The one thing I loved about Dark Reign is the Behavior Settings. I remember setting up a strong defensive wall by having troops guard a location, but retreat if they took damage. But rhe repair would send them back to the front line. I remember setting up harassment groups, but sending one speeder to run around the battlefield, with low tolerance but high independence. And then set a bunch of units to follow it. The only othe game I ysed that option with was Warlords Battlecry.
The manual was insane to me as a kid. It drew me into the world so much and created such an intricate world. Only a few games (Homeworld mainly) ever drew me into the world like the first Dark Reign did.
200 was as good as I ever saw in NZ until the 2010s. We generally had to play on American servers until Oceania servers started being a thing. I'm not sure if it's that much better though I'd rather play at 100-250 ping than not be able to play at all because there are no players in my region by the time a game has been out for a few months.
I remember when I bought this, I was completely blown away by the instruction/lore manual that was included. Top quality paper, great printing, in color, and THICK. I still have the book to this day.
It helps that the soundtrack was made by Jeehun Hwang, a self taught musician who incidentally took a programming job at Activision. He put up his hand when they couldn't find a composer for Mechwarrior 2 and ended up composing the legendary soundtracks to the Mechwarrior 2 games and Dark Reign among others.
What about Dark Reign 2? I honestly love that game (beat it a few times already) and i feel that it is MUCH more unique than DR1. I know you mentioned it, but do you plan to do a retrospective on it?
I honestly never got far with it. There are some things about it that I just can't stand. Particularly pathfinding and slow unit reaction, slow projectiles and frequently cramped spaces on mission maps. There were some JDA missions which have made me abandon it two or three times at roughly the same spot. Perhaps I should try the Sprawler campaign next time...
Planning on it. I spend so long on this I feel like I'm in a good spot to play the sequel in terms of knowledge of the development and background etc. Might be first or second vid of 2024, we'll see :)
It has arguably the worst pathfinding system in any game I've ever played in my entire life but I always loved that about it. I viewed moving every unit was it's own exciting adventure to try to get it to go where you wanted. My Dad viewed it as a painful chore
@@Zade_95 Please make it. Thank you!! Even though DR2 was not something to as much of my liking, and I still play DR1 daily with online friends, DR2 had beautiful music and graphics.
Oh man, this brings me back. Also interesting that this was an Australian project as well. I recall that KKnD came from there as well which I have fond memories of too.
My mom gave me this as a CD over two decades ago and I don't know why but I feel strangely emotional now. Guess I will check out the community patch version.
As an Australia the colour palettes of this game make me nostalgic. I can see very similar colours right outside my windows change with the seasons, not something you get to experience much in this corner of the world.
This game was so ahead of its time.. the fact that it died out the way it did is just puzzling. Good on you for giving it some exposure, hopefully there's some traction out there for reviving this franchise. You said it with the 'vibe' part, it's just so cool... Also, I had the CD version back in the day and it was one of those CDs you could put in a walkman disc player and listen to the soundtrack.. ;)
Getting flashbacks of playing this over dial-up and getting disconnected when someone called 😭😭 The level editor for this game was so advanced, you could script proper narratives and all sorts of interactions. 14 year old me spent more time in the editor than the actual game!
Wow, I remember playing this off a demo disk in the late 90's or early 2000's. I tried for so long to find this game again but all I could remember was infantry shooting red blobs and nobody knew what I was talking about. I need to throw this on the retro rig and play it asap!
i remember when i not only bought the original game and it's very heavy manual book, but i also bought the expansion for it too, as well as buying the second game too, all on cd. The worst thing about all of this is i still have a pc that can play this game (as well as the original command and conqueror RTS's) and loved this game so much i build small models of the spider bike, triple rail hover tank and the arty too (built when i was ill for a while and sat at home board out of my mind for something to do lol) now as an old gent i look up and see those cd's still on my games shelf and think back to when i play them (along with the original Dune) and think : How far games have come since Dark Reign came out...
Excellent video! DR is my 3rd fav RTS from the 90s, behind only C&C/RA and Total Annihilation-nothing against the X-Craft games, just not my settings. I haven't played it since back then, so this is all great info and I may just revisit-thanks :)
my first use of a seismic tank, in 1 v 1 lan game against my buddy playing this as a kid, is a gaming moment I will never forget... completely levelled his entire base with 1 click lol... Those tanks were so OP.
You should remake all your old game videos (C&C, netstorm, warcraft etc.) to have intros with that old computer. It would probably be too much work, but man those intros are killer.
I've considered recovering some older games (with videos that are 4/5+ years old) with more thorough production and research etc. I do think it's something I'll eventually but I'd feel back for the all the other games that haven't even been covered once yet if I start doubling up aha. Appreciate the kind words!
Kind of a weird conclusion to say that RTS fans who haven't given this a shot might want to look elsewhere - especially after posting out how great it is. It's a stone cold classic.
Should have also talked about the paths. Like Orders tab, the Paths tab is also a giant leap forward for RTS games that's still far more advanced than RTS games of today. You can for example save paths for a base to always move its new units to a new location via specific saved waypoints. You can also, e.g. save loop paths, which are great for units with turrets (e.g. skirmish tanks) where they loop nonstop dodging some damage but they continue firing on their own.
@@Zade_95 Man I remember I was like five and I discovered AoE2 via my older brother. My dad notices all the fuss, sees me playing an RTS, and goes like: "Wait that's like Dark Reign". Apparently that was one of the two games (with x-22 simulator) that they shared bootleg copies for in his workplace. I also hears stories that he would play this game every night back when he had it on a hard drive. I believe it was too big for a floppy disk, and Writeable CDs were quite a scarcity. I live in eastern europe so we didnt have internet back then. I had to wait 3 more years to discover what Dark Reign was. Maaan... What a game. It is my favourite retro RTS-es to this day, and it really was a huge inspiration to start game design. I hope that one day I can be a writer and level designer for a Dark Reign 3 / Reboot.
8:01 - Yeah, they're pretty pixelated, but it shows the game was made with CRT monitors in mind, where the pixels were supposed to blend a lot more. Kind of like those old SNES and Genesis games and how they look pixelated on modern PCs with emulators, but looked different on the original TV screens of the era.
