Does anyone remember Quarantine?

[RageBurner]

It was released for DOS in 1994, later getting 3DO, Playstation 1 and Saturn ports. If you need something to compare it to, imagine Doom and Crazy Taxi having a gritty and violent baby and you'll have an idea.

The premise is that in the future a company drops a chemical agent in the water system of a huge metropolis and an unforeseen side effect is that it sometimes causes citizens to fly into a homicidal rage. Unable to deal with the situation the government walls the city and turns into a makeshift prison to try and contain the problem.

The player's objective is, besides staying alive and managing to escape, is trying to blow the whistle on the megacorp by performing all kinds of missions. It combines a large map with a semi-sandbox structure (missions are mandatory to progress but only appear after you've delivered a number of passengers safely).

You drive an armored cab and make money through fares (as with Crazy Taxi, the faster the better) as well as completing missions, and use the money to repair as well as better arm your ride and improve your chances of survival.

It was, also, THE benchmark game of the day. You needed a pretty powerful rig to run this thing; I didn't play it when it was current, just through the magic of DOSBox. That said, despite all the cool innovation and 90s vibe it brought to the table it wasn't without serious issues: even at maximum detail objects were pretty grainy and difficult to distinguish at at distance and also, since vehicles hover in that game the concept of traction doesn't exist, which means driving precisely is almost impossible, and it is very easy to careen onto walls and other vehicles like a ping pong ball. The gameplay definitely needed more time in the oven.

Also, it had a pretty banging soundtrack, apparently? I don't much care for that angle, but some of you maybe would (it uses licensed tracks). The game also got a sequel some time later, but I can't say I played it yet.

Anyway, despite all its flaws, I think it's a pretty neat game, so I wanted to share it with everyone.

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[DunkeyKong]

God damn, I thought it was gonna one of those quarantine stories
This game was neat though, running people down seems pretty fun

 

[RageBurner]

The PS1 and Saturn ports had different names that were more conducive to the game's theme (Hard Rock Cab and Death Throttle respectively).

 

[DunkeyKong]

The PS1 and Saturn ports had different names that were more conducive to the game's theme (Hard Rock Cab and Death Throttle respectively).

Nice, that would've confused some people though
But it is a much more related title

 

[RageBurner]

That's true. It's not a game I can recommend in good conscience (because the driving and shooting are honestly awful LOL), but they tried to make something really cool, there.
I blame the poor playability in the unfortunate choice of using hover vehicles over wheeled ones.

 

[DunkeyKong]

That's true. It's not a game I can recommend in good conscience (because the driving and shooting are honestly awful LOL), but they tried to make something really cool, there.
I blame the poor playability in the unfortunate choice of using hover vehicles over wheeled ones.

True that, it is the product of it's time though so, can't blame them

 

[RageBurner]

True that, it is the product of it's time though so, can't blame them

Yeah, very much so. The best console port is on the Saturn, but it didn't get an English translation, so if you ever try it, just go with the PC one anyways.

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

Would it be great if that game was made for the next gen systems using the Unreal engine.

 

[RageBurner]

Would it be great if that game was made for the next gen systems using the Unreal engine.

Yeah, this needs a remake, or at least a source port to spruce things up.

 

[Ian Naxieas]

I've never played it, only seen the review from Ross's Game Dungeon. It's one of those games that I think I wouldn't have liked even if I'd played it when it came out. The gameplay and the gameplay loop just look miserable. It's a damn shame too, because everything else about it is totally in my wheelhouse. 100% agreed that the game deserves a remake. This is the kind of game that should get a remake, not classics for a cheap buck. I shall leave behind Ross's review as well as my favorite songs from the soundtrack.

 

[RageBurner]

I've never played it, only seen the review from Ross's Game Dungeon. It's one of those games that I think I wouldn't have liked even if I'd played it when it came out. The gameplay and the gameplay loop just look miserable. It's a damn shame too, because everything else about it is totally in my wheelhouse. 100% agreed that the game deserves a remake. This is the kind of game that should get a remake, not classics for a cheap buck. I shall leave behind Ross's review as well as my favorite songs from the soundtrack.

Thank you for chipping in!

 

[Amag0k1]

It was released for DOS in 1994, later getting 3DO, Playstation 1 and Saturn ports. If you need something to compare it to, imagine Doom and Crazy Taxi having a gritty and violent baby and you'll have an idea.

The premise is that in the future a company drops a chemical agent in the water system of a huge metropolis and an unforeseen side effect is that it sometimes causes citizens to fly into a homicidal rage. Unable to deal with the situation the government walls the city and turns into a makeshift prison to try and contain the problem.

The player's objective is, besides staying alive and managing to escape, is trying to blow the whistle on the megacorp by performing all kinds of missions. It combines a large map with a semi-sandbox structure (missions are mandatory to progress but only appear after you've delivered a number of passengers safely).

You drive an armored cab and make money through fares (as with Crazy Taxi, the faster the better) as well as completing missions, and use the money to repair as well as better arm your ride and improve your chances of survival.

It was, also, THE benchmark game of the day. You needed a pretty powerful rig to run this thing; I didn't play it when it was current, just through the magic of DOSBox. That said, despite all the cool innovation and 90s vibe it brought to the table it wasn't without serious issues: even at maximum detail objects were pretty grainy and difficult to distinguish at at distance and also, since vehicles hover in that game the concept of traction doesn't exist, which means driving precisely is almost impossible, and it is very easy to careen onto walls and other vehicles like a ping pong ball. The gameplay definitely needed more time in the oven.

Also, it had a pretty banging soundtrack, apparently? I don't much care for that angle, but some of you maybe would (it uses licensed tracks). The game also got a sequel some time later, but I can't say I played it yet.
y
Anyway, despite all its flaws, I think it's a pretty neat game, so I wanted to share it with everyone.

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Post automatically merged: Jan 13, 2025

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You know what, i have this and never played it, back then when i got it for my collection, i was just happy to have another game on the Saturn. This is going on the list for game i will play this year. Thank you!

 

[RageBurner]

You know what, i have this and never played it, back then when i got it for my collection, i was just happy to have another game on the Saturn. This is going on the this for game i will play this year. Thank you!

Let me know what you think of it when you do!

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

Yeah, it sucked and I remember people going nuts and buying a lot of toilet paper and bread. ??

 

[Karnik]

I vaguely remember it. I still have it on tablet, tested with Magic Dos-Box along with other anonymous ms-dos titles, but never played seriously. ??‍

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

I remember it! It had a pretty kickass soundtrack, particularly...

 

[Retroviews]

I played the 3DO version a little, but I found it to run very slowly. I also tried the PS1 one, I thought it was much better, but the Japanese texts make things a little more difficult. A shame, because I found the proposal very interesting. If one day a remaster of this game came out, it would be really cool.