Mobile Forces
A 2002 FPS blending vehicles and varied multiplayer modes.
Mobile Forces is a first-person shooter for Windows, released in 2002. It was developed by Rage Software and published by Majesco. The game runs on the Unreal Engine. The core team of Rage Games who developed Mobile Forces went on to become Realtime Worlds. The game pits players against computer-controlled bots or each other in matches. It has two single-player modes: Missions and Skirmish. In Missions, players must succeed in various game styles to unlock new maps, with bot difficulty increasing across seven skill levels. Skirmish lets players set up custom matches. There are eight game modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Captains, Capture the Flag, Holdout, Detonation, Safe Cracker, and Trailer. In Captains, each team has a leader, and killing the opposing leader scores a point. Holdout is similar to King of the Hill, where teams compete to hold a single beacon for the longest time. Detonation requires players to grab a central keycard and use it at a console in the enemy base to trigger an explosive. Safe Cracker involves infiltrating the enemy base to open a safe and steal its contents, with teams swapping roles after each round. Trailer relies on vehicles, as players drive explosive-laden units into the opponent's base to earn points. Unlike games like Counter-Strike or Unreal Tournament, Mobile Forces has its own weapon system. At spawn, players see a loadout screen where they choose weapons and armor. More powerful weapons, such as a rocket launcher or heavy machinegun, leave fewer points for armor and adrenaline shots. A full loadout also slows the player's movement. The game blends vehicle combat with standard first-person shooting, which was unusual at the time. Development began around the end of 2000 and took 18 months. The studio was new and unsure what to make, but the team had worked on many titles and wanted to create an FPS. They licensed the Unreal Engine because many good games had used it. The main inspiration was Codename Eagle, which had strong ideas but lacked balance in single-player, multiplayer, and AI. Rage aimed to avoid that mistake by keeping all elements balanced.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Mobile Forces
- Developer
- Rage Games (Scotland)
- Publisher
- Majesco / Sold Out software
- Producer
- Colin Macdonald
- Designer
- Billy Thomson / Stephen Banks / Pat Fitzimons
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 1
- Released
- EU · May 31, 2002 · NA · August 16, 2002
- Genre
- First-person shooter
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Mobile Forces was created by Rage Software after the studio signed a license for the Unreal Engine, inspired by the game Codename Eagle. The team wanted to avoid the mistake of that game, which lacked focus on single-player, multiplayer, and AI balance. Development took 18 months, starting at the end of 2000. The game features two singleplayer modes: Missions and Skirmish. In Missions, players must excel at a set number of game styles to unlock further maps, with bot difficulty rising through seven skill levels. Skirmish allows custom matches. There are eight multiplayer game modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Captains, Capture the Flag, Holdout, Detonation, Safe Cracker, and Trailer, the last of which requires driving explosive-laden vehicles into the enemy base. Unlike Counter-Strike and Unreal Tournament, Mobile Forces has its own weapon system. On spawn, players choose from a loadout of armament and armor; more lethal weapons reduce available life-preserving items like body armor and adrenaline shots. Full equipment slows player movement.
Reader's Guide
Mobile Forces is notable for integrating vehicle gameplay with first-person shooting at a time when such combinations were rare. Its eight game modes offer variety, including the vehicle-focused Trailer mode and the asymmetric Safe Cracker mode. The game's weapon loadout system, which trades lethality for survivability and speed, distinguishes it from contemporaries like Counter-Strike and Unreal Tournament. The development team's inspiration from Codename Eagle led them to prioritize balanced single-player, multiplayer, and AI elements. The core team behind Mobile Forces later formed Realtime Worlds, marking it as a stepping stone in the careers of those developers. While not a major commercial or critical landmark, the game represents an early attempt to blend vehicles and FPS mechanics within the Unreal Engine framework.
Did You Know?
- Mobile Forces was developed by Rage Software and published by Majesco in 2002 for Microsoft Windows.
- The game uses the Unreal Engine and was inspired by Codename Eagle.
- It features eight multiplayer game modes, including a vehicle-based mode called Trailer.
More in First-Person Shooters of the 2000s, Part 1 1-24
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