Martian city in "Chaser"

Chaser is an old first-person shooter released on 2003. Today there is no shortage of video games set on Mars, but back then Chaser was one of the few, even if only less than half of the game actually takes place on Mars. It follows a story somewhat similar to that of Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous movie Total Recall (1990) and I reviewed the game here 10 years ago.

Recently I made a second playthrough of the game. Part of Chaser's story takes place in a city on Mars under a large dome and here are some screenshots of the city:

Spaceport on Phobos (concept art for Aliens: Colonial Marines)

Digital paintings of a spaceport on Phobos, the closest of two natural Martian moons. These images are concept art for Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013) - a first-person shooter (FPS) game set in the universe of Alien franchise. Unfortunately this location didn't make to the final game release.

In Alien's universe (depicted in Alien, Predator & Prometheus movies, games and books) Mars is the first planet colonized by humans in mid-21st century. There are many colonies and military bases on the planet established by both national and commercial entities and housing millions of people. On Phobos there is a commercial research facility experimenting with xenomorphs or aliens - a highly aggressive endoparasitoid extraterrestrial species.

Spaceship leaving Phobos' spaceport. Note the partially terraformed Mars below:

Will there be space travel in Cyberpunk 2077 game?

Cyberpunk 2077 is an upcoming first-person open world role playing game set in a futuristic dystopian cyberpunk world. The game is developed by Polish game developer CD Projekt Red (known for The Witcher game series considered to be one of the best RPGs ever made) and (hopefully) will be released on December 10, 2020.

Although the story of Cyberpunk 2077 takes place in the dystopian Night City on Earth, in several trailers the developers have hinted there might be some space related activities in the game. The game is adapted from Cyberpunk franchise which was created in 1988 thus splitting there from the real world timeline. Despite several destructive conflicts, in the alternate universe of Cyberpunk the first Lunar colony is established in 1997, in 2011 there is first ESA/Soviet mission to Mars and by 2025 the entire inner Solar system is sprawling with manned spaceships and there are tens of thousands of people living on the Moon, orbital space stations and Mars. You can reed about space in Cyberpunk world (as of 2025) in its sourcebook Deep Space.

In 2018 there were rumors one of CD Projekt Red studios is working on a fragment of the game taking place on the Moon. Recently when we asked Maciej Rebisz who is working as senior concept artist at CD Projekt Red and posting his space art on regular basis, if the company is working on some space themed game, he replied quite curiously, mentioning the Cyberpunk 2077:

Thanks! Can't confirm nor deny, but you can see some space related stuff in some of the marketing materials for Cyberpunk 2077 🚀

— Mac Rebisz (@voyager212) October 15, 2020

It intrigued us and we found out that indeed – recent trailers of the game provide some clues space travel could be in the game. CD Projekt Red is known for its attention to detail. It is unlikely the scrupulous developer would include depiction of space travel in numerous trailers without providing the possibility. The question remains whether it will be included in the base game or some future DLC. So, there are the clues:

There is Orbital Air Space Center near the Night City:

Human base in a Martian canyon by Colin Geller

Picture of the Day 11/10/2019 - Damaged human base in a Martian canyon - concept art by Colin Geller for "Lazarus labs" exterior in DOOM (2016) computer game.

Mars biodome by Simon Klinz

Picture of the Day 23/2/2019 - Working day in a biodome on Mars - a loading screen for Memories of Mars by German video game artist Simon Klinz. Memories of Mars is an open world survival game where you have to craft, build and fight for your survival. The game is set 100 years in the future among abandoned mining operations on the red planet and currently is in early access on Steam. More of Simon's game art here.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in HD wallpaper resolution)

Memories of Mars - open world survival game set on Mars

Memories of Mars is an open world survival game where you have to craft, build and fight for your survival. The game is set 100 years in the future among "abandoned mining operations on the red planet, as the dream of exploiting and colonizing Mars has proven impossible. You play as a recently awoken clone who learns its lifespan is limited by the lethal solar flares that hit the surface of the planet every few weeks. Tasked with surviving the barren wastelands of Mars, players must explore the unforgiving Martian terrain and build a habitable homestead while fighting against a variety of dangers including strange enemies, harsh environmental elements and other human clone survivors."

The game is developed by "Limbic Entertainment" and currently is in early access on Steam.

Here are some images and a trailer from the game:

Mars base by Richard Wright

Picture of the Day 14/12/2018 - Street fight in Mars base by British concept artist Richard Wright - concept art for the Call of Duty game Infinite Warfare (2016) - a first-person shooter (FPS) set in an undefined future where Earth nations are competing for power in the Solar system with ruthless and technologically more advanced but outnumbered space settlers.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Racing on Mars in Star Citizen MMO game

Picture of the Day 25/11/2018 - racing on Mars; an image from upcoming massively multiplayer online (MMO) game Star Citizen which will consist of several components - space combat simulator, first-person shooter and economy&trading simulator - and is mostly funded by an unprecedented crowdfunding campaign of over $200 million on Kickstarter. The game is released by modules and is playable for several years now in alpha stage; there is a good outside video review what is the current status of the game by the end of 2018.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Human base in a Martian crater by Colin Geller

Picture of the Day 7/5/2018 - Human base in a Martian crater - concept art by Colin Geller for "Lazarus labs" exterior in DOOM (2016) computer game.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Concept art of Mars for "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare" game

Militaristic Martian settlers and their Settlement Defense Front are the villains in the latest Call of Duty game Infinite Warfare (2016) - a first-person shooter (FPS) set in an undefined future where Earth nations are competing for power in the Solar system with ruthless and technologically more advanced but outnumbered space settlers.

