Friday, October 22, 2010

2400 A.D.: Won!

You have to wonder what kind of security system allows all the robots to be destroyed by entering three words.

Well, that was a bit anticlimactic. At the end of my last 2400 A.D. posting, I suggested that I thought the game would be a quick one. I was right. I continued wandering through the streets of Metropolis, killing robots, building my statistics, and making money. I visited each building and got all the available clues from the denizens. The picture that emerged was that to win, I would need to:

  • Visit several computer consoles under the administration building, enter a code, and get each of three "deactivation codes."
  • Sneak in to the Authority Complex through a maze that began in the junk yard, fighting robots and solving puzzles along the way.
  • Find my way to the top level of the Authority Complex and enter the three deactivation codes.

To accomplish all of this, I needed several pieces of equipment:

  • A field disperser, the best armor in the game, which also allows the wearer to pass through force fields
  • A plasma rifle, the best weapon in the game (I'm not sure if it has a 40-watt range).
  • A transporter guidance device to make my way through a transporter maze
  • A jetpack, to get over some obstacles

One by one, I collected the clues and visited the locations to find these items. The plasma rifle was most difficult. I wasn't sure where to get it, but I sort-of lucked into it after I bought several lesser weapons from Wes the weapons dealer.


He ended up just giving me the plasma rifle, but it was broken. I took it to Hugo in the repair shop, and he outlined what I needed.


These spare parts came from a couple of electronics dealers. Once I had it, I was unstoppable, to both robots and doors. I broke in to the Social Rehabilitation Center just to slaughter the robot guards and speak to the prisoners.


The field disperser was a bit easier, requiring only that I find a set of blueprints and pay an absurd amount of money to a guy named "Les" to make the armor.


I picked up the other items along the way, too, but didn't take screen shots. It wasn't all that exciting. The game was far too easy by this point--no robot could really damage me, and they all died in just a couple of shots.

A random pop culture reference. Origin likes these.

Perhaps knowing that robots were no longer a challenge, the game threw some different puzzles at me as I explored the depths of the Administration Center, looking for the deactivation codes.

First there was a moving sidewalk maze. I didn't bother with it; I just fired up my jetpack and flew over it.


Then we had a maze that required me to shove crates around until I found the path to the computer terminal. It took a little time, but we're not talking Wizardry IV-level difficulty, here.


Once I had the codes, it was a simple matter to sneak into the Authority Complex, work my way to the top, and enter the deactivation codes into the main console. I took a video of the last five minutes, starting with the end of a battle with some reasonably difficult robots.



The greatest disappointment? I never got to see what a Tzorg looked like! I guess they're saving that for the sequel.



Alas, according to Wikipedia, the sequel--2500 A.D. (guess it took the Tzorg a while to get there)--was canceled in development.

If this whole post seems a little lackluster, that reflects my feelings about the game. Maybe it was what I needed after Wizardry IV, but it was horribly easy and quick. I'll do a quick summary posting next and then hopefully head on to something more challenging.

9 comments:

  1. Holy Cow! That was quick.

    Sucks that they never showed you a Tzorg. After all that and NOTHING!!!

    Congrats on another notch added to your rpg belt.

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  2. Congratulations on another success!

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  3. Don't worry, if you think life is too easy Rivers of Light will be the perfect antidote.

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  4. Oh, wow, Stuart Smith's ACS game is next? I played the C-64 version, made quite a few little games with that thing. Pre-dating Neverwinter Nights' building tools by many years.

    I can't remember if I ever beat Rivers of Light, though...

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  5. Over already, huh? This game definitely seems like it had a rushed development.

    I'd say it was a disappointment, but honestly I didn't really expect much from this in the first place.

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  6. Oh my, only six more games until Dungeon Master! :D

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  7. Pity it was short, I like sci-fi games. Didn't seem to have too much depth either.

    So, you don't get to talk to the citizens of Metropolis after liberating them from robotic control?

    By the way, did the robots do any manual tasks? They'd likely be far better suited to those than humans. If so, shutting them down could cause a few problems for the city in the short term.

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  8. No, Kian--you don't get to wander around and talk to people when the game is over. I like games that allow you to do that, but we're a few years away from them.

    As for your robot question, I'm not sure the creators fleshed out the game world in that much detail! This was another game in which the gameplay didn't live up to the backstory. The manual is cagey on the reasons for the Tzorg invasion and what the Tzorg actually are. Perhaps it was setting things up for the sequel.

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  9. This game pales in comparison to anything today yes. But, for its time, playing it as a kid, I enjoyed it.

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