, with more than one mission being accomplished In the early levels. Apart from the early missions, I can say that they are satisfyingly long, because you have to accomplish more than one goal during a mission. Although the game is mostly a first-person shooter, shooting enemies that get in your way using your weapon of choice, you have to do other stuff such as protecting your getaway vehicle from snipers, get to a secret meeting without being seen, and navigate a submarine.

There is a tutorial that can be accessed through the main menu, and it is ideal for anyone who is new to first-person shooters before they start the actual game. New users can learn about jumping, swimming, using their flashlight, and shooting. Depending on how well you do, the tutorial takes about ten minutes to complete.

The levels are spread over three different areas: futuristic Earth, Siberia, and Mars. The first level starts on the spaceship Majestic. I enjoyed walking around each room, looking out the window and overlooking the planets as they fly by. The second level, meanwhile, is impressive. You get to explore slums that lead outside with a nice view of giant skyscrapers, and Majestic's debris crashing into them and setting them on fire is amazing and well animated, as are the water that you have to swim in from time to time. The highlight is exploring the airport on Mars and looking at the impressive signs around the terminal.

There are plenty of weapons to take advantage of, from your standard pistol to a more advanced sniper rifle. What's good about it is that that all the weapons are modeled after real-life ones. As you move Chaser through your surroundings, the environment is reflected off whatever weapon you are holding, and that is pretty impressive. Only a small handful of weapons are listed on one of the inside covers.

There at least three types of enemy in the game. The first enemy in the game look exactly like those silencers from Crusader: No Remorse. I like the Russians that you encounter near the middle of the game. When you happen to fire a weapon in their vicinity, they are alerted to your presence and go to where they heard the gunfire.

The game has the occasional cut-scene that details what happens as a result of you accomplishing the mission, and what you need to do next. Every cut-scene features Jay Benedict who voices Chaser, plus several other people who are assisting him. Later on in the game, the cut-scenes get more interesting as we learn that his previous assistants turn against him.

Starting from the music on the main menu, all of Chaser's soundtracks are fantastic. While walking on the Majestic, that mission's soundtrack has a nice beat to it. Following that, the soundtrack is a mix of techno and rock. Each piece of soundtrack also blends in with the overall theme of the mission. The music during the end credits is just amazing.

With the use of cheats, I loaded the multiplayer maps and explored them. My favorite map is chdm03, where you are out in the forest when it is raining, and there are buildings that you can use to take cover. You can even climb on top of them to get a good view of your surroundings. I don't know what it is called, but the other multiplayer maps have you running around the city streets, similar to the second mission. But the only difference is that you can actually look up onto the highways.

The Bad
I can't think of anything bad.

The Bottom Line
In conclusion, Chaser is an excellent first-person shooter from JoWooD, in which you play someone named John Chaser who is trying to recover his identity. Like other FPSes of its time, Chaser is divided up into missions that are well-balanced, and each mission has more than one goal. The cut-scenes in the game are well-scripted and add depth to the story. The graphics and sound are excellent, and both of these blend in with what the mission's theme is. The game is great and it is a pity that there wasn't a sequel.

Windows · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2013

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Trivia

Doors

The most dangerous enemy in the first level on the Majestic Station are the doors. Then can kill you instantly if you stay in their way when closing.

German version

In the German version all blood effects (except the ones which appear when the player character gets hurt) were removed. Corpses also disappear instantly.

Soundtrack

As of 2006, the soundtrack for the game can be downloaded at Cauldron's site.

Support

JoWood and Cauldron have released several free downloadable add-ons for Chaser including an official map pack (with five new maps), a level editor, and a stand alone server package.

Map pack and/or level editor.

Server pack and/or v1.50 patch.

Information also contributed by ClydeFrog, Karthik KANE and Silmarillion.

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  • MobyGames ID: 9632
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Felix Knoke.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, Sciere, Scott Monster, formercontrib, Klaster_1, Patrick Bregger.

Game added July 8, 2003. Last modified February 11, 2024.