I played it last year, having played Dark Reign 2 when I was younger but never experiencing the original. A btch to run, but very fun and surprised me that units can fire on the move. It's one of the things I love about games like SupCom and Total Annihilation. This year I played KKND (Krush Kill 'N Destroy), which I remember playing a demo of - also a fun game.
The demo for this was one of the best I've played, even today. It had skirmish..1 map and ALL the tech and each race available to play....I lost MONTHS plying it(was 14 at the time) I've also never seen a search and destroy command in a game since. Amazing game, then and still. Severely deserves a remake keeping as much as possible command and unit wise
Loved playing Dark Reign back in the day, still have my CD, and bought a GoG version when I noticed it was there just in case good support *cough* better resolution *cough* was ever added in the future. I find it difficult to play now due to the compatibility issues, and lower resolution; but otherwise I really do recommend playing it because its fun, and a great piece of history
For me, the truly intriguing thing I found about Dark Reign was its customization options. The ability to set up a finite state machine for a given map, and program each AI on the map to respond to different states of the FSM with different strategies. I actually modified some of the stock scenarios to suit my own playing style -- for example, adding the sky fortress back into the shadowhand campaign in the expansion pack because I liked it a lot better than the hades bomber. Do other, more contemporary games allow the same level of customization and detailed control of the AI?
I borrowed several RTS' from my friend back in the day and this was one of them. Although it wasn't bad, this one never connected with and I never completed it. I follow several game reviewers and I really like your style. Informative, friendly and light-hearted. It's also great to place a face to the review, some content creators don't do that. Even though I didn't play it to its full potential, these blasts from the past are great.
Poland is great, but it's better to come in the summer unless you want to enjoy they mountains in the winter. Dark Reign is a classic from my childhood, I've decided to replay it yesterday and have trouble running it, so that's for letting me know about the patch and community!
oh man, what i trip down memory lane. i still listen to the OST to this day (that and Total Annihilation, Soule's definitive masterpiece, imo, are the best RST OSTs ever made, as far as i'm concerned. Homeworld rounding up the top 3) haven't played it in decades, but i do remember loving all the little lore tidbits for each mission, and the unit histories, expanding on the history of the conflict and factions... brilliant! and the overall story was something new and refreshing. and loved the subtle differences even between the 'same' units, how the beastly heavy imperial hovertank fired splash damage plasma which was relatively 'uniform' damage vs everything, while he freedom fighters had the railgun heavy tank which was awesome vs armour, but got melted if it encountered platoons of those imperial plasma 'terminators' overall i liked TA as a game more, 'cause the skirmish and scale and unit variety and unit packs and mods was incredible for the time, but as far as campaign and faction diversity, only Starcraft did it better a year later and maaan that last mission was absolutely bruuuuutal! i remember me and my mate for a party at my place, can't remember if it was a birthday or new years or something, we basically played it 'in the background' for the whole damn day and evening. we were 14 or something. it was also the first game i 'modded', 'cause we found the txt files with all the units parameters and messed around with it for days, creating rapid fire plasma disk (from the flying plasma fortress) of death i really need to replay this one of these days...
Nice, a Dark Reign video. Played the crap out of that game. Remember getting stuck at mission 10 or so. Might need to give it a second shot after all these years and finish it 🙂
Picked this game up around 2020 and like you mentioned, it hooked me for some time, the vibe and atmosphere are pretty good. Tiberian Sun also benefits from these two aspects and hence why it's so memorable for me, Dark Reign earned it's spot on my Top RTS games list, after watching this vid I might even give the game another go. Also: Steel Talons FTW
I agree, it was pretty good. The impression is that it used to be better back then. A few that come to mind are Starcraft, Baldur's Gate 2 and Diablo 2.
We didn't have a PC while a lot of our relatives, acquaintances, neighbours and so forth were already playing games on Windows among other things. Settlers 2, C&C 1 & 2 (Red Alert), Need for Speed 2 & 3, Have a n.i.c.e. day, and some Grand Prix game, Star Trek: Armada, Settlers 2 and Anno 1602, Worms 2 and Worms Armageddon, Diablo 1 & 2 and Baldur's Gate 2 etc. etc. I first saw somebody else play Dark Reign and I was immediately fascinated by the music, sound and aesthetics. It was the first game I played on our own PC right alongside with Half Life. I never got too far in the campaign though. The last time I think I couldn't get through Mission 8 as my "Search & Destroy" parties couldn't find the last unit. I forgot about cheats I think. Seems like I need to get back to it one of these days.
as a kid I used to play a lot of this. I never understood anything, and didn't speak English, but I loved the vibes certainly. Totally gonna check it out and see what the campaign offers
I made the community patch! Specifically the latest version with the assembly injections. I didn't create or sanction the full downloads but the community does what it does. I am currently banned from Discord itself for false reasons and am in arbitration with them over it, which is why I show as "Deleted User" in Discord. Unlike most users banned for BS reasons I actually got them to hold a database backup with my data still in it on a litigation hold, so I have a chance, I just have to show they violated their own user agreement. I also fully reversed the 360 version's code and have it compiling and running on Windows but as it doesn't have the expansion logic I kinda dropped it as a project. Instead I am slowly working on the PC version's machine code trying to reverse it back to source. I do this in jumps since it is very tiring. I figured I'd use it for some assets and guidance on controller support for the PC version if I ever get the source reversal finished. I do have the PC version compiling and running but it's based on 1.1 and porting machine code 1.4 changes from disassembly is a slow process that I get burnt out on and leave for months often. The 1.1 source I got a hold of used TASM which used a 16 bit assembler that even when used didn't seem to make binaries compatible with my IDE, so I ended up rewriting that stuff in MASM.
