The Chaos Engine

Did You Know?

• The US versions of the Super NES and Mega Drive ports were retitled Soldiers of Fortune.
• A remastered version developed by Abstraction Games was released for Windows, Mac and Linux on August 29, 2013.
• The remastered version adds the option to play a remote two-player game through Steam.

Plot

In an alternate Victorian England shaped by steampunk technology, a time traveller from the future became stranded in the late 1800s. His advanced devices fell into the hands of the Royal Society, led by the brilliant inventor Baron Fortesque, who reverse-engineered them to forge a new timeline. Fortesque’s crowning achievement was the Chaos Engine, a machine designed to manipulate matter, space, and time. But the Engine gained sentience, absorbed its creator, and began warping the countryside. Monstrous creatures, destructive automata, and resurrected prehistoric beasts overran the land. Telegram lines to Europe were severed, and any ship approaching British ports was attacked. The royal family, Parliament members, and many refugees fled overseas, leaving the British Empire shattered and the world in turmoil. This chaos attracted mercenaries seeking fortune, who infiltrated quarantined Britain to find and stop the source. Deep in the cellars of the hall of machines, they confronted the Chaos Engine itself. Upon its destruction, the game’s narrator is revealed to be Baron Fortesque, now trapped within the machine, his body studded with implants. In the floppy disk Amiga versions, the introductory sequence appears as text on screen; the Amiga CD32 version adds a narrated voiceover and animated scenes.

Characters

In The Chaos Engine, players pick two adventurers from a roster of six to stop the mad Baron Fortesque and his creation. Each character has distinct traits, like speed and fighting skill, that change how the game plays. You begin with a set amount of cash and must pay to hire your chosen pair. In single-player mode, the computer takes over the second character. Once picked, you cannot swap control between them. You can also play with just one character by starting a two-player game and letting enemies kill the other one.

The Navvie and Thug are the toughest and priciest, with the most health and strongest special moves, but they are slower. The Navvie fires a bazooka that shoots straight and hits hard; the Thug uses a shotgun that spreads many weaker shots in a wide arc. The Brigand and Mercenary are balanced, costing a mid-range price. They are a bit weaker than the first pair but move faster and have more specials. The Brigand’s rifle works like the bazooka but does less damage, while the Mercenary’s Gatling gun acts like the shotgun with a different spread. The Gentleman and Preacher are the cheapest, fastest, and have the most specials, but the least health. The Gentleman wields a flame pistol, and the Preacher carries a lightning gun; both weapons are weaker but can pass through enemies after hitting them. For the North American version, the Preacher was renamed the Scientist and given a new look, since the publisher thought a priest killing people was offensive.

Development

The game's plot and look come from William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's novel The Difference Engine. Its development team included Steve Cargill, Simon Knight, Dan Malone, Eric Mathews, and Mike Montgomery. Joi wrote the title theme, while Richard Joseph composed the rest of the music. The partner AI was created by watching players test the game and then coding the AI based on those observed behaviors. For the Super NES version, Joseph used standard compression and placed note data and drivers in the main memory, saving the audio memory for samples.

Reception

The Super NES version of The Chaos Engine earned a 6.8 out of 10 from Electronic Gaming Monthly, which called it a decent overhead shooter similar to Technoclash and Gauntlet. The Genesis version scored a 6.4. GamePro praised the Genesis version for its tough challenge, responsive controls, and cooperative play, stating overhead gunfighting had never been better. While the sprites were considered too small, the sharp visuals still made the action clear.