View source for The Chaos Engine

{{Short description|1993 video game}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{redirect|Soldiers of Fortune (video game)|other games|Soldier of Fortune (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = The Chaos Engine
| image = The Chaos Engine box art.jpg
| caption = Clockwise from top left: Navvie, Thug, Mercenary, Preacher, Gentleman, Brigand
| developer = [[The Bitmap Brothers]]
| publisher = [[Renegade Software]]
| designer = Simon Knight<br />Eric Matthews
| artist = Daniel Malone
| programmer = Stephen Cargill<br />Mike Montgomery
| composer = [[Richard Joseph]]<br />Farook Joi<br />Haroon Joi
| released = March 16, 1993<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 5, 1993 |title=Screenshot |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/807289626 |access-date=July 30, 2024 |work=[[Reading Evening Post]] |pages=24 |quote=Title: ''Chaos Engine''//Available: 16th March}}</ref>
| genre = [[Run and gun video game|Run and gun]]
| modes = [[Single-player video game|Single-player]], [[multiplayer]]
| platforms = [[Amiga]], [[Atari ST]], [[Amiga CD32]], [[MS-DOS]], [[RISC OS]], [[Mega Drive]], [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super NES]], [[Mobile phone]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[OS X]], [[Linux]]
}}

'''''The Chaos Engine''''' is a top-down [[run and gun video game]] developed by [[The Bitmap Brothers]] and published by [[Renegade Software]] in March 1993.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bitmap-brothers.co.uk/sychaos.html |title=The Chaos Engine Softography |website=www.bitmap-brothers.co.uk |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961030092837/http://www.bitmap-brothers.co.uk/sychaos.html |archive-date=30 October 1996 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The game is set in a [[steampunk]] [[Victorian era|Victorian age]] in which one or two players must battle the hostile creations of the eponymous Chaos Engine across four landscapes and ultimately defeat it and its deranged inventor.

It was first released for the [[Amiga]], with a version available for [[Advanced Graphics Architecture|AGA]] Amigas, and later ported to [[MS-DOS]], the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]], [[Atari ST]], [[Amiga CD32]], [[RISC OS]] and [[Mega Drive]]. In the Super NES and Mega Drive versions, the Preacher character was renamed as the Scientist and redesigned to remove his [[clerical collar]]. The US versions of these two ports were retitled '''''Soldiers of Fortune'''''. A sequel to the game, ''[[The Chaos Engine 2]]'', was released in 1996.

==Plot==
The setting is a steampunk Victorian era [[England]]. A [[time travel]]ler on a reconnaissance mission from the distant future became stranded in the England of the late 1800s, and his technology came into the hands of the [[Royal Society]], led by Baron Fortesque (based upon [[Charles Babbage]]), a grand inventor. Fortesque then [[reverse engineering|retro engineered]] many of the futuristic contraptions, creating an entirely different, [[alternate timeline]].

Baron Fortesque then succeeded in his greatest creation yet: the Chaos Engine, which was able to experiment with matter and the very nature of space and time. Unfortunately for the rest of the proud kingdom, the Engine then proceeded to become sentient, captured and assimilated its creator, and began to change the countryside for the worse. Vile monsters and destructive [[automaton|automata]] appeared everywhere, and even prehistoric beasts were resurrected. Telegram wires connecting the British Isles to the European mainland are cut, and any ship attempting to enter a British port is attacked. The British Royal Family, members of Parliament and a large number of refugees manage to escape across the sea, bringing with them many tales of horror. The [[British Empire]] is left in tatters, and the world in economic and political chaos. That lures a number of [[mercenary|mercenaries]] on a potentially-rewarding quest to infiltrate the quarantined Britain, find the root of the problem, and swiftly bring a full stop to it.

At the end of the cellars in the hall of machines, the player characters face the Chaos Engine itself in a last battle. Upon its destruction, the narrator of the game is revealed to be the baron himself, trapped within the machine and studded with implants.

The introductory sequence is displayed in text on the screen on the [[floppy disk]] Amiga versions, but a slightly modified version is narrated with a voiceover on the [[Amiga CD32]] version, together with some scene-setting animations.

==Characters==
Players choose two adventurers from a group of six to take on the task of defeating the mad Baron Fortesque and the Chaos Engine itself. The playable characters have various qualities that affect gameplay, such as speed and combat ability. The players are provided with a certain amount of money to start the game and must hire the chosen characters at their set prices.

