MDK is a
third-person shooterThird-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
game developed by
Shiny EntertainmentShiny Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and the creator of several popular titles such as Earthworm Jim, MDK, Sacrifice and The Matrix: Path of Neo. Shiny was founded by David Perry in October 1993...
and released in 1997 by Playmates Interactive Entertainment for the
PCIBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
, Macintosh, and subsequently
PlayStationThe PlayStation is a 32-bit fifth generation video game console released by Sony Computer Entertainment in December ....
. It was one of the first PC games to require a Pentium or equivalent processor, and did not initially have a
GPUA graphics processing unit or GPU is a specialized processor that offloads 3D graphics rendering from the microprocessor. It is used in embedded systems, mobile phones, personal computers, workstations, and game consoles...
requirement. The game soundtrack, composed by
Tommy TallaricoTommy Tallarico is an American video game music composer and musician. He is best-known as the co-creator of the concert series Video Games Live...
, was also released.
The game tells the story of its protagonist, Kurt Hectic and his attempts to rescue
EarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...
from an
alien invasionThe alien invasion is a common theme in science fiction stories and film, in which an extraterrestrial society invades Earth with the intent to exterminate and replace human life , enslave it under a colonial system , to harvest humans for food , or sometimes to destroy the earth altogether .The...
of gigantic
strip miningSurface mining is a type of mining where soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit are removed. It is the opposite of underground mining, in which the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral removed through shafts or tunnels....
city-vehicles named 'Minecrawlers', which are not only removing all of earth's natural resources but are also flattening any people and cities that get in their way. The game combined fast action with fully 3D rendered, state-of-the art graphics and a warped sense of humour. It featured a "sniper mode" that allowed the player to zoom in on enemy targets.
A sequel,
MDK2MDK2 is a video game and sequel to the third-person shooter, MDK. The original MDK was developed by Shiny Entertainment and released in 1997 by Interplay. For the sequel, established RPG developer BioWare Corp...
was developed by
BiowareBioWare is a Canadian electronic entertainment company founded in February 1995 by Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. It is based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada...
and released by
InterplayInterplay can refer to:* Interplay , John Coltrane* Interplay , Jerome Robbins, 1945* Interplay * Interplay Entertainment, video game publisher* World Interplay, an Australian young playwrights festival...
for the PC and Dreamcast in 2000, and later for the
PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony. The PS2 console is the sequel to the original PlayStation console. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation series of video game...
(titled
MDK 2: ArmageddonMDK2 is a video game and sequel to the third-person shooter, MDK. The original MDK was developed by Shiny Entertainment and released in 1997 by Interplay. For the sequel, established RPG developer BioWare Corp...
) in 2001.
Technology
The game used a powerful software-based engine, unlike most other games of the time that relied on "brute force" hardware acceleration, low resolution graphics or tricks such as
foggingFogging may refer to:*Distance fog, a technique used in 3D computer graphics*Fogging , adverse impacts in photography*Fogging , a technique for visual censorship...
and
clippingIn rendering, clipping refers to an optimization where the computer only draws things that might be visible to the viewer.-Examples:In 2D graphics for example, if the user of an image editing program is modifying an image of the Mona Lisa and has "zoomed in" the view to display only the top half of...
to maintain a high framerate in large maps. However, patches that added support for popular (at the time)
APIAn application programming interface is an interface in computer science that defines the ways by which an application program may request services from libraries and/or operating systems. An API determines the vocabulary and calling conventions the programmer should employ to use the services...
s (
D3DDirect3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX API. Direct3D is only available for Microsoft's various Windows operating systems and in the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems. Direct3D is used to render three dimensional graphics in...
,
GlideGlide is a proprietary 3D graphics API developed by 3dfx Interactive for their Voodoo Graphics 3D accelerator cards. It was dedicated to gaming performance, supporting geometry and texture mapping primarily, in data formats identical to those used internally in their cards...
,
RedlineRRedline is the name of a proprietary Windows application programming interface for graphics cards made by Rendition. The original DOS version of the API was named Speedy3D. The company was bought out by Micron as the consumer market settled around NVIDIA and ATI Technologies as the dominant...
and
PowerVRPowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, and associated image processing...