Here are a collection of concept art images for the Martian part of the game (open link in new tab to view in full resolution).

Mars rock quarry by Activision's concept artist Mike Garn:

Industrial Mars by Lucasfilm's concept designer Benjamin Last:

Mars game review - Red Faction

Red Faction (2001) is a classic first-person shooter (FPS) game. It's one of the first 3D computer games set on Mars and despite its old age - still the greatest. No wonder there were made several sequels in the form of computer games and even a TV movie.

Red Faction depicts a miner revolution against oppressive corporation conducting some nasty biological experiments in a Martian colony in 2075. The most innovative feature of this game is its Geo-Mod engine which allows to create fully destructible game world.

Story

Red Faction starts with the game's protagonist (you) Parker arriving at Martian mining colony with hopes of starting a new life away from his parents. Earth’s minerals are being depleted and humanity needs more and more of them. The Ultor Corporation runs the mining and research operations on Mars and is promising for potential fortune seekers high income and new horizons on a fresh planet. But the reality turns out to be not as bright - living conditions for the miners are poor, the guards are brutal and a deadly disease "The Plague" is spreading among the workers. Rumors are it is purposedly made by Ultor's scientists.

Where false promises meets discontent a rebellion is born

Parker is ending his routine mining shift when a daily strife between the miners and the guards spark an armed rebellion. Turns out the growing discontent of Ultor's rule has created an underground resistance force called "Red Faction", which now finally takes real action against the oppressors. Parker joins the rebellion and together with other miners is starting to fight his way out of mines with the helpful radio-guidance of Red Faction's leader Eos and Ultor's technician Hendrix. Parker is guided to join up with a group of miners who are about to steal a supply shuttle and escape the mining complex, but he arrives too late... luckily - the shuttle takes off and is immediately destroyed by Ultor's missiles.

It's now clear that escaping Mars won't be an easy task. Parker goes to Ultor's geothermal plant deep underground, sabotages it and through underwater tunnel enters the administrative complex of Ultor. There he kidnaps a high-ranking Ultor administrator, Gryphon, who turns out to be a Red Faction sympathizer willing to share his knowledge of Ultor's secrets to Red Faction. The man behind "The Plague" is Ultor's head scientist Dr. Capek who has been experimenting with nanotechnology and "The Plague" is a side-effect of injections at the miners' annual medical checkup. Parker tracks down Capek in his underground laboratory and with the help of Eos finishes him.

Mars game review - Chaser

Welcome to Mars...

As there are quite a lot Chaser game reviews (of which the review by GameSpot seems to be the most comprehensive), in this review I will give a much closer focus on my general interest in this game - Mars and the story of the game. Unfortunately there are not so many video games set on Mars, so despite quite a few minuses Chaser is still one of the best. Even considering that only less than a half of the game actually takes place on Mars (the first part of the game is about getting to it).

In general Chaser is a classic first-person shooter (FPS) game where the player will be shooting various enemies a lot and the story is mostly told by cutscenes in between. Game is quite long and difficult (mitigated by easy quick-save-load system) not to run through too fast.

Story

The game takes place in late 21st century where there seems to be failed states and various criminal organizations on Earth (at least in those locations in US and Siberia where the main character wanders around) and on Mars there is a well developed colony controlled by authoritarian corporation called Mars Corp (equipped with the latest military technologies).

The protagonist (main character of the game) is John Chaser who awakens on board the space station H.M.S. Majestic in Earths orbit. He doesn't remember anything about himself. In meantime the space station is being attacked by unknown troops and the main target seems to be Chaser who fights his way through the crumbling station. He gets to escape pod and crushes into some criminal ghetto in Montak City (US). The player's goal is to find out who Chaser really is and why he is being hunted.

In his adventure Chaser works for mafia in a gang-war thorn Montak City where there happens to be people willing to help him (authorities treat him as dangerous terrorist who has blown up the H.M.S. Majestic), then helps some Caucasian criminals in US and Siberia, fighting his way through both American and Russian military bases. Eventually the Caucasians turn against him and Chaser has to help some Russian guy to escape from Gulag prison to get into partly abandoned spaceport in Siberia. Not without difficulties :) he gets into a ship to Mars where his real troubles only start. After failed attempt to flee from Mars spaceport Chaser is imprisoned, but a cell mate, who happens to know him, helps to escape. Then he does several hi-priority tasks for Mars Resistance, which fights against the oppressive regime of Mars Corp, in the end blowing up the director of the corporation - Samuel Longwood.

Victory seems to be in the grasp and they fly to the secret headquarters of the Resistance. Suddenly there are lots of Mars Corp soldiers killing Chasers comrades. He fights his way through endless levels of the now occupied Resistance underground base only to fall into the hands of never killed Longwood and his army, who has used Chaser as a bait to get to the leader of the Resistance. Turns out that Chaser in truth is a head of Longwood's security - Stone - who has planed all this operation with his master and erased his own memory to become Chaser and infiltrate the Resistance.

Never trust your memories.

Something sounds familiar?... Yes, because the main line of the Chaser's story is very similar to the Total Recall (1990) - a Hollywood movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The first part of the game on Earth is quite different from Total Recall's, also a lot of story details on Mars are modified and there are no Martian artifacts and mutated people in Chaser (aspects frankly I think were needless in Total Recall), but all in all Chaser is a video game totally inspired by the story of Total Recall. The ending is almost 1:1. And it's definitely a + for this game, because Total Recall is a great movie.