Summary
Bungieis well known for creating stellar franchises likeHaloandDestiny, but some might forget the humble origins ofBungieprior to these billion-dollar IPs that have seen countless sequels, DLCs, and story content that has resumed for over a decade. Some players or fans of Bungie’s portfolio might reminisce, or even forget that Bungie had a hand in creating these games, begging the question if they will do something with them again.
As many may know, Bungie and its developers have their hands full at the moment. Whilst they prepare the secretly packagedThe Final Shape expansion forDestiny 2, which claims to be the end of the Light vs. Dark saga, they are also working on a reboot of Marathon as an extraction shooter, thus leaving less time for them to recall their older properties that made them the company they are today.
8Operation Desert Storm
One of Bungie’s earliest entries into the gaming market was with their controversial titleOperation: Desert Storm, which was based on a conflict in the Middle East of the same name. This top-down tank shooter was exclusive to the Macintosh and didn’t exactly sell the same copies as titles likeDestiny 2.
Players could enter this top-down shooter and experience simplified combat through twenty levels. Strangely enough, the final boss was a giant head of Saddam Hussein. It’s safe to say thatOperation: Desert Stormshould remain in the past.
7Weekend Warrior
One of Bungie’s 1997 games wasWeekend Warrior, where players would assume the role of a game show contestant in order to gain the chance of winning cash and prizes. However, there was a catch,Weekend Warriorcontestants don’t play fun games or enter a quiz, but instead, enroll with their life, risking itall for fame and gain.
This Bungie game had 8 arenas for players to venture into, and it’s one of Bungie’s more unique ideas, and certainly a step up from real-world Middle Eastern conflicts. It embraces the wild side of late 90s computer gaming.
6Pathways Into Darkness
Another Bungie game exclusive to the Apple Macintosh wasPathways into Darkness, which was described as “the closest you’ll get to virtual reality without a helmet!” It was a bold claim, and one that remained unfulfilled, but the game did have an ambitious desire toblend first-person shooterswith RPGs, even for 1993 which was a hard feat to reach.
InPathways Into Darkness, playersembark on a mission to stop the destructionof Earth through the awakening of an ancient and demonic god. Players will fight diabolical monsters, solve puzzles, and converse with dead people to further progress.
5Abuse
Despite this run-and-gun style game not being initially developed by Bungie, they still played a part in the game due to the fact that they improved upon it with their port for the macOS systems. The plot ofAbusefeatures biological weapons that have infected prisoners, turning them into violent mutants. The player, Nick Vrenna, needs tostop the spread of mutationand kill the monsters inside.
The goal is to kill monsters and escape prison, a simple yet effective premise for a video game. However,Abuseis a side-scrolling shooter released in 1996, so it makes sense that not many people would remember this game, even with the domain becoming public in the late 1990s.
4Myth: The Fallen Lords
Bungie embarks on a mission to bring the fantasy genre to the gaming market withMyth: The Fallen Lords. In this game, players will explore a new 3D real-time environment, as well as a proud new set of 3D graphics that was a first for the RTS genre.Myth: The Fallen Lordsprovided strategy and battle to players with a fantasy setting.
This is another lost franchise, as Bungie was purchased by Microsoft in 2000, thus leavingMythbehind during the sale, where they would sit comfortably in the vault of Take Two Interactive, awaiting a new entry, that could never come.
3Oni
Prior to the Bungie that fans know today, Bungie Studios had a division called Bungie West, which developed a game calledOni. Despite this being Bungie West’s only game, it still broke new ground thanks to the innovation of its gameplay.Onitried to blend hand-to-hand combat with guns to provide a unique third-person shooter experience.
There’s a heavy influence of manga and anime inOni’sstyle and gameplay. Theaction adventure that awaits playersinOniis one to enjoy, as is the detailed world-building. It’s a shame that this is another Bungie game that has been absorbed by Take Two Interactive, as a fresh take onOnicould be interesting to modern audiences.
2Minotaur: The Labyrinths Of Crete
Dungeon crawlers and computer RPGs were a popular genre in the early 90s. They were easily accessible to those with a Macintosh computer, and Bungie sought to jump on that trend with the release of 1992’sMinotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete. Bungie managed to create a rather clean and sharply playable dungeon crawler which came from the founders of Bungie Studios.
Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Cretestands out among other CRPGs thanks to the fact that it defined itself as one of the earliest examples of multiplayer, allowing 7 players to kill enemies together, or kill each other. Alternatively, players could explore the depths in a single-player mode.
1Marathon
It won’t be long until everyone remembersMarathon, Bungie’s most popular video game of the 90s. Despite stemming two sequels afterMarathon, the game series was dormant, up until 2023 when a reboot of the series was announced. The originalMarathonhas been lost in the dark for all too long, but Bungie never forgot about it and referenced it across multiple games that they have developed since.
Whilst the originalMarathonmay not be the most distinct shooter out there, the fact that it had a style like no other made it a popular choice, as did its multiplayer.Fans ofMarathonawait to see what Bungie has in storefor their reimagining of the series.
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