) were later released. Although a fast
CPUThe Central Processing Unit or processor is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, and is the primary element carrying out the computer's functions. This term has been in use in the computer industry at least since the early 1960s...
was recommended, the game ran smoothly with (relatively) low RAM. Kurt's movement was created using
motion captureMotion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement onto a digital model. Initially invented in Scotland, it is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications...
and sprite-based animation.
Its innovative "sniper mode" feature allowed the player to zoom in all the way from one side of the map to the other without having objects popping up.
Plot
MDKs manual is in the form of a diary of an eccentric inventor, Dr. Fluke Hawkins. Dr. Hawkins discovers something he calls "Flange Orbits", but when he broaches them to scientific community, he is ridiculed.
Dr. Fluke Hawkins then builds a space station, the Jim Dandy, bribes his laboratory janitor, Kurt Hectic, with
HungarianHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
Goulash, and launches himself into a self-imposed exile, swearing never to return until he "comes up with some really good stuff". Upon reaching orbit, he realizes that "Flange Orbits" don't actually exist. Rather than return to Earth in shame, he begins work on a robotic dog that Dr. Hawkins calls "Bones" (the dog prefers "Max").
Dr. Hawkins continued work in relative peace until one day, he noticed a strange phenomenon- streams of incredible energy headed straight for the Earth. The good Doctor sent down a warning (along with a basket of Max's oranges) but was promptly ignored. The streams proceeded to disgorge innumerable hordes of enemies in "Minecrawlers", giant fortress-cities designed to strip the mineral wealth (and potato crop, according to Dr. Hawkins) from a planet. The military forces of Earth were crushed.
Dr. Hawkins decided to take action. Pairing his new "Coil Suit", a revolutionary armor suit capable of repelling "bullets, bees, and small but very hard sticks" that held a retractable/re-usable "ribbon chute" for parachuting or gliding, along with an arm-mounted chaingun that also serves as a head-mounted sniper rifle, Dr. Hawkins had the perfect weapons suite. Kurt was the only one who could wear it, due to the Doctor's age and Max's extra pair of legs.
So, Kurt was dispatched on "Mission: Deliver Kindness", entering the Minecrawlers from above, and destroying them from the inside-out, shooting his way through to the "driver", typically killing them in some rather violent fashion. Kurt fights his way through the Minecrawlers, destroying them one by one, until he comes to meet Gunter Glut, the hideous leader of the invasion.
Kurt destroys the Minecrawler but Glut escapes with Max in captivity, chased by Kurt along a stream leading to the alien homeworld. Kurt frees Max and kills Glut, ending the game. The ending is a monochrome mix of a French
popPop music is a music genre that developed from the mid-1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music. It has a focus on commercial recording, often orientated towards a youth market, usually through the medium of relatively short and simple love songs...
music videoA music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music/song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the...
(Non Non Rien N'a Changé
by Billy Ze KickFor the 1985 French film, see Billy Ze Kick .Billy Ze Kick were a French pop band formed in 1990 composed of young musicians. To the non French-speaking world, information about them is difficult to come by. Formed as Billy Ze Kick Et Les Gamins En Folie, they split in 1994 after only one album...
) and clips from MDK
for no apparent reason.
Gameplay
MDKs gameplay is usually a third person shooter, except when sniper mode is entered. Kurt has a wide range of weapons to choose from, which differ in standard gameplay and sniper mode.
In addition to the standard run-and-gun/sniper modes, there are a few mini-games in
MDK. All levels start out with the atmospheric re-entry (explained below), while some levels have a bombing run, boarding a glider and dropping iron bombs on enemies. This clears the enemies far easier than would be on foot and often garners extra weapons.
There are also a few special game modes in different levels. One level has snowboarding sequences where Kurt must navigate obstacles while destroying enemies along the way. In another level, Kurt must disguise himself as a sentry robot to deceive guards.
Atmospheric Re-entry
All levels (with the exception of the final level) begin with Kurt skydiving from the 'Jim Dandy' to the Minecrawler below. The Minecrawler fires a radar (a green cone in the screenshot) which if touched triggers the launch of
anti-air missilesA Surface to Air Missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. It is a type of anti-aircraft system....
, which must be dodged. Dr. Hawkins also sends down weapons at this point which (if collected) are added to Kurt's level inventory.
Arenas
Each level is divided into several sections called
arenas, interconnected by tunnels. Each arena can be different in style and method of going through it. Some are large areas with many Grunt generators, and others combine platform jumping with puzzle solving. Many arenas have a specific solution, like throwing sniper mortars into tubes, pushing objects next to high platforms, or shooting power generators.
MDK only has six levels, although each level is fairly large; an entire level could take one hour or more.
Stream Riding
Once a level has ended, by killing the boss in command of the Minecrawler, the Minecrawler self-destructs and its debris and inhabitants are sucked back into the energy stream, taking Kurt with them. Kurt has a set time period in the energy stream; Kurt is pursuing a health powerup in front of him through the stream, which when collected grants 150% health. If he touches the walls of the stream, he loses 5 points health and decelerates. At the end of his period in the stream, Max will come out on a tether and pluck Kurt from the stream.
After the destruction of last minecrawler, Max is unable to retrieve Kurt from within the stream, due to his capture by Gunter Glut. As a result, Kurt emerges at the other end of the stream: the alien homeworld.
Kurt's Coil Suit
Kurt's main defense against the Streamriders is Dr. Hawkins's Coil Suit, a skin-tight armor suit made of a leather-like material inlaid with twisting gold designs. This suit serves as a bullet proof vest and protects Kurt from the atmospheric friction of re-entry.
The sniper rifle is actually Kurt's chaingun mounted on his helmet. It gains 100x zoom and the capability of supporting 6 different types of ammunition. Kurt does not actually see out of the helmet, rather, he sees out of a
HUDA head-up display, or abbreviated as HUD, is any transparent display that presents data without requiring the user to look away from his or her usual viewpoint...
camera, used to aim. There are three "Bullet Cams" that track each projectile and linger briefly after impact, showing the damage done.
The front end of Kurt's helmet can be removed and attached to his arm, becoming a machine gun with unlimited ammo. There is also a powerup that increases the damage and firing rate of the chaingun, making it even easier to defeat vast quantities of enemies.
The Ribbon Chute allows Kurt to navigate long jumps, long falls, and utilize updrafts (deploying automatically). The Ribbon Chute retracts automatically when not being used and can be used infinite times. According to Dr. Hawkins's diary, there were also concepts for a "Bow Chute" and a "Tie Chute".
Enemies
The enemies in
MDK are a collective of aliens called
Stream Riders under the command of Gunter Glut aka
Gunta. They use the energy streams to invade planets and strip them of their mineral wealth. The alien force is composed mainly of
Grunts, called this due to their number and vocalizations, sounding very similar to monkeys. Similar robots with better armour and weapons are found as the game advances. Usually Grunts are the most numerous force, and can be sent in large numbers with generators, grunt-launcher tanks, or even brought to action by carry ships. The larger varieties do not have generators or reinforcements (usually), but are much harder to fight with. No matter how big the robots are, they can be killed by one or two sniper shots in the head when caught off-guard.
Besides these ape-like robots, there is a large variety of other enemies. There are tanks, cannon turrets, small firing ships, larger carry ships, special sentry robots, and a few special enemies. Among these, for example, there are giant ships with spherical cannon turrets; to defeat the ship, each turret has to be sniped. One of the Minecrawler pilots has musician guards which shoot strange shapes at you. Some of these special enemies are hard to defeat, while others are very easy and seem to be there just for the fun.
Meaning of MDK
While the actual meaning of the title's TLA is not revealed within the game, the gaming press and fans adopted
Murder,
Death,
Kill, which was coined as a neologism in the film
Demolition ManDemolition Man is a 1993 American dystopian action film directed by Marco Brambilla, and starring Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne and Denis Leary....