The intro to this game blew my mind as a kid. I was terrible at it 😂 but loved watching my Dad play. Being like "What the hell was that?!" whenever a "Shockwave" unit popped off. We still quote it every now and then. "Richter 7.5!....." 💥
This game has a very, very, very special place in my heart. That said, I consider it flawed, it is just to difficult (the campaign), with many aspects contributing. Fast movement speed and firing rate, aggressive Fog of War, resulting in units across the map literally disappearing soon after you see the alert on the mini map. But probably the biggest issue is, there are actually different damage types, no one tells you about, and because it all Sci-Fi weaponry, it is not obvious in any way.
Time to sign-in on GOG Galaxy (formerly Good Old Games then GOG) and buy more golden oldies. GOG should pay Zade for all the golden oldies he promotes. Ah, for the days when there was no monetization. THANKS FOR SHARING.
Aha, I emailed them once to try get a sale to happen in conjunction with a video (I forget which game it was...) but I don't think I am important enough for them :P
This came out when I was a teen and I loved it... the merc's "hello ladies" and the marty's YEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!. I really hope they do a remake or a modder transplants it into a different engine (any SC2 mod takers?)
Thanks for this, Zade! I was on holidays in the USA, so I totally missed this video drop a month ago. I did promise you a patron subscribe if you did Dark Reign so...
I loved this game back in the day and still have on my shelf! Considered it the first RTS to be better than the C&C game, but then Total Annihilation kinda eclipsed it. Almost curious to see how well it holds up compared to that, since Supreme Commander is basically a better version of TA, but there aren't that many games that feel like DR... at least I think since I haven't touched the game in 20ish years now.
I'm not sure how well it would do as a multiplayer title, but as a casual single player title it's one of the best, because it allows you to outsource some of the micro to the AI. Makes you feel more like the general instead of a glorified squad commander.
I remember an old match that was an 8 way FFA. Everyone rolled random. and I somehow got the Tograns and everyone else was either FG or Imp. It ended up in a 2v3 (kind of) as one of the other players got rushed and crushed. Me and a FG vs 1 FG and 2 Imp. Built a fuck ton of Tachion Tanks and just cut through the middle to take out the FG player because that little a-hole was just building waves of Shockwave tanks and sending them at us. It was annoying.
Wow, I didn’t connect the two Auran products to be the same developer previous. Also, I feel really old, I’ve probably been playing RTS longer than the typical RTS player that current developers/publishers are targeting have been alive. I was pretty young when I bought Red Alert and Total Annihilation (closely followed by Dark Reign) I miss the days when you only needed 50% of the players to have a CD to play multiplayer … I could just go to a mate’s place or dial their home phone line and play the game without having to have a CD … and at LAN Parties you wouldn’t be blocked when you want to introduce a new game to your friends!
Oh yissss. This game is heaps chur as bro. This is the first RTS I played I think. I was a little, little kid but somehow I could beat the first couple of campaign missions back then. I redownloaded it (pirated sorry) as an adult and am blown away by how hard it is. Unfortunately, the game has trash options compared to modern games and can't be tabbed out of. I tried some Dark Reign 2, which does improve a lot in these technical aspects, but seems to have very little to do with the original, other than just being an RTS. The soundtrack is the part that holds up best I reckon.
Any chance you'll look at Dark Reign 2? I played it a bit growing up, as I, oddly enough, had Dark Reign 2 but not its predecessor. I find the game fascinating as an early example of a 3D RTS(and one I'd argue has a very distinctive art style), and more broadly, it feels like a game you could have a really cool episode about not only looking at it, but just where the RTS genre was in 2000 or so.
The advanced settings for your units behavior reminds me of the same thing in Dragon age origins for your companions, an option that also disappeared after this game, never to be seen again (or at least very limited later).
I still remember the poster from sequel even to this day. With zero knowledge about the game and what makes it's so good or special. I need good reviews from modern perspective, hope it helps me...
30:10 - Should you play Final Fantasy (insert Roman numeral here) now, (insert that game's age in years here) years later? Well ... that depends. I've not played all of them, and I don't remember the older games very well, but FF VII, VIII and IX all won me over to some degree; they were the first RPGs I'd played, and I loved their turn-based combat, their huge and varied worlds, their emotionally engaging stories, and their incredible music. Moving onto the PS2, FF X made a lot of changes, but I loved it to pieces, even if it was a lot more linear - until I played Life Is Strange a decade later, it was the game that made me more emotional than any other. FF XII went back to the franchise's roots in many ways, and was good as well, but the change to gameplay - more like an MMO than the usual turn-based systems, complete with lots of grinding for loot if you wanted to make the best equipment - took some getting used to. Haven't played FFs XIII, XV, or XVI; some friends of mine enjoy them, and I probably will myself if I ever find time for them, but they don't seem to have captured as many hearts as the older games. Can't say anything about the MMORPGs, either - I've never played XI, and barely scratched the surface of XIV. I have, however, played Final Fantasy VII Remake (part 1 of 3, in case you quite-reasonably assumed they remade all of FF VII in one go) - and I loved it. The gameplay is a lot more action-orientated but still limits your big attacks in a way that mimics the old active-time turn-based games; the characters get a lot more time to shine and entertain, and the changes to the story - whilst angering some fans - kept things interesting for players who thought they knew what would happen next. Even after playing things like The Witcher, Skyrim and Dragon Age, I still think Remake is the best action-RPG I've ever played; if that genre has any appeal to you, I'd certainly recommend it.
I Played the Demo of this Daily till i got the Full version. Then once Dark Reign 2 came out every subsequent PC RIG i got around or after that i used DR2 as a Benchmark game/tool to test out my new Gaming pc Capabilitys.
