Software:Aconcagua (video game)

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Short description: 2000 adventure video game
Aconcagua
Aconcagua video game.jpg
Cover art
Developer(s)WACWAC![lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
  • JP: June 1, 2000
Genre(s)Point-and-click adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Aconcagua (アコンカグア) is an adventure video game developed by WACWAC! and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was released only in Japan on June 1, 2000.[1]

The game is set on a mountain after a plane crash, and allows for the switching between characters.[1] It received a full English language fan translation in 2022.

Plot

The setting of the game is in the fictional country of Meruza – which was named after the actual Argentina province Mendoza; the country is currently undergoing political turmoil as the result of an independence movement.[2] The movement has split Argentina in half, and a 33-year-old activist named Pachamama goes on a flight as part of a politically motivated independence tour. During the flight, a terrorist detonates a time bomb, which causes the plane to crash near Aconcagua's peak; only five passengers survive the crash.[3]

Gameplay

In Aconcagua, the player controls a Japanese journalist named Kato, whose job, along with Pachamama's, is to guide the survivors safely down the mountain. The game is organized in a series of missions in which the player must complete from a third-person perspective.[2] During the descent, the terrorists, knowing their plot failed, try to eliminate the survivors via helicopter drops.[3] It also involves various problem-solving and survival skills while using items left behind from the downed plane.[3] The game features over 80 minutes of cinematic cutscenes to advance the plot.[3]

Aconcagua has been compared to Chase the Express,[2] as well as Dino Crisis, Parasite Eve and the Resident Evil series.[3] However, its gameplay and structure more closely resembles point-and-click adventure games.

Development

According to IGN, Sony was attempting to penetrate the Argentine video game market with this title, while GameSpot said that they timed the release on the advent of the PlayStation 2 launch in order to boost PS1 sales.[2][3]

Release

The game was released in Japan on June 1, 2000.[1] The game was previewed on Sony's website, which showed trailers that featured English dialogue. Aconcagua was set to be released in North America sometime in late 2000, but it was never released there, despite the game having voice acting and subtitles in cutscenes in English.[4]

Reception

The Japanese game magazine Famitsu gave the game a score of 29 out of 40.[1]

German magazine Video Games gave it a score of 70%.[5]

Notes

  1. Japan Studio assisted on development.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "アコンカグア [PS / ファミ通.com"]. https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=19126. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 IGN Staff (April 12, 2000). "New Info and Unseen Screens of Aconcagua". IGN. http://psx.ign.com/articles/077/077917p1.html. Retrieved January 12, 2011. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Provo, Frank (July 27, 2000). "Aconcagua Preview". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/ps/adventure/aconcagua/news.html?sid=2608748&mode=previews. Retrieved January 12, 2011. 
  4. IGN Staff (April 26, 2000). "Sony Offers Movie of Aconcagua". IGN. http://psx.ign.com/articles/078/078535p1.html. Retrieved January 12, 2011. 
  5. "Import PS: Aconcagua". Video Games (DE): 127. October 2000.