In one-player mode, the computer [[artificial intelligence]] controls the second player, so that one never has to fight the chaos alone. Control of characters cannot be swapped once chosen. It is possible to play with only one character, by starting a two-player game and letting the enemies kill the second character.

===Navvie and Thug===
The Navvie and Thug are the strongest and most expensive of the group. They have the highest health and most destructive specials but are slower than the other characters. The Navvie uses a bazooka, which fires straight ahead and does heavy damage; the Thug uses a shotgun, which is less powerful than the bazooka but fires many shots in a wide angle.

===Brigand and Mercenary===
The Brigand and Mercenary are the all-rounded characters and have a mid-range price. Though they are slightly weaker than the Navvie and Thug, they have access to more specials and can move faster. The Brigand uses a rifle, which works the same as the Navvie's bazooka but is not as powerful. The Mercenary uses a Gatling gun that operates similarly to the Thug's shotgun, but with a different pattern.

===Gentleman and Preacher/Scientist===
The Gentleman and Preacher are the least expensive, with the highest movement speed and widest selection of specials; however, they have the lowest health. The Gentleman uses a flame pistol, while the Preacher carries a laser. Their shots are weaker than those of the other characters, but they can pass through enemies after hitting them.

For the North American release, the Preacher character was redesigned slightly and renamed as the Scientist because the game's North American publishers felt that a priest killing people was offensive.<ref name="Retro122"/>

==Gameplay==
[[File:ChaosEngine1 s11.png|320px|thumb|right|Screenshot Chaos Engine - World 1]]

The players must travel through four worlds consisting of four levels each, picking up power-ups, gold and keys to pass through the various puzzles and mazes. A number of "nodes" must be activated via weapon fire (or special power) to open the final doors at the end of each level. At the end of every second level, the players has a chance to spend their collected riches to upgrade their weapons, increase the number of hit points of their character, purchase new items and improve other character attributes.

==Development==
Developers included Steve Cargill, Simon Knight, Dan Malone, Eric Mathews and Mike Montgomery. [[Joi (band)|Joi]] composed the title theme and [[Richard Joseph]] composed all other in-game music.

The game was inspired by [[William Gibson]] and [[Bruce Sterling]]'s novel, ''[[The Difference Engine]]'', and its basic plot and stylistics are both based on the novel.<ref name="Retro122">{{cite magazine|last=Locke |first=Phil |date=December 2013 |title=Creating Chaos |magazine=[[Retro Gamer]] |issue=122 | pages=71–73 | publisher=[[Imagine Publishing]]}}</ref>

The game's coder developed the partner AI by observing play-testing of the game, then coding the AI according to his observations of the player's behaviors.<ref name="Retro122"/>

The game was later ported to consoles. In order to fit the soundtrack into the [[Super NES]]'s audio memory, which is much smaller than the Amiga's, Joseph both used standard compression methods and put all the note data and drivers in the console's main memory, reserving the audio memory for samples.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Making Tracks: The Noble Art of Game Music |journal=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=3|publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|date=March 1995|page=50}}</ref>