. In interviews, Shiny employees each gave their own version -
My Dog Ken;
Max, Dr. Hawkins, and Kurt;
Million Dollar KO;
Maim Death Kill;
Massive Dollops of Ketchup;
Mother's Day Kisses; and
My Diary something beginning with K. Yet another possibility is documented inside the game manual, where Kurt's mission is named
Mission: Deliver Kindness. In the readme for the
MDK demo, it is stated that nobody's quite sure what "MDK" means, it means whatever they need it to mean on that given day. Since the readme was penned on Mother's Day, the meaning for that particular day is "Mother's Day Kisses".
The hardcore punk band
MDCMDC is an American hardcore punk band formed in Austin, Texas in 1979.MDC originally formed as The Stains before changing their name. Playing hyperspeed punk rock associated with far left sociopolitical issues has earned the band close association with Jello Biafra and the Dead Kennedys, as well...
was a possible inspiration for the name. The band MDC changed their official name with every album, with backronyms including Millions of Dead Cops, Metal Devil Cokes, and Magnus Dominus Corpus.
In the European version of the game, the background images of the installation program present many possible meanings for the letters M, D and K; some silly, some believable, and one of them "Murder, Death, Kill." In the Japanese version of the game on the back cover it says in bold yellow letters: "My Dear Knight"
It is revealed in the "Making of MDK" booklet that came with the "Limited Edition" of the game that the term was actually the game's codename; when Shiny came around to coming up with a name for the game, they chose to stick with the codename.
However, there is no information available as to why "MDK" was chosen in the first place. The British computer magazine, PC Format, in a prelude to an interview they published with the Shiny director, said that the game was indeed called "Murder, Death, Kill" but was changed to "MDK" to give it a lower rating as the rating authorities in Britain felt it was too violent a name. This was then turned into a marketing campaign with various silly meanings for "MDK" given followed by a question mark, such as "Madonna Dates Kylie?".
In the installation screen for
MDK2, various meanings are shown scrolling down as a backdrop to Kurt diving through or to an unknown destination with "Murder, Death, Kill" highlighted.
In an interview with David Perry in the RetroGamer magazine released in UK, David revealed that the original meaning of "MDK" was in fact "Murder Death Kill". This can be confirmed by viewing the game's concept video where the game's logo is written with those words on top of each other with the letters "MDK" enlarged. But because the toy company that were supposed to make toys based on the game didn't like to have those words printed on the toys, the words were removed and replaced with only "MDK". The meaning of "MDK" has since then become a subject of debate.
Trivia
- A shortened version of the MDK promo video was used as the PlayStation port's intro video.
- The endgame music videoclip is performed by Billy Ze Kick
For the 1985 French film, see Billy Ze Kick .Billy Ze Kick were a French pop band formed in 1990 composed of young musicians. To the non French-speaking world, information about them is difficult to come by. Formed as Billy Ze Kick Et Les Gamins En Folie, they split in 1994 after only one album...
(abbreviated BZK), and it is the song "Non Non Rien N'a Changé" (No, no, nothing has changed) from the album Paniac, a remake of the original song from 1971 made by the French band "Les PoppysLes Poppys is a French musical group of 17 children founded 1946 in Asnières, France by Jean Amoureux as and renamed to Les Poppys in 1970...
". The clip itself consists mostly of clips taken from Shiny's original MDK promo video, but in black and white. This video does not appear in the Easy difficulty setting.
- The Macintosh version, ported by Shokwave Software http://www.shokwave.com/ (now defunct), was bundled with the original iMac
The iMac is a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998, and has evolved through four distinct forms. In its original form, the iMac G3, the iMac was gum drop- or...
.
- Key members of the MDK development team went on to start up Planet Moon Studios
Planet Moon Studios is a game development studio based in San Francisco, California founded by ex-Shiny Entertainment developers Nick Bruty and Bob Stevenson in 1997...
.
- The first minecrawler is heading towards Laguna Beach
Laguna Beach is a seaside resort and artist community located in southern Orange County, California, approximately southeast of the county seat of Santa Ana. Its population was 23,727 at the 2000 census. It is known for having some of the most beautiful beaches in southern California...
, where Shiny's headquarters was located when the game was being developed.
- The game is seen being played during the opening scene of The X-Files
The X-Files is an American cult science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. It first aired in September 1993 and ended in May 2002...
episode Schizogeny.
External links