The game has easy way to win each mission, but the Fog-of-war made us default to "grind the AI" tactic, which take almost an hour to finish. For example, on one mission we can simply use APCs to rush to objectives and destroy it to win, or on one mission we can use infantry to move over unpassable route into opponent base, or on another map we can build/destroy bridge to re-route the AI pathfinding. (also, in one case, a specific tank, skirmish & plasma tank, can shoot while moving so we can place a looping waypoint route where it can grind incoming attack by passing by and shooting back without the opponent ability to catch it)
Age of empires... all units are straight forward. The map has no hiding things with terrain. There is no teleport or super weapon which renders entire areas kill zones. Even the norse wolves or egyptian wadgets were woefully weak compared to the DR variants. Red Alert/C&C Again, most all units pretty straight forward with no terrain mask or elevation or solid shadows from obsticles to hide anything. Fun game, and subs having stealth to some things was nice but it's lacking compared to DR. Why would I say this? Lets start with a single faction compared to the other games. Freedom Guard : Scout - Can "Morph" to quite literally mask as a tree or other plant in the terrain, and if set to not react to nearby enemies can act as a wonderful spotter. Unless someone mouses over them for a hitbox they blend right the hell in. Very effective. Sniper - Morph's like the scout but has a damningly powerful sniper rifle that kills most infantry in a shot or two, and in groups can make quick work of most ground units. Martyr - You ever felt like screaming "FOR THE CAUSE!~" and running headlong into your enemy at max speed with a huge bomb held under one arm. They do. And they do it brilliantly. They're quite effective against anything on the ground. Yanno it's three times as amusing if you mix these with phase transports to just deposit them randomly all over the map. Like leaving explosive skittles everywhere for the enemy. Obligatory note here that DR and Red Alert have medics and mechanics. Amper - Someone to power down enemy things. THINK ABOUT IT. Power down their power production buildings and now their turrets fire slower, their buildings produce slower, and they go sluggish. it's a power move. Infiltrator - All factions have one, and their morph skill will duplicate a seen enemy infantry of any type. Whammo blammo, you're a enemy unit that they can't control for some reason. Huh. Wonder why. Also why not steal enemy tech or blueprints for things you want then then make the stolen tech, or sit in their hq and get all their seen areas as your own seen areas? Seems legit. Flapjacks are just amusing to see really. Like someone took the construction vehicle and made it into a cute arm-less and needy plushie. it'll chase around and shoot down any flying units around. Phase tanks - When in doubt, pop em out,... from underground where they melded into the terrain. Like Zerg ambush, before the Zerg even existed. Phase Transport - Send 5 things into your subway station, and send the burrowing transport anywhere on the map without worry that it'll get hit since no one looks underground. Once there, let everything back out to really mess their day up. Another Zerg trick like the Nidus Worm. Hrm starting to wonder if Starcraft stole these things from a predecessor. ShockWave - Imagine you could just table flip, but with all the ground and things in front of you instead of a table. Sure it's a one trick pony, but everything in front of it is also one trick away from being dead, excepting AA turrets mostly. Pack/Unpack base - you can do the starcraft thing before starcraft again. Put your base on some treads and roll it away. Some rare few units hover above terrain and can then ignore water. When facing the freedom guard... DO NOT TRUST THE TREES. Sometimes the mushrooms are sus too. Damn them always watching us.
Dark Reign was a superb game, so vastly superior to C&C and RA in so many ways. It offered so many tactical choices back then. A true shame that it just fall into oblivion to never return or having a true proper sequel...
Hi Luke, I'm the founder of Auran and just wanted to say thanks for the video. Great to see DR still going after all these years :)
BTW, I've messaged you on discord. :)
My son Jonathon Randle Maguire loves RTS games. But says he thinks Zade and his chanel are "not one of them real ones." And, "His channel tries hard."
@@Rozabel163why would anyone care?
And why are you telling us?
Thanks for the good fun Greg 😁 I still remember playing it at my aunt and uncles many years ago, loved it.
I played the shit out of this game. Was one of my favorites.
I'll have you know I literally said out loud in our empty living room: "hell yeah dark reign" when I saw the thumbnail in my sub box.
Bless you Zade
legend
The one thing I loved about Dark Reign is the Behavior Settings. I remember setting up a strong defensive wall by having troops guard a location, but retreat if they took damage. But rhe repair would send them back to the front line.
I remember setting up harassment groups, but sending one speeder to run around the battlefield, with low tolerance but high independence. And then set a bunch of units to follow it.
The only othe game I ysed that option with was Warlords Battlecry.
Behavior settings, I hear you.
Tweak the behavior a bit, send your unit on the minimap, and you never had to leave the screen off the base.
I loved those attack dogs you could have.
Setting your FG scouts to trees and rocks...GOLD!
The manual was insane to me as a kid. It drew me into the world so much and created such an intricate world. Only a few games (Homeworld mainly) ever drew me into the world like the first Dark Reign did.
The lore was simply amazing
The fact you covered this gem is an instant sub
thnx legend
How to tell when someone is from Australia/NZ - "our pings were quite reasonable, around 100 to 200ms"
200 was as good as I ever saw in NZ until the 2010s. We generally had to play on American servers until Oceania servers started being a thing. I'm not sure if it's that much better though I'd rather play at 100-250 ping than not be able to play at all because there are no players in my region by the time a game has been out for a few months.
I'm South African, we get 250-300 ping to Europe and 300 plus to USA.
lmaooo
I remember when I bought this, I was completely blown away by the instruction/lore manual that was included. Top quality paper, great printing, in color, and THICK. I still have the book to this day.
Old game manuals were so great. I was reading Dark Reign's one online and yeah I agree, so indepth!
It helps that the soundtrack was made by Jeehun Hwang, a self taught musician who incidentally took a programming job at Activision. He put up his hand when they couldn't find a composer for Mechwarrior 2 and ended up composing the legendary soundtracks to the Mechwarrior 2 games and Dark Reign among others.
I still have some dark reign and MW2 tracks on my playlist.
Man, Dark Reign 2's soundtrack was pure gold back then.
Yeah, both soundtracks are really, really good in a different way.
What about Dark Reign 2? I honestly love that game (beat it a few times already) and i feel that it is MUCH more unique than DR1. I know you mentioned it, but do you plan to do a retrospective on it?
I honestly never got far with it. There are some things about it that I just can't stand. Particularly pathfinding and slow unit reaction, slow projectiles and frequently cramped spaces on mission maps. There were some JDA missions which have made me abandon it two or three times at roughly the same spot. Perhaps I should try the Sprawler campaign next time...
Planning on it. I spend so long on this I feel like I'm in a good spot to play the sequel in terms of knowledge of the development and background etc. Might be first or second vid of 2024, we'll see :)
It has arguably the worst pathfinding system in any game I've ever played in my entire life but I always loved that about it.
