Absolute Zero is a single player first person shooter (with a touch of flight simulation) that was both published and produced by Domark. It was made for the personal computer, but was also ported to the Macintosh. It is a middle nineties production and it features a science fiction theme and is mission driven.
Absolute Zero takes an old idea…alien invasion…and twists it into something a little bit different and just a bit more fun. The story that drives the game involves a peaceful mining colony on the moon Europa that is suddenly and very unexpectedly invaded by a horde of aliens.
The unknowing miners, having mastered the art of cold fusion, are mining in the snow and ice, and they have inadvertently uncovered a hibernating alien race. The colonists are light years away from help and have to use their own resources to defend themselves. This involves some technological and mechanical genius that will transform their mundane mining machines: hovercrafts, maglocks, and sky bikes…into destructive and potent weapons of war.
There are a total of thirty different missions in Absolute Zero and a choice of between seven different characters, each one garnering his or her own unique vehicle. The characters will have to pilot both air and land vehicles in an effort to thwart the alien takeover and hold off their attackers until
help can arrive. The aliens are strange and surreal looking, almost crystalline like the ice from where they came.
Absolute Zero is not a game where a player can just sit down at the PC and start kicking alien butts. It is a very in depth game, and a good read through the manual is highly recommended before attempting even one of the initial and easy missions. Te controls and interface that guides the user through the stories, the missions and the overall game play are both also complicated, giving further benefit to reading the instructions and also obtaining a lot of practice before trying anything fancy. This change of pace comes with some serious challenges.
Overall, Absolute Zero takes an old concept and turns it into something new, but the gamer has to be willing to evolve with it and invest some time learning the ins and outs of the interface in order to fully enjoy what it has to offer. It is a good game with some really fast clips and a lot of action. Each mission seems to unravel a bit more about the puzzling new enemy, and between the curiosity and the overall game play, there is more than enough to keep most players motivated.
