Software:Battlestrike

From HandWiki
Battlestrike
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Publisher(s)City Interactive
First releaseBattlestrike: Call to Victory
2004
Latest releaseBattlestrike: Shadow of Stalingrad
July 17, 2009
Spin-offsPilot Down: Behind Enemy Lines

Battlestrike is a long-running videogame franchise of City Interactive, a Poland publisher well known for its steady output of short, budget-priced first-person shooters, each developed in a matter of months.

Battlestrike is City Interactive's umbrella brand for a number of World War II-themed action games, often differing in concept and developed by unrelated studios. Until the 6th title in the series, the Battlestrike name was exclusive to international releases and was not used in the publisher's home country. In Poland, the games that form the Battlestrike franchise are divided among several different franchises.

Most games in the series have been critically panned, although the most recent entries have garnered a slightly more positive reception thanks to their improved level design and the use of proven technology acquired from Western companies. AI and performance issues, as well as an overall lack of polish remain critical problems.

Games

Battlestrike: Call to Victory

A classic FPS, this game was developed in 2004 by Canadian studio Jarhead Games and released in North America as World War II Sniper: Call to Victory. It was repackaged as a Battlestrike title by City Interactive in most European markets. In Poland however, the game is known as Rajd na Berlin: Oddziały Specjalne. The player takes the role of the U.S. Airborne Sniper Hawkins.

The game consists of ten missions divided among three campaigns, the first set in the Netherlands for Operation Market Garden with three missions, the second set in Luxembourg for Battle of the Bulge with four missions and the last set in Germany for the Battle of the Rhineland with the remaining three missions. The player's health is indicated by a health meter. Most of the time, the player will heavily rely on the Springfield Sniper Rifle to successfully complete objectives throughout the missions.

Battlestrike: The Siege

In Poland, the game is known as II Wojna Światowa: Oblezenie. This title in the series is an arcade-style shooter with an emphasis on vehicular or stationary action divided into twelve missions, taking the form of a gun turret armored car, an artillery cannon, a plane in the sky (Spitfire, Mustang or Lockheed), a patrol boat, a sniper in a tower or a mounted machine gunner. The player has no control over the vehicle or post itself, but is able to rotate, aim and fire the weapons.

Battlestrike: The Road to Berlin

In Poland it is known as II Wojna Światowa: Rajd na Berlin. This game marks a return to the fixed and forced scrolling shooting action of Battlestrike: The Siege. The player goes through sixteen missions, taking the form of a stationary gunner, an AA mounted truck, a plane in the sky (Lockheed or P-47), an M4 Sherman tank, a Flak mounted truck, a sniper in a sandbag enclosure or a Ball turret.

Battlestrike: Secret Weapons

This FPS was developed by Direct Action Games using Version 2 of the Unreal Engine. It was originally called World War II Combat: Road to Berlin. City Interactive bought the European rights and added the game to its Battlestrike line. Since a previous game in the franchise was already called The Road to Berlin, the title was changed to Secret Weapons. In Poland, the game was renamed Rajd na Berlin: Tajna Broń III Rzeszy.

Battlestrike: Force of Resistance

This title is an FPS developed in house in 2007. It is based on the Chrome Engine, a technology created by fellow Poles Techland. In Poland, this game was marketed as a new entry in the popular Mortyr series: Mortyr III: Akcje dywersyjne. For release in foreign territories, where that franchise does not enjoy the same level of respectability, the Mortyr moniker was dropped in favor of Battlestrike.

The game consists of eight missions. The player takes control of the protagonist John Forsyth, involved with helping the Partisan Resistance in Europe by sabotaging German war machines and raiding their factories.

Battlestrike: Force of Resistance 2

Another entry into the Battlestrike series, continuing on from Force of Resistance. It was released April 7, 2009. This had an international release under the Battlestrike brand but assumed the name of Battlestrike: Middle Europe in Poland.

Battlestrike: Shadow of Stalingrad

An FPS developed in house at City Interactive and released on July 17, 2009, this time based on F.E.A.R.'s Lithtech engine. During development, the game was known as Battlestrike: Force of Resistance 2 (international working title) and Rajd Na Berlin: Cien Stalingradu (domestic working title). It was titled Battlestrike: Shadow of Stalingrad, or Battlestrike: Cien Stalingradu in Poland. This marked the first use of the Battlestrike brand in a domestic release. Despite being casually referred to as Battlestrike: Force of Resistance 2 during development, Battlestrike: Shadow of Stalingrad is not a sequel to Battlestrike: Force of Resistance.

The player goes with two comrades through eight missions to drive the Axis forces out of Stalingrad, kill the scientist Baldur von Ritter and destroy his gas weapon productions. The gameplay has many similarities to that of Call of Duty 2.

In 2006 Direct Action Games developed a First-Person Shooter titled World War II Combat, which was published by Groove Games.

In Poland, the Kuju Entertainment-developed Pilot Down: Behind Enemy Lines was renamed II Wojna Światowa: Pilot Down - Na Tylach Wroga.

The packaging was altered to highlight thematic connections with previously released City Interactive products II Wojna Światowa: Oblezenie (a.k.a. Battlestrike: The Siege) and II Wojna Światowa: Rajd na Berlin (a.k.a. Battlestrike: The Road to Berlin), using similar layout and fonts.

The official sequel to Mortyr III: Akcje dywersyjne is a different game called Mortyr: Operacja Sztorm in Poland, or simply Operation Thunderstorm in international markets. Shadow of Stalingrad, Operation Thunderstorm, The Royal Marines Commando and Wolfschanze II nonetheless share many technical features, like the F.E.A.R engine and various recycled weapon models, sounds and voices.

  • 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 lengthy 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]

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. 
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