0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Black Dawn

       

Black Dawn is a first person helicopter combat simulation game developed by Black Ops Entertainment and Point of View, Black Ops developed the Playstation version of the game, while Point of View developed the Sega Saturn version.

The game released first in North America on the 30^th of September 1996, a Japanese release of the game would come at the end of the year on the 27^th of December 1996. The PAL release of the game would not be until the February of 1997, the game was published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment, including the Saturn release.

Notable people who worked on this game, An Nguyen who worked as a Programmer, went on to be Lead Programmer for the Black Ops Entertainment developed 007 Tomorrow Never Dies. In 2002 they worked on Hunter The Reckoning providing Addition Programming, most recently they worked on the Star Wars The Force Unleashed games.

Kelly McCarthy Fitzgerald who worked as a Programmer on the game, a role she held for both Black Ops Entertainment titles, 007 Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough. Following on from working on those game she worked on Knockout Kings 2001 and 2002 as a Senior Programmer. She worked as a Senior Engineer on the 2013 release Lost Planet 3.

Eric Armstrong since working as a 3D Modeler for Black Dawn, he has worked for Ubisoft for most of his career, Armstrong has been involved in the Artistic side of development on the Tom Clancy series of games since 1998 and has continued working on them up until his most recent credit for Tom Clancy’s The Division, where he worked as a character designer.

Black Dawn consists of a total of seven campaigns for you to play through, each campaign is set in a different area and has the player performing tasks such as search and destroy and hostage rescue missions. The game has drawn comparisons to Soviet Strike, another chopper game released in the same year, however Black Dawn opts for a more arcade feel to the gameplay, rather than a more simulation type experience, with power ups being dropped by enemies definitely giving it a more arcade feel.

When starting the game up you only have two options on the main menu, the first is scramble, this takes you to a world map. From here you select the operations that are available, as far as I can tell only one is available when you start the game, this is Operation Urban Shield.

 

Before starting the game will bring up a loading screen which shows the player the games controls, when ready the player presses the X button, another map appears this time showing you the mission map and your target location. In the case of the first mission on Operation Urban Shield a small white arrow points to a hostage rescue location, with the player required to rescue the hostage and return them to the landing zone.

When you get behind the controls of your chopper the screen has multiple pieces of information for the player, on the very bottom right of the screen is a minimap which shows the target location for your current mission, below the minimap is the mission timer.

 

Staying on the right side of the screen, about half way up the screen is your altitude gauge, and directly across from that on the left hand side of the screen is your speedometer. Below the speedometer on the bottom left of the screen is your radar.

The top centre of the screen shows your current missile stock, with a small green image of your weapon and the total number of remaining rounds below it, next to your weapon is your armor and fuel gauges, these are shown as a red and yellow bar that decreases from right to left as you take damage, or as you fly around the map.

 

Also as you take damage from enemy fire your cockpit windows will receive visual damage in the form of bullet holes. The game features both air to air combat, as well as air to ground combat. Upon completing an operation, weather you were successful or not the Operation Summery will show your performance, here you gain points for how long you took to complete the mission, this has a x100 bonus if you complete within a certain time, the operation score and your total score. Below this the summery screen shows your overall mission time.

Basic controls for the game, the D-Pad is used to move your helicopter, in order to speed up the helicopter the X button is used, to slow the chopper and go backwards the circle button is used. You are also able to strafe enemy fire this is one with the L1 and R1 shoulder buttons.

 

For your own weapons you have the basic machine guns which are fired with the Square button, in addition you have access to a special weapon, you can fire this with the Triangle button. To assist you in combat the game allows to lock on to your target, this can be done with the R2 shoulder button.

You can change which weapon you are currently using by hitting the select button plus the triangle button. Changing the view is also don’t with the select button and by pressing the X button. You can also look left and right using the select button plus either the L2 or R2 shoulder buttons.

While flying your chopper you can change your current altitude, you can either ascend or descend, to ascend or climb the L2 shoulder button and down on the D-Pad are used, you also take off using these two buttons. To descend the L2 shoulder button is used again, this time with up on the D-Pad this is how you land your chopper as well.

In the year 1998 terrorist activity has become rampant, all efforts for a peaceful resolution have failed, with peace in sight the US government has began to fund a Black Operations military group, with one aim to attack and destroy the terrorist threat, and rescue any hostages the terrorists have taken.

Putting the player a member of this Black Ops unit in control of a combat helicopter the Agile Warrior F-IIIX. The terrorists have grown powerful in the world over the recent years, but it is up to you to restore stability and peace throughout the United States and across the world.

Critically Black Dawn was well received, the game managed to earn itself a 90 rated review, along with a few 80 rated reviews as well. On the site I use the game did not rate below a 75 review score, as usual though we will start with the best of them, which is the aforementioned 90 rated review which comes from Electric Playground.