I viewed moving every unit was it's own exciting adventure to try to get it to go where you wanted. My Dad viewed it as a painful chore
@@Zade_95 Please make it. Thank you!! Even though DR2 was not something to as much of my liking, and I still play DR1 daily with online friends, DR2 had beautiful music and graphics.
I played the hell out of Dark Reign back in the days...it was awesome, one of my favorite RTS games!
Oh man, this brings me back. Also interesting that this was an Australian project as well. I recall that KKnD came from there as well which I have fond memories of too.
My mom gave me this as a CD over two decades ago and I don't know why but I feel strangely emotional now. Guess I will check out the community patch version.
As an Australia the colour palettes of this game make me nostalgic. I can see very similar colours right outside my windows change with the seasons, not something you get to experience much in this corner of the world.
This game was so ahead of its time.. the fact that it died out the way it did is just puzzling. Good on you for giving it some exposure, hopefully there's some traction out there for reviving this franchise. You said it with the 'vibe' part, it's just so cool... Also, I had the CD version back in the day and it was one of those CDs you could put in a walkman disc player and listen to the soundtrack.. ;)
Oh man, I have so many fond memories of Dark Reign. I'd still like to see another game in that setting.
Getting flashbacks of playing this over dial-up and getting disconnected when someone called 😭😭
The level editor for this game was so advanced, you could script proper narratives and all sorts of interactions. 14 year old me spent more time in the editor than the actual game!
I can still hear the amazing sound effects from the railgun tank and tachion tank firing.
Wow, I remember playing this off a demo disk in the late 90's or early 2000's. I tried for so long to find this game again but all I could remember was infantry shooting red blobs and nobody knew what I was talking about. I need to throw this on the retro rig and play it asap!
i remember when i not only bought the original game and it's very heavy manual book, but i also bought the expansion for it too, as well as buying the second game too, all on cd. The worst thing about all of this is i still have a pc that can play this game (as well as the original command and conqueror RTS's) and loved this game so much i build small models of the spider bike, triple rail hover tank and the arty too (built when i was ill for a while and sat at home board out of my mind for something to do lol) now as an old gent i look up and see those cd's still on my games shelf and think back to when i play them (along with the original Dune) and think : How far games have come since Dark Reign came out...
Excellent video! DR is my 3rd fav RTS from the 90s, behind only C&C/RA and Total Annihilation-nothing against the X-Craft games, just not my settings. I haven't played it since back then, so this is all great info and I may just revisit-thanks :)
my first use of a seismic tank, in 1 v 1 lan game against my buddy playing this as a kid, is a gaming moment I will never forget... completely levelled his entire base with 1 click lol... Those tanks were so OP.
Haha, yeah, the Freedom Guard AI uses them constantly in Skirmish.
About time someone made a video about dark reign!
Remember when dark reign 2 was released the hype was so big, but it sorta just disappeared especially compared to RA2 or Generals released.
I miss playing this game; I used to play this game along side Starcraft 1 and Age of Empires 1 over two decades ago.
You should remake all your old game videos (C&C, netstorm, warcraft etc.) to have intros with that old computer.
It would probably be too much work, but man those intros are killer.
I've considered recovering some older games (with videos that are 4/5+ years old) with more thorough production and research etc. I do think it's something I'll eventually but I'd feel back for the all the other games that haven't even been covered once yet if I start doubling up aha.
Appreciate the kind words!
Thankyou for shining a light on us
legends
One of the first games i ever played a LAN on, miss the franchise so much and i was also one of those few people that bought the sequel 😂
Sequel was a bit of a let down from what I remember of it, think they went fully 3d...
I actually ONLY played the sequel. I liked it, but I had no reference point to compare it to past the original Age of Empires.
Kind of a weird conclusion to say that RTS fans who haven't given this a shot might want to look elsewhere - especially after posting out how great it is.
It's a stone cold classic.
I guess that could be due to the lack of (as I understand it) hotkeys mentioned early in the video.
Should have also talked about the paths. Like Orders tab, the Paths tab is also a giant leap forward for RTS games that's still far more advanced than RTS games of today.
You can for example save paths for a base to always move its new units to a new location via specific saved waypoints.
You can also, e.g. save loop paths, which are great for units with turrets (e.g. skirmish tanks) where they loop nonstop dodging some damage but they continue firing on their own.
I still keep the booklet/manual, it has such an amazing lore dump of how everything came to be, loved the whole background and universe.
I saw you mention "Dark Reign" in one of your videos, and I just completely bursted.
"DARK REIGN!!!" "DARK REEEEIIGN!"
I've got an even more interesting Dark Reign video coming in a month or two. Keep an eye out, it'll be worth it!
@@Zade_95 Man I remember I was like five and I discovered AoE2 via my older brother. My dad notices all the fuss, sees me playing an RTS, and goes like: "Wait that's like Dark Reign". Apparently that was one of the two games (with x-22 simulator) that they shared bootleg copies for in his workplace. I also hears stories that he would play this game every night back when he had it on a hard drive. I believe it was too big for a floppy disk, and Writeable CDs were quite a scarcity.
I live in eastern europe so we didnt have internet back then. I had to wait 3 more years to discover what Dark Reign was. Maaan... What a game. It is my favourite retro RTS-es to this day, and it really was a huge inspiration to start game design.
I hope that one day I can be a writer and level designer for a Dark Reign 3 / Reboot.
I was directed to this video from the discord you mentioned, that I just found. I'm genuinely surprised there's still people engaged in DR.
Oh nice! I'm constantly surprised with how people still play basically any old game. There's a community for everything!
8:01 - Yeah, they're pretty pixelated, but it shows the game was made with CRT monitors in mind, where the pixels were supposed to blend a lot more. Kind of like those old SNES and Genesis games and how they look pixelated on modern PCs with emulators, but looked different on the original TV screens of the era.
tbh it looked GREAT on my CRT, better than modern monitor
I played it last year, having played Dark Reign 2 when I was younger but never experiencing the original. A btch to run, but very fun and surprised me that units can fire on the move. It's one of the things I love about games like SupCom and Total Annihilation. This year I played KKND (Krush Kill 'N Destroy), which I remember playing a demo of - also a fun game.
