David Bowie 1999-??-??
Omikron: The Dreamers, Various, Compilation
Set 1
Omikron
Anekbah
Ganhar
Anekbar Reprise
Quanta Cola
Aka's Bar
Sha'armet One
Sha'armet Two
Sha'armet Three
Sha'armet Four
Xike Shoes
Market Place
Snow Level
Jaunpur
Jaunpur Casbah
Kloops Beer
Shooting Gallery
Shooting One
Shooting Two
Shooting Three
Shooting Four
Chocovat Bar
Thrust
Jangir
Nomad Soul
Palace
Khonsu Implants
Save Your Soul
AZ Piano
Seven (Rock Mix)
1917 (Omikron Mix)
Quasilar (Recorded Version)
Thursday's Child (Rock Mix)
No One Calls
We All Go Through
Anekbah
Ganhar
Anekbar Reprise
Quanta Cola
Aka's Bar
Sha'armet One
Sha'armet Two
Sha'armet Three
Sha'armet Four
Xike Shoes
Market Place
Snow Level
Jaunpur
Jaunpur Casbah
Kloops Beer
Shooting Gallery
Shooting One
Shooting Two
Shooting Three
Shooting Four
Chocovat Bar
Thrust
Jangir
Nomad Soul
Palace
Khonsu Implants
Save Your Soul
AZ Piano
Seven (Rock Mix)
1917 (Omikron Mix)
Quasilar (Recorded Version)
Thursday's Child (Rock Mix)
No One Calls
We All Go Through
Set 2
Set 3
Comment
Omikron: The Nomad Soul (Simply The Nomad Soul in Europe) is a Windows 9x and Sega Dreamcast
3D adventure game developed by Quantic Dream and published in 1999 by Eidos Interactive. It
was released on November 1, 1999 for PC and on June 22, 2000 for Sega Dreamcast.
Synopsis: The Nomad Soul is set in a futuristic city known as Omikron, which is a densely
populated metropolis on the world of Phaenon, the second planet of the star Rad'an. At the
start of the game, players are asked by an Omikronian police officer named Kay'l 669 to
leave their dimension and enter Omikron within his body (therefore breaking the fourth
wall). After doing so, players continue with the investigation of serial killings that Kay'l
and his partner Den were originally working on, attempting to pick up where Kay'l was
apparently stopped from investigating. The city of Omikron exists beneath an enormous
crystal dome which was constructed to protect against the ice age that Phaenon entered after
its sun's extinction. The city is split into four different sectors: Anekbah, Qualisar,
Jaunpur and Lahoreh. Because it is forbidden for the inhabitants to leave their respective
sectors, each area has developed uniquely, which is reflected by the diverging lifestyles
and architecture. Common to all Omikronians, however, is the heavily oppressive and
controlling government which is run by a supercomputer called "Ix".
Story: Soon after the beginning of the game's introduction, the player begins the
investigation in the Anekbah sector. He uncovers information that suggests the serial killer
he is looking for is in fact not human but actually a demon. When members of an apparent
underground, anti-government movement contact the player and confirm his suspicions, the
investigation deepens and uncovers information; one of Omikron's chief police commanders
(Commandant Gandhar) is a demon pretending to be human and lures human souls into Omikron
from other dimensions by way of the Omikron video game. Kay'l 669 asking the player to help
him was a trap: supposedly, if the in-game character dies, the real human playing the video
game will lose their soul forever. Despite many assassination attempts on the protagonist's
life by other demons working behind the scenes, the player destroys Ganhar with supernatural
weaponry.
After this brief victory, the player is invited to join the mysterious anti-government
movement named "The Awakened" (referring to the fact the characters have "awakened" from the
lies and drugs of the government). The Awakened work in tandem with an ancient religious
order who are led by "Boz", a mystical being that exists in purely electronic form on the
computer networks of Omikron. The Awakened refer to the protagonist as the "Nomad Soul"
since he has the ability to change bodies at will. The Nomad Soul learns afterwards that
what is going on in Omikron is merely an extension of a thousands-of-years-old battle
between mankind and demons led by the powerful Astaroth. Astaroth, who was banished to the
depths of Omikron long ago, is slowly regenerating power while using demons to both collect
souls and impersonate high members of the government; he believes he can eventually take
complete control and move across Phaenon and the Universe beyond. Only by harnessing
ancient, magical technology and by re-discovering several hidden tombs underneath Omikron's
surface, can the Nomad Soul hope to discover how to destroy Astