RGM Gaming History – September 2005

It’s the last Sunday of the month, so that means it is time to bring you another installment of RGM Gaming History and this month we’re looking back at September 2005.

September 2005 was quite the month, with the UN lifting sanctions against Libya after the nation finally accepted responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland which claimed the lives of 270 people both in the plane and in the town. Sweden rejected joining the Euro currency and Estonia voted to join the EU, while TV shows The West Wing and Everybody Loves Raymond won at the 55th Emmy Awards. Finally, Halle Berry raised the hopes of men the world over by announcing her seperation from her second husband, Eric Benet.

In video games, the Xbox 360 was only 2 months away and the Tokyo Game Show took place with 130 games companies taking part – the big reveal being the Nintendo Wii controller. Otherwise there were a fair few games released and we’ll be looking in a little more detail at the following 3.

Burnout Revenge – PS2 and Xbox

Trailer courtesy of PixelClassics on YouTube. Burnout Revenge was the 4th installment of the Burnout Series and had a focus on racing in rush-hour traffic as well adding more features to the car-on-car combat such as “traffic checking” which was ramming traffic going the same way as you and performing “vertical takedowns” which was when you managed to land on top of rival cars after driving over a jump. Burnout Revenge was very well received at the time, with an aggregate Metacritic score of 90/100 on PS2 and 89/100 on Xbox.

Far Cry Instincts – Xbox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYhP16HPVBg

Trailer courtesy of GalerianXD1 on YouTube. Far Cry Instincts was a remake of the original Far Cry game on the PC from a year-and-a-half before, for the Xbox. The main difference between the Xbox and PC versions of the game was the addition on the Xbox of the “Feral Ability” and the ability to set traps for unsuspecting enemies – the traps that were available in the single player campaign were also available for the multiplayer side of Far Cry Instincts. The final addition to Far Cry Instincts was the map editor, which enabled players to create their own maps with the ability to even change the landscape – quite the feat considering this still isn’t a wide-spread feature in console games. Far Cry Instincts was pretty well received, scoring an aggregate 85/100 on Metacritic.

Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy – PC, PS2 and Xbox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H095eoc4K-0

Trailer courtesy of Why So Serious? on YouTube. Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy was the second game released by legendary game develoeprs Quantic Dream, after their 1999 release, Omikron: The Nomad Soul and before their more recent titles Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. Labelled by the developers as the first truly “interactive film” as opposed to a third-person adventure game, Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy was groundbreaking in many senses of the term, from the time-based event triggers to the split-screen cameras, the game was a thriller about a man (Lucas Kane) who has to go on the run in New York City after he becomes unwillingly involved in a string of supernatural crimes. Although gaining something of a cult status over time, Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy was well received but maybe not as high as you’d expect, with aggregate scores of 85/100 on PC, 84/100 on Xbox and 83/100 on PS2 on Metacritic.

There we have it folks, another month down in RGM Gaming History. What do you think of the games that were released that month? Are there any others that were released that you remember with more fondness than these 3? Let us know in the comments below, the RGM Forums or on Twitter. If you like what you’ve read then feel free to share this article on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pintrest or Reddit using the buttons available!