Kknd was sick. Loved the feel and style of it.
Dude, this game was awesome! I played this so much way back in the day. I watched the intro like everytime I fired the game up because it was so cool.
The demo for this was one of the best I've played, even today. It had skirmish..1 map and ALL the tech and each race available to play....I lost MONTHS plying it(was 14 at the time) I've also never seen a search and destroy command in a game since. Amazing game, then and still. Severely deserves a remake keeping as much as possible command and unit wise
Did you get the demo disc from a pc powerplay magazine?
lmao thats the one@@CM-bk8lo
OMG "Rush for Water" is one of my all-time favorite video game songs.
absolute BANGER bro
Loved playing Dark Reign back in the day, still have my CD, and bought a GoG version when I noticed it was there just in case good support *cough* better resolution *cough* was ever added in the future. I find it difficult to play now due to the compatibility issues, and lower resolution; but otherwise I really do recommend playing it because its fun, and a great piece of history
I literally have the booklet to this game where it shows the units and talks about the story line, pretty cool.
Great bit of history, really out did yourself with that introduction. Setting the vibe :D
Thank you! :)
For me, the truly intriguing thing I found about Dark Reign was its customization options. The ability to set up a finite state machine for a given map, and program each AI on the map to respond to different states of the FSM with different strategies. I actually modified some of the stock scenarios to suit my own playing style -- for example, adding the sky fortress back into the shadowhand campaign in the expansion pack because I liked it a lot better than the hades bomber.
Do other, more contemporary games allow the same level of customization and detailed control of the AI?
I borrowed several RTS' from my friend back in the day and this was one of them. Although it wasn't bad, this one never connected with and I never completed it. I follow several game reviewers and I really like your style. Informative, friendly and light-hearted. It's also great to place a face to the review, some content creators don't do that. Even though I didn't play it to its full potential, these blasts from the past are great.
One of my favorite games...miss playing it
Poland is great, but it's better to come in the summer unless you want to enjoy they mountains in the winter.
Dark Reign is a classic from my childhood, I've decided to replay it yesterday and have trouble running it, so that's for letting me know about the patch and community!
oh man, what i trip down memory lane. i still listen to the OST to this day (that and Total Annihilation, Soule's definitive masterpiece, imo, are the best RST OSTs ever made, as far as i'm concerned. Homeworld rounding up the top 3)
haven't played it in decades, but i do remember loving all the little lore tidbits for each mission, and the unit histories, expanding on the history of the conflict and factions... brilliant! and the overall story was something new and refreshing. and loved the subtle differences even between the 'same' units, how the beastly heavy imperial hovertank fired splash damage plasma which was relatively 'uniform' damage vs everything, while he freedom fighters had the railgun heavy tank which was awesome vs armour, but got melted if it encountered platoons of those imperial plasma 'terminators'
overall i liked TA as a game more, 'cause the skirmish and scale and unit variety and unit packs and mods was incredible for the time, but as far as campaign and faction diversity, only Starcraft did it better a year later
and maaan that last mission was absolutely bruuuuutal! i remember me and my mate for a party at my place, can't remember if it was a birthday or new years or something, we basically played it 'in the background' for the whole damn day and evening. we were 14 or something.
it was also the first game i 'modded', 'cause we found the txt files with all the units parameters and messed around with it for days, creating rapid fire plasma disk (from the flying plasma fortress) of death
i really need to replay this one of these days...
that architecture is really cool, and while I'm not going to play the game (time..) I will be searching for the soundtrack.
Nice, a Dark Reign video. Played the crap out of that game. Remember getting stuck at mission 10 or so. Might need to give it a second shot after all these years and finish it 🙂
Picked this game up around 2020 and like you mentioned, it hooked me for some time, the vibe and atmosphere are pretty good.
Tiberian Sun also benefits from these two aspects and hence why it's so memorable for me, Dark Reign earned it's spot on my Top RTS games list, after watching this vid I might even give the game another go.
Also: Steel Talons FTW
The guy that blows himself up's screams as you order him traumatised me 😂
Thank you Zade for this retrospective! Even though it is not most popular game, it is very helpful to see this video for some people
My pleasure - thanks for watching!
I never played it, but I remember watching the trailer that came on my Heavy Gear disc about a dozen times.
What a great surprise to see a video about Dark Reign, i use to play this game a lot. Nice video!
Thank you!
The localisation of the german version was so on point that i still quote the unit barks sometimes
I agree, it was pretty good. The impression is that it used to be better back then. A few that come to mind are Starcraft, Baldur's Gate 2 and Diablo 2.
I don't know why, but this game looks so interesting and unique. I've never played yet. Just want to say
Microsoft Silverlight! Holy shit, now that's a blast from the past
I know right. Throwback
Can’t watch yet, but I’m SO excited to see a Dark Reign video on your channel
We didn't have a PC while a lot of our relatives, acquaintances, neighbours and so forth were already playing games on Windows among other things. Settlers 2, C&C 1 & 2 (Red Alert), Need for Speed 2 & 3, Have a n.i.c.e. day, and some Grand Prix game, Star Trek: Armada, Settlers 2 and Anno 1602, Worms 2 and Worms Armageddon, Diablo 1 & 2 and Baldur's Gate 2 etc. etc. I first saw somebody else play Dark Reign and I was immediately fascinated by the music, sound and aesthetics. It was the first game I played on our own PC right alongside with Half Life.
I never got too far in the campaign though. The last time I think I couldn't get through Mission 8 as my "Search & Destroy" parties couldn't find the last unit. I forgot about cheats I think. Seems like I need to get back to it one of these days.
as a kid I used to play a lot of this. I never understood anything, and didn't speak English, but I loved the vibes certainly. Totally gonna check it out and see what the campaign offers
I made the community patch! Specifically the latest version with the assembly injections. I didn't create or sanction the full downloads but the community does what it does.
