Wetlands (video game)

Wetlands

Developer(s)| Hypnotix
Publisher(s)| New World Computing
Director(s)| Michael Taramykin
Designer(s)| John Philip Sousa
Programmer(s)| Thomas L. Kirchner
John A. Moschetto
Artist(s)| Jason M. Shenkman
Robert Santiago
John Skikus
Composer(s)| Grayscore
Platform(s)| DOS
Release| November 1, 1995
Genre(s)| Rail shooter
Mode(s)| Single-player

Wetlands is a video game created by Hypnotix and published by New World Computing in 1995 for DOS.

## Contents

* 1 Gameplay
* 2 Plot
* 3 Reception
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links
* 7 Features
* 8 History
* 9 See also
* 10 References
* 11 External links

## Gameplay

The game is a rail shooter with 20 levels. The player can move their view left and right slightly to better shoot at enemies. Level 6, in which the player controls a gun turret, is the only time in the game where the player can move their view up and down as well.

On some occasions, the player can take different routes. On such levels, the player must shoot a minimum number of specified targets before the level ends. Failure to do so results in the player character being automatically killed.

During level 9, the game briefly becomes a kind of shoot 'em up with players controlling a small, robotic drone to disable the security system of an oxygen facility.

The game makes extensive use of cutscenes that utilize a mixture of both hand drawn and 3D animations.

## Plot

Most of the Wetlands backstory is told through the graphic novel contained in game's manual. A nuclear test conducted in 1995 by the United States of America government under the name Project Othello altered weather patterns worldwide, resulting in years of rain immersing the Earth in water. Phillip Nahj, a once prominent scientist, is considered responsible for the disaster, despite having warned the government about the danger. The earth's population is forced to live in underwater cities. The rise in criminal activity along with the appearance of extraterrestrial invaders has caused the planet to become a haven for all manner of unlikable characters. A number of humans left for space. Interstellar war broke out between a federation of earth's remaining governments and the Volarins, a group of extremists who seek to build an intergalactic empire.

The game begins in the year 2495. The Volarins have taken over a number of the federation's planetary colonies. Nahj has been cryogenically frozen in the maximum security prison Alpha 16 until liberated by a mysterious woman. The game's protagonist, a mercenary named John Cole, is hired by the federation through General Corbett to bring Nahj back alive. He is assigned long-distance communication from his old friend Lieutenant Christine Mills: a technician with direct access to the federation's database.

After fighting hostile forces who attempt to destroy his transport ship, Cole arrives on Earth and begins his search at Omicron Station. Local crime lord Quog points him to an energy station in the blue sector where an agent of the federation was found dead. After evading local mercenaries tasked with killing him, Cole leaves Omicron Station for the energy plant. On his submarine, Cole tells Christine his deduction that Nahj's escape was aided by a special agent of the federation.

Sabotaging a supply depot and a sonar station, Cole arrives at the energy plant in blue sector; he finds the body of the agent who had liberated Nahj, killed with a shot to the back of the head. Christine tells Cole that the agent was attached to Project Othello. After holding off an attack on the energy plant using its defense systems, Cole links up the plant's computer system. Using the ion trail left by two missing power cells, Christine tells Cole that whoever took them has gone to an oxygen facility 300 miles to the northeast.

After arriving at the facility, Cole uses a probe to disable the sonar security system and docks his submarine. Inside, he is briefly subdued by three Volarin troopers but breaks free. The facility's self-destruct sequence is activated while Cole is locked out from accessing his submarine. Cole fights through a Volarin regiment while destroying 10 circuit breakers to end the security lockdown. He escapes before the facility self-destructs.

Christine tells Cole all files related to Project Othello were closed 20 years ago by General Corbett, then just a lieutenant. He was promoted to Captain just two days after. Cole tells Christine he is going to Xi colony to rest while she does more research. Christine convinces Cole to look for Nahj's research vessel, which sank during 1995, on the way to Xi colony. With the aid of a probe, Cole extracts a box of data from the wreckage. Upon seeing his findings, Christine concludes that Nahj's importance to the government was what saved him from execution in favor of being cryogenically frozen. Cole sends Christine to work in decoding the data in the box.

The data files reveal Nahj's role in Project Othello was to develop nuclear bombs that leave no radioactive fallout. Despite Nahj's warnings about side effects, the military forced him to speed up the test process resulting in Earth becoming Wetlands. The military framed Nahj for the bomb's failure resulting in his being sentenced to indefinite suspended animation. Cole asks Christine to discover why Nahj was kept alive.

Finally reaching Xi Colony, Cole takes a sabbatical. However, he is taken captive by Volarins who take him to Nahj. Cole suggests that Nahj is seeking revenge for being used by the federation. Nahj admits Cole is right, then leaves, ordering Cole be killed. Cole escapes and navigates the Xi Colony highway on a hoverbike while fighting off opposition. He arrives at a docking station and calls Christine to pinpoint a tracking device he placed on Nahj during their encounter. The signal is coming from the planet's surface.

Cole acquires a ship capable of flying above water and leaves Xi Colony in pursuit of Nahj. During the flight, Christine reveals Project Othello was never cancelled but placed on hold until the rains caused by the bomb tests ended. Nahj was to remain frozen until then to head the project. The day before his liberation, the project was reactivated. General Corbett initiated the prison break with the secret agent, but someone else took Nahj.

Cole's tracker takes him to land, something previously believed to no longer exist on Earth. The landmass has been cloaked. Cole destroys the defense systems of the landmass and flies into the ruins of New York City where his ship is shot down. Escaping into a nearby subway, Cole drives a train to a large Volarin gathering. He discovers Phillip Nahj is the leader of the Volerins and is about to lead a final assault against the federation. Cole hijacks a spaceship and flies to the federation homeworld.

After breaking through a squadron of Volarin fighters, Cole reaches Nahj's lead gunship, which contains a weapon capable of destroying planets. Nahj intends to destroy Lurian, the federation homeworld. With Volarin forces preventing federation forces from sending out ships, Cole flies into the ship, destroys its core, and flies out before it explodes. Cole flies to Lurian. Christine contacts him, telling him she monitored his accomplishment. However, Corbett is upset he and the federation did not get the gunship.

Sometime later, Cole is spending time with Christine on :urian. The news on the television reports that federation fighters, under the command of General Corbett, defeated the Volarin armada. Upon learning that Corbett is to be given a commendation, Cole shoots the television causing the game screen to fade to black.

## Reception

A reviewer for Next Generation scored the game two out of five stars, contending that rail shooters as a whole are too simplistic to be of much value. However, he admitted that Wetlands is one of the better examples of the genre, since its traditional cel animation realistically models human movements, there are many good humorous touches, and the plot is more inventive and unpredictable than that of the more high-profile Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire, which was released at the same time.[1] The game sold more than 95,000 units by mid November 1995.[2]

## See also

* Waterworld

## References

1. ↑ "Wetlands". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (15): 95. March 1996.
2. ↑ ""Heroes of Might & Magic" and "WetLands" make a dynamite duo for New World; both titles set to top the 100,000 mark in unit sales". Berkshire Hathaway. November 17, 1995. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/. Retrieved July 18, 2019.

## External links

* MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

## Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

## History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

## See also

* IGDB - game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/.
2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/.
3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1.
4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521.
8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media.
9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned.
10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner.
11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames.
12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games.
13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/.
14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/.
15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/.
16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/.
17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames.
18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628.

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