The review commenting on how much fun they had with the first game in the series Agile Warrior F-111X, the reviewer at the time however did not know that game was only a testing ground for what would become the most playable helicopter flight/combat diversion available on Playstation.

The review continued by saying Black Dawn leaves the first game writing in the dirt, they continued by praising the intensity and expanse on offer in the game, they concluded by saying. Virgin better bless its lucky stars that Black Ops is part of their stable of developers, because with Black Dawn, the boys and girls in the Santa Monica based design house have proven that they are a serious group of video game artists.

 

Next we head over to France and Germany and the publications Joypad and Mega Fun, starting with Joypad who rated the game at a solid 80, the reviewer comparing the game to Soviet Strike and finding Black Dawn to be infinitely more addictive and innovative.

Moving on to Mega Fun, who’s reviewer also rated the game at a solid 80, the reviewer finding that fans of action packed games like Soviet Strike and Gunship lovers alike are well served by Black Dawn. The reviewer finding the motto of each mission is simply board the action and press the fire button, in addition to the varied enemies and tasks.

The reviewer continued by praising the visuals and sound world that has gone into Black Dawn. The reviewer also praised the game for being fun for both beginners and veterans of the genre, the review also liked the addition of a two player option.

Moving on to Absolute Playstation we find out final 80 rated review, the review finding if you enjoyed either Agile Warrior, Warhawk, Gunship the chances are high that your will like this one. The reviewer finding the game had a good number of diverse missions, with tight but challenging flight characteristics and controls. Concluding the review found the graphics, sound effect and music to be really well done, and add depth to the game. If you remember (and enjoyed) the old Choplifter game, this is it in 3D!

Heading over to Germany again next with the 77 rated review from Video Games, the review finding the that the developers have put a lot of effort into surpassing their Playstation debut title in all respects. These include an overall visually better looking game, with light and shadow effects that are a real treat for the eyes.

The reviewer however found that, unfortunately the numerous missions fly very similar, the reviewer finding in a long run they miss the playful variety despite the spectacular graphics. The review did however like the tactical aspects of the game, with the review looking for paths to sneak or perform lighting fast turns to avoid enemy fire, all the while still being accessible to beginners.

NowGamer are next up with a respectable 76 rated review, the review finding the main problem with Black Dawn is that EA got their first with Soviet Strike, the review finding that to be the better of the two games, with the review finding it simply more enjoyable to play.

The review concluding with that is all that matters, Black Dawn lacks any real adrenaline pumping moments, which are what video games should be all about. The Daz bloke can relax – everyone’s going to be gunning for those nasty ol’ commies instead.

GameSpot are the penultimate review they also scored the game at a respectable 76, the review finding Black Dawn to be a largely arcade type experience, they did find the game offers a more realistic flight and combat mode, which players have to be nuts to actually use. Concluding the review found the game is what loud and engaging gameplay is all about. If that appeals to you then Black Ops Entertainment have you covered.

IGN were the lowest scoring review for Black Dawn, even so they still scored the game at a respectable 75. the reviewer finding Black Dawn to be a satisfying arcade chopper game. The reviewer finding that while the game does not have quite as strong AI program as Soviet Strike, it is still an enjoyable game.

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com, eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable at other retailers.

So lets get down to business with Gamedude, who will give you $2 if you are looking to trade in you’re copy of Black Dawn. If on the other hand your are in the market for a copy of the game from Gamedude, you will be looking at an outlay of around $7.

Heading over to Retrogames.co.uk we don’t find the game available or even listed, so we will quickly head over to eStarland.com. Where we do find the game is available, with eStarland currently stocking just one copy of the game, this copy is a complete copy and will set you back $4.50.

Also on offer from eStarland is a trade in for the game, with eStarland offering up to $1.50 for a complete copy of the game. This trade in value decreases to 53 cents for a disc only copy of the game. As well as the Playstation version eStarland also stock the Sega Saturn version of the game, with two copies of this currently in stock.

Neither of the two copies that are available are complete, one is missing the box while the second copy is missing it’s manual. The box less copy of the game is priced at $11.21, while the copy missing the manual can be picked up for $7.48. As with the Playstation version eStarland offer a trade in for the Saturn version, with $6.75 paid for a complete copy of the game.

 

Lastly we head to Amazon.com where we find a modest supply of the game available, and we see a good condition and complete copy available for $6.89, this however is shipped by Amazon so the free shipping only applies to Prime users and those spending over $25.

Not to worry though a like new copy is also available for $6.89 and also comes with free shipping, not from Amazon, who stock a like new copy for $6.99. Another couple of very good condition copies can be picked up for around $9.50, with two more complete copies in good condition available for $10.

Even with the not huge stock available there is good supply of complete copies available. If on the other hand you are looking for a new copy of the game, there are only two copies that are currently available, both of these copies are priced up at $23.99.

Written by

P J Gibbon