I am currently banned from Discord itself for false reasons and am in arbitration with them over it, which is why I show as "Deleted User" in Discord. Unlike most users banned for BS reasons I actually got them to hold a database backup with my data still in it on a litigation hold, so I have a chance, I just have to show they violated their own user agreement.
I also fully reversed the 360 version's code and have it compiling and running on Windows but as it doesn't have the expansion logic I kinda dropped it as a project. Instead I am slowly working on the PC version's machine code trying to reverse it back to source. I do this in jumps since it is very tiring. I figured I'd use it for some assets and guidance on controller support for the PC version if I ever get the source reversal finished. I do have the PC version compiling and running but it's based on 1.1 and porting machine code 1.4 changes from disassembly is a slow process that I get burnt out on and leave for months often. The 1.1 source I got a hold of used TASM which used a 16 bit assembler that even when used didn't seem to make binaries compatible with my IDE, so I ended up rewriting that stuff in MASM.
:)
The intro to this game blew my mind as a kid. I was terrible at it 😂 but loved watching my Dad play. Being like "What the hell was that?!" whenever a "Shockwave" unit popped off. We still quote it every now and then.
"Richter 7.5!....." 💥
Nice to see this forgotten gem to get some love it deserves!
This man here digging up my past again and again.
The netstorm comment coming in swinging too.
If you want more Netstorm, I made a full video on it earlier this year!
@@Zade_95 I did indeed go digging for that one once I finished this one :)
This game has a very, very, very special place in my heart. That said, I consider it flawed, it is just to difficult (the campaign), with many aspects contributing. Fast movement speed and firing rate, aggressive Fog of War, resulting in units across the map literally disappearing soon after you see the alert on the mini map. But probably the biggest issue is, there are actually different damage types, no one tells you about, and because it all Sci-Fi weaponry, it is not obvious in any way.
Time to sign-in on GOG Galaxy (formerly Good Old Games then GOG) and buy more golden oldies. GOG should pay Zade for all the golden oldies he promotes. Ah, for the days when there was no monetization. THANKS FOR SHARING.
Aha, I emailed them once to try get a sale to happen in conjunction with a video (I forget which game it was...) but I don't think I am important enough for them :P
Why not join the rest of us members. No charge to join up. You are important to us, your followers and viewers.@@Zade_95
Fantastic Video... Well done. 🎉
Thank you!
This game hands down best strategy game ost music ever I still listeb to ost when playing other games 😂
This came out when I was a teen and I loved it... the merc's "hello ladies" and the marty's YEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!. I really hope they do a remake or a modder transplants it into a different engine (any SC2 mod takers?)
Thanks for this, Zade! I was on holidays in the USA, so I totally missed this video drop a month ago.
I did promise you a patron subscribe if you did Dark Reign so...
Legend mate hope you had a great trip
absolute masterpiece ❤
Nice video. Well thought out and put together thanks!
Glad you liked it!
I loved this game back in the day and still have on my shelf! Considered it the first RTS to be better than the C&C game, but then Total Annihilation kinda eclipsed it. Almost curious to see how well it holds up compared to that, since Supreme Commander is basically a better version of TA, but there aren't that many games that feel like DR... at least I think since I haven't touched the game in 20ish years now.
Dark Reign is good but IMO not nearly as iconic or full of content (including custom content) as any single C&C game, let alone series.
Negative 1 points for missing the obvious joke that "Auran is still chugging along making Train games" 😛
fair
Holy hell this game was amazing
I never played this so the first game that comes to mind when I see it is KKND
The aesthetic is kind of similar. At least with KKND2. I never played the first one.
I'm not sure how well it would do as a multiplayer title, but as a casual single player title it's one of the best, because it allows you to outsource some of the micro to the AI. Makes you feel more like the general instead of a glorified squad commander.
if you want to talk about obscure RTS games, you gotta talk about krush kill and destroy
love this game so much
Dark reign was awesome ! wish it would given a new chances
God, maybe it's just placebo effect but it looks so GOOD on a CRT!
nah bro it looks GREAT
Oh wow, Celldweller is cool enough to allow youtubers to use his music? Well that’s pretty cool of him.
He runs a service that makes licensing it super easy. Total g
I loved Dark Reign. Spent a lot of time in the editor for some reason. The sprite art was super sweet.
The editor is awesome, crazy in-depth especially for the time
I remember an old match that was an 8 way FFA. Everyone rolled random. and I somehow got the Tograns and everyone else was either FG or Imp. It ended up in a 2v3 (kind of) as one of the other players got rushed and crushed. Me and a FG vs 1 FG and 2 Imp.
Built a fuck ton of Tachion Tanks and just cut through the middle to take out the FG player because that little a-hole was just building waves of Shockwave tanks and sending them at us. It was annoying.
Ha thanks for the video. Great one. I still have this in disc. But my PC won’t run it anymore. Shame. I never played the expansion or dark reign 2.
Wow, I didn’t connect the two Auran products to be the same developer previous.
Also, I feel really old, I’ve probably been playing RTS longer than the typical RTS player that current developers/publishers are targeting have been alive. I was pretty young when I bought Red Alert and Total Annihilation (closely followed by Dark Reign)
I miss the days when you only needed 50% of the players to have a CD to play multiplayer … I could just go to a mate’s place or dial their home phone line and play the game without having to have a CD … and at LAN Parties you wouldn’t be blocked when you want to introduce a new game to your friends!
This is some nice high production stuff
Oh yissss. This game is heaps chur as bro. This is the first RTS I played I think. I was a little, little kid but somehow I could beat the first couple of campaign missions back then. I redownloaded it (pirated sorry) as an adult and am blown away by how hard it is. Unfortunately, the game has trash options compared to modern games and can't be tabbed out of. I tried some Dark Reign 2, which does improve a lot in these technical aspects, but seems to have very little to do with the original, other than just being an RTS.
The soundtrack is the part that holds up best I reckon.
Any chance you'll look at Dark Reign 2? I played it a bit growing up, as I, oddly enough, had Dark Reign 2 but not its predecessor. I find the game fascinating as an early example of a 3D RTS(and one I'd argue has a very distinctive art style), and more broadly, it feels like a game you could have a really cool episode about not only looking at it, but just where the RTS genre was in 2000 or so.
