Corridor 7: Alien Invasion

Corridor 7: Alien Invasion
CD Box Art
Developer(s)	Capstone Software
Publisher(s)	Intracorp Entertainment GameTek
Engine	Modified Wolf 3D engine
Platform(s)	PC (MS-DOS)
Release date(s)	March, 1994
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	RSAC: V3 ESRB: T (Teen)[citation needed] ELSPA: 11+
Media/distribution	3½-inch floppy disk or CD-ROM

Corridor 7: Alien Invasion is a first-person shooter computer game developed and published by Capstone Software. It was widely ignored for its outdated Wolfenstein 3D engine, which was technologically surpassed by Doom at the time. A sequel Corridor 8: Galactic Wars was planned, but was cancelled.

Plot

Excerpt from the Corridor 7 manual:

As a result a dimensional gate (the Vortex) is opened in the midst of Corridor 7, allowing an army of alien invaders to reach Earth. The aliens quickly overrun the military base and took its control killing everyone. While the creatures are busy modifying the surroundings to better suit their needs, but before they can effectively cut off Delta Base from the rest of the world, a lone Special Forces soldier is able to penetrate their perimeter: his objective will be to stop the invasion and destroy the artifact.

Gameplay

The player takes control of the lone soldier who has infiltrated the alien invaded military base. Like all first-person shooters, the game is rendered from the player's perspective. Corridor 7 is not organized in episodes. Instead, there are 30 (floppy disk version) or 40 (CD version) levels to explore plus 6 more bonus levels. The gameplay slightly differs from that of most FPS games because the player, rather than finding an exit surviving the various enemies scattered around, is tasked with the duty of killing the aliens present on the level; once this objective is achieved he will be granted access to the next floor of the base through the lift by which he came at the starting point of each level. The skill setting selected when starting the game influences the percentage of aliens that need to be eliminated:

• Corporal: the levels contain few aliens and only 10% kills are required to gain access of the elevator.
• Lieutenant: the aliens increase in number and 75% kills are required.
• Captain: this is the standard difficulty setting and requires that 100% of the aliens are killed.
• Major: like Captain, but with a higher number of enemies.
• President: like Major, but features a randomization factor which scatters around the level all the objects present. This setting is only available in the CD version, however through a specific dos command it can be played on the floppy version.

To help hunting down the aliens the player can activate the proximity map in one corner of the screen. This function shows a small section of the current level with all active aliens as yellow blips and can be expanded by finding the floor plan. Upon collecting this object the proximity map is extended to show the whole level and the position of every alien. On the corporal difficulty the full map is shown with no need to collect the floor plan.

In this scene the player fires the M-343 at a Bandor. On the left lying on the floor are the remains of a dead Animated Probe. Notice the proximity map in the upper right corner of the screen.

Corridor 7 levels can be split into different blocks depending on their setting. The first twenty levels of Delta Base comprise a mix of offices, research labs, computer rooms and storage warehouses themed with appropriate decorations and furniture. Next comes the so called alien converted floors: these 10 levels of Delta Base have been completely reorganized by the aliens who brought in their own devices and structures. The converted floors feature a darker light setting and the almost complete disappearance of human made equipment. A third section is made up by the six bonus levels accessible on specific levels throughout Delta Base using an alternate elevator. Such elevator is usually guarded by an alien boss. The total of these 36 levels makes up the original floppy disk release of the game. This version of Corridor 7 ends when the player destroys the Vortex on level 30. The CD version features 10 more levels: rather than destroying the Vortex the player walks through it to reach the aliens' homeworld. The alien levels share some similarities with the alien converted floors, but the major difference is that no kill percentage is required to move on, but an exit teleporter must be found.

There are some more differences from other Wolfenstein 3D engine based games: for instance the player is equipped with a visor capable of both infrared and night vision. Infrared is employed to detect invisible, energy draining force fields or other threats, while night vision is especially useful to better see when playing on dark levels. Ammunition and health are not scattered around the levels as objects to pick up, but rather as dispenser bays encased in the level walls. Health is also available in special rooms called "health chambers" where the player can obtain up to 100 hit points. Corridor 7 features two distinct ammo types as well: the projectiles dispensed from the bays are used to feed all human weapons while energy packs are available to power up the alien guns.

Locked areas do not require a key to be opened, but a color coded (blue or red) passcard is necessary. These cards are granted by operating special wall-sized computer terminals; since these terminals are also placed behind the color coded doors, sometimes it is possible to lure an alien into opening such doors and, after dispatching the creature, quickly move in to get the access without having to wander around in search for another terminal.

Multiplayer

The immense success of Doom multiplayer modes is probably behind the addition of LAN and modem gameplay in the CD release of Corridor 7. The only multiplayer mode featured is deathmatch and there is also an extra set of 8 multiplayer maps included. Players can deathmatch impersonating either the Special Forces soldiers from the singleplayer mode or one of the aliens: interestingly enough playing as an alien results in possessing the distinctive abilities of the creature chosen (e.g. speed or endurance).

Sequel

Corridor 8, or Corridor 8: Galactic Wars, was the planned sequel to Corridor 7. The game was in development but was never finished because the developer, Capstone Software, went bankrupt along with their parent company, IntraCorp. The game only made it to prototype stage. In 2005, Les Bird released the prototype and source code to a Corridor 7 fan, who put it onto his website as a free download.

References

• Corridor 7: Alien Invasion computer game manual
• Steven M. Schafer, Corridor 7 Official guide - Brady publishing 1994

External links

• KBW's Corridor 7 Page Corridor 8 prototype and source code download
• Corridor 7: Alien Invasion at MobyGames