==Reception==
{{Video game reviews
<!-- Reviews -->
 | CGR = 78/84/83<ref name=cgr>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961221184042/http://www.nuke.com/compent/reviews/augarc/chaosng/chaosng.htm | url=http://www.nuke.com/compent/reviews/augarc/chaosng/chaosng.htm | title=It Would Be Total Chaos! | date=August 1995 | work=[[Computer Game Review]] | author1=Snyder, Frank | author2=Chapman, Ted | author3=Kaiafas, Tasos | archive-date=December 21, 1996 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
 | EGM = 6.8/10 <small>(SNES)</small><ref name="CEngineSNES-EGM">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_54 |title=Review Crew: Soldiers of Fortune (SNES) |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |issue=54 |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |date=January 1994 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_54/page/n45 44]}}</ref><br />6.4/10<small>(Genesis)</small><ref name="CEngineGEN-EGM">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_55 |title=Review Crew: Soldiers of Fortune (Genesis) |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |issue=55 |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |date=February 1994 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_55/page/n41 40]}}</ref>
 | GMaster = 90%<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.abandonia.com/files/extras/23568_game_extra_1.pdf |date=1993 |title=Mindscape International Catalogue |publisher=[[Mindscape (company)|Mindscape]] |page=14 |archive-date=10 April 2022 |access-date=12 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410190019/http://www.abandonia.com/files/extras/23568_game_extra_1.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<!-- Awards -->
 |award1Pub = [[Sega]]
 |award1 = 1993 Game of the Year<ref name="CEngine-SegaAward">{{cite magazine|title=No Business Like Show Business|magazine=[[GamePro]]|issue=57|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|date=April 1994|pages=8, 60–61}}</ref>
 |award2Pub = SEGA Awards
 |award2 = 1994 Best Action Game{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}
 |award3Pub = SEGA Awards
 |award3 = 1994 Best 3rd Party Game of the Year<ref name="CEngine-SegaAward"/>
 |award4Pub = [[Amiga Power]]
 |award4 = 11th best game of all time<ref>Amiga Power magazine issue 64, Future Publishing, August 1996</ref>
 |award5Pub = [[Mega (magazine)|Mega]]
 |award5 = 15th best Mega Drive game of all time<ref>Mega magazine issue 26, page 74, [[Maverick Magazines]], November 1994</ref>
}}
''[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]'' gave the [[Super NES]] version a 6.8 out of 10, summarizing it as "A decent overhead shooting game in the spirit of ''[[Technoclash]]'' and ''[[Gauntlet (1985 video game)|Gauntlet]]''."<ref name="CEngineSNES-EGM"/> They gave the Genesis version a 6.4.<ref name="CEngineGEN-EGM"/> ''[[GamePro]]'' remarked of the Genesis version that "Overhead-view gunfighting has never played better", citing the heavy challenge, solid controls, and use of teamwork. They criticized the [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprites]] as overly small, but also noted that the sharp artwork ensures that it is still easy to make out what is happening on screen.<ref name="CEngine-GPro">{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/game-pro-issue-53-december-1993/page/64/mode/2up |title=ProReview: Soldiers of Fortune |magazine=[[GamePro]] |issue=53 |publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]] |date=December 1993 |pages=64–65}}</ref>

Reviewing the computer version, ''[[Computer Game Review]]''{{'}}s Tasos Kaiafas wrote, "For the price, this a must-buy if you like two-player arcade shooters, especially since another one for the PC may not come along for awhile."<ref name=cgr /> In 1995, ''[[Total!]]'' ranked ''The Chaos Engine'' 68th on their Top 100 SNES Games summarizing: "Sort of Jules Vern meets Arnie. This is a great cooperative challenge and very stylish with it."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=July 1995 |title=Top 100 SNES Games |url=https://archive.org/details/total-43/page/n45/mode/2up |journal=Total! |issue=43 |pages=47 |access-date=February 28, 2022}}</ref>

{{-}}

==Remake==
A remastered version of the game of ''The Chaos Engine'', essentially a widescreen port of the Amiga AGA version (named AA version in the title screen) with the original intro and music intact, was developed by Abstraction Games and released for Windows, Mac and Linux on August 29, 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-07-05-heres-what-the-new-chaos-engine-looks-like|title=Here's what the new Chaos Engine looks like|date=30 August 2013|work=Eurogamer.net}}</ref> The game retains all gameplay features, the audio and the graphics of the original.<ref name="Retro122"/>

The remastered version adds the option to play a remote two-player game through [[Steam (service)|Steam]]. There is also a global high score list, and two optional graphics effects: a softening filter to alleviate the low-resolution pixelated graphics and a [[Bloom (shader effect)|bloom]] effect on selected parts of the game graphics.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.bitmap-brothers.co.uk/our-games/past/chaos-engine.htm ''The Chaos Engine''] at Bitmap Bros.
*[http://st-news.com/issues/st-news-volume-8-issue-2/previews/various-gonad-grippingly-great-games/the-chaos-engine/ The Chaos Engine review, 1993]

{{The Bitmap Brothers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaos Engine, The}}
[[Category:1993 video games]]
[[Category:Acorn Archimedes games]]
[[Category:Alternate history video games]]
[[Category:Amiga 1200 games]]
[[Category:Amiga CD32 games]]
[[Category:Amiga games]]
[[Category:Atari Jaguar games]]
[[Category:Atari ST games]]
[[Category:The Bitmap Brothers games]]
[[Category:Cooperative video games]]
[[Category:DOS games]]
[[Category:Linux games]]
[[Category:MacOS games]]
[[Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games]]
[[Category:Run and gun games]]
[[Category:Sega Genesis games]]
[[Category:Steampunk video games]]
[[Category:Super Nintendo Entertainment System games]]
[[Category:Top-down video games]]
[[Category:Video games about time travel]]
[[Category:Video games based on novels]]
[[Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Video games scored by Richard Joseph]]
[[Category:Video games set in England]]
[[Category:Windows games]]
[[Category:Renegade Software games]]