The advanced settings for your units behavior reminds me of the same thing in Dragon age origins for your companions, an option that also disappeared after this game, never to be seen again (or at least very limited later).
I still remember the poster from sequel even to this day.
With zero knowledge about the game and what makes it's so good or special.
I need good reviews from modern perspective, hope it helps me...
30:10 - Should you play Final Fantasy (insert Roman numeral here) now, (insert that game's age in years here) years later? Well ... that depends.
I've not played all of them, and I don't remember the older games very well, but FF VII, VIII and IX all won me over to some degree; they were the first RPGs I'd played, and I loved their turn-based combat, their huge and varied worlds, their emotionally engaging stories, and their incredible music. Moving onto the PS2, FF X made a lot of changes, but I loved it to pieces, even if it was a lot more linear - until I played Life Is Strange a decade later, it was the game that made me more emotional than any other. FF XII went back to the franchise's roots in many ways, and was good as well, but the change to gameplay - more like an MMO than the usual turn-based systems, complete with lots of grinding for loot if you wanted to make the best equipment - took some getting used to.
Haven't played FFs XIII, XV, or XVI; some friends of mine enjoy them, and I probably will myself if I ever find time for them, but they don't seem to have captured as many hearts as the older games. Can't say anything about the MMORPGs, either - I've never played XI, and barely scratched the surface of XIV.
I have, however, played Final Fantasy VII Remake (part 1 of 3, in case you quite-reasonably assumed they remade all of FF VII in one go) - and I loved it. The gameplay is a lot more action-orientated but still limits your big attacks in a way that mimics the old active-time turn-based games; the characters get a lot more time to shine and entertain, and the changes to the story - whilst angering some fans - kept things interesting for players who thought they knew what would happen next. Even after playing things like The Witcher, Skyrim and Dragon Age, I still think Remake is the best action-RPG I've ever played; if that genre has any appeal to you, I'd certainly recommend it.
I Played the Demo of this Daily till i got the Full version.
Then once Dark Reign 2 came out every subsequent PC RIG i got around or after that i used DR2 as a Benchmark game/tool to test out my new Gaming pc Capabilitys.
The game has easy way to win each mission, but the Fog-of-war made us default to "grind the AI" tactic, which take almost an hour to finish. For example, on one mission we can simply use APCs to rush to objectives and destroy it to win, or on one mission we can use infantry to move over unpassable route into opponent base, or on another map we can build/destroy bridge to re-route the AI pathfinding. (also, in one case, a specific tank, skirmish & plasma tank, can shoot while moving so we can place a looping waypoint route where it can grind incoming attack by passing by and shooting back without the opponent ability to catch it)
Speedruns of the game would be awesome then
Age of empires... all units are straight forward. The map has no hiding things with terrain. There is no teleport or super weapon which renders entire areas kill zones. Even the norse wolves or egyptian wadgets were woefully weak compared to the DR variants.
Red Alert/C&C Again, most all units pretty straight forward with no terrain mask or elevation or solid shadows from obsticles to hide anything. Fun game, and subs having stealth to some things was nice but it's lacking compared to DR.
Why would I say this?
Lets start with a single faction compared to the other games.
Freedom Guard :
Scout - Can "Morph" to quite literally mask as a tree or other plant in the terrain, and if set to not react to nearby enemies can act as a wonderful spotter. Unless someone mouses over them for a hitbox they blend right the hell in. Very effective.
Sniper - Morph's like the scout but has a damningly powerful sniper rifle that kills most infantry in a shot or two, and in groups can make quick work of most ground units.
Martyr - You ever felt like screaming "FOR THE CAUSE!~" and running headlong into your enemy at max speed with a huge bomb held under one arm. They do. And they do it brilliantly. They're quite effective against anything on the ground. Yanno it's three times as amusing if you mix these with phase transports to just deposit them randomly all over the map. Like leaving explosive skittles everywhere for the enemy.
Obligatory note here that DR and Red Alert have medics and mechanics.
Amper - Someone to power down enemy things. THINK ABOUT IT. Power down their power production buildings and now their turrets fire slower, their buildings produce slower, and they go sluggish. it's a power move.
Infiltrator - All factions have one, and their morph skill will duplicate a seen enemy infantry of any type. Whammo blammo, you're a enemy unit that they can't control for some reason. Huh. Wonder why. Also why not steal enemy tech or blueprints for things you want then then make the stolen tech, or sit in their hq and get all their seen areas as your own seen areas? Seems legit.
Flapjacks are just amusing to see really. Like someone took the construction vehicle and made it into a cute arm-less and needy plushie. it'll chase around and shoot down any flying units around.
Phase tanks - When in doubt, pop em out,... from underground where they melded into the terrain. Like Zerg ambush, before the Zerg even existed.
Phase Transport - Send 5 things into your subway station, and send the burrowing transport anywhere on the map without worry that it'll get hit since no one looks underground. Once there, let everything back out to really mess their day up. Another Zerg trick like the Nidus Worm. Hrm starting to wonder if Starcraft stole these things from a predecessor.
ShockWave - Imagine you could just table flip, but with all the ground and things in front of you instead of a table. Sure it's a one trick pony, but everything in front of it is also one trick away from being dead, excepting AA turrets mostly.
Pack/Unpack base - you can do the starcraft thing before starcraft again. Put your base on some treads and roll it away.
Some rare few units hover above terrain and can then ignore water.
When facing the freedom guard... DO NOT TRUST THE TREES. Sometimes the mushrooms are sus too. Damn them always watching us.
I don't know why I said "OH I HAD THIS GAME" out loud like an idiot. I don't think I've ever seen anyone else making a video about it.
Dark Reign DE has a nice ring to it.
it does... 👀
Gods I haven't thought about this game in over a decade!
Great vid
I remember I liked this game, and then I got Starcraft... it was pretty much over then.
Dark Reign was a superb game, so vastly superior to C&C and RA in so many ways.
It offered so many tactical choices back then.
A true shame that it just fall into oblivion to never return or having a true proper sequel...