Editing CyberMage: Darklight Awakening

{{Short description|1995 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title      = CyberMage
| image      = Cybermage cover.png
| developer  = [[Origin Systems]]
| publisher  = [[Electronic Arts]]
| producer   = [[Warren Spector]]
| designer   = [[David W. Bradley]]
| programmer = David W. Bradley
| artist     = Chris Appel
| writer     = David W. Bradley
| composer   = Cinco Barnes<br>Evan Brandt<br>Steve Miller
| series     = 
| engine     = 
| platforms  = [[MS-DOS]]
| released   = Q3/Q4 1995<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jebens |first=Harley |date=August 31, 1995 |title=Attention, gaming shoppers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/357068364 |access-date=March 31, 2024 |website=[[Austin American-Statesman]] |quote=The most highly anticipated offerings of this Christmas' ''Doom'' and ''Doom''-like offerings would have to be...''Cybermage: Darklight Awakening'' (Origin) plops you into a 3D environment, where you'll have to battle and puzzle your way through a comic-book adventure.}}</ref>
| genre      = [[First-person shooter]], [[Role-playing video game|role-playing]]
| modes      = [[Single-player]]
}}

'''''CyberMage: Darklight Awakening''''' is a [[cyberpunk]] [[first-person shooter]] game with [[Role-playing video game|role-playing]] elements designed by [[David W. Bradley]]. It was created by [[Origin Systems|Origin]] and released by [[Electronic Arts]] in 1995. The game is characterized by a dark, heavy atmosphere.

==Plot==
Set in the year 2044, the game features a world ruled by corporations and groups of anti-corporation rebels. The corporations, faced with the rebellion and competition among themselves, start working on implant products that lead to hybrid humans.

The game's protagonist player wakes up in a bio-gen tube in a strange suit, with a gem implanted in his forehead. The gem is the Darklight, a stone of magical power. After hearing gunshots and explosions, the character crawls out of the tube to find the aftermath of the battle generated by those trying to find him. Amnesiac and disorientated, the character seeks to understand what his true identity is. He discovers that has been experimented upon by the SARCorp corporation, and he seeks revenge for his mistreatment.

==Development==
Designer David W. Bradley said he wrote the game to learn 3D technology.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rpgvault.ign.com/features/interviews/wizwar.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010217041727/http://rpgvault.ign.com/features/interviews/wizwar.shtml|title=Wizards & Warriors Interview|work=[[IGN]]|date=2000-07-13|archive-date=2001-02-17|url-status=dead|accessdate=2016-11-07}}</ref>

==Reception==
{{Video game reviews
| rev1 = ''[[Computer Game Review]]''
| rev1Score = 70/61/62<ref name=cgr>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961221184326/http://www.nuke.com/cgr/reviews/9603/cyber/cyber.htm | url=http://www.nuke.com:80/cgr/reviews/9603/cyber/cyber.htm | title=Modern-Day Mage |author1=Snyder, Frank |author2=Chapman, Ted |author3=Gehrs, Scott | date=March 1996 | work=[[Computer Game Review]] | archive-date=December 21, 1996 | url-status=dead | access-date=July 13, 2019 }}</ref>
| NGen = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="NG"/>
}}
Jeffrey Adam of [[GameSpot]] rated it 76/100 and wrote that the game, which initially seems like a generic ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' clone, improves upon the formula by adding usable vehicles and forcing strategic use of [[power-up]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/cybermage-darklight-awakening-review/1900-2538491/ |title=CyberMage: Darklight Awakening Review|last=Adam|first=Jeffrey|work=[[GameSpot]]|date=1996-05-01|accessdate=2016-11-07}}</ref> A reviewer for ''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]'', however, argued that these elements are not enough to make the game more than just another ''Doom'' clone. He gave the game 3 out of 5 stars, summarizing that "''CyberMage'' has great graphics, beautiful sound, digitized video, and a detailed, entertaining storyline. It's too bad that, for all that, it still doesn't stand above the rest of the first-person shooters that clog software store shelves."<ref name="NG">{{cite magazine|title=CyberMage |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=17|publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|date=May 1996|page=97}}</ref> Martin E. Cirulis ''[[Computer Gaming World]]'' rated it 3.5/5 stars and called it "a slick and enjoyable action game" that does not make enough use of its comic book styling.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/stream/CGW140Mar1996/CGW_140_Mar_1996#page/n141/|title=The Hero and the Horror|last=Cirulis|first=Martin E.|magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]]|date=March 1996|issue=140|pages=138–145}}</ref>  In a [[capsule review]], ''[[PC Magazine]]'' called it fun but criticized the controls.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K8IS2A_xDLUC&pg=PA375|title=Quick Clips|author=<!-- Staff -->|magazine=[[PC Magazine]]|date=1996-04-09|volume=15|issue=7}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/cybermage-darklight-awakening ''CyberMage''] at [[MobyGames]]
*[http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/cybermagedarklightawakening/index.html ''CyberMage''] at [[GameSpot]]
*[http://www.csoon.com/issue13/cybermag.htm ''Coming Soon'' magazine review]

{{Origin Systems}}

[[Category:1995 video games]]
[[Category:Cyberpunk video games]]
[[Category:DOS games]]
[[Category:DOS-only games]]
[[Category:Electronic Arts games]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 2044]]
[[Category:First-person shooters]]
[[Category:Origin Systems games]]
[[Category:Single-player video games]]
[[Category:Sprite-based first-person shooters]]
[[Category:Video games designed by Harvey Smith]]
[[Category:Video games developed in the United States]]
[[Category:Video games produced by Warren Spector]]
[[Category:Video games set in the 2040s]]
[[Category:Video games with 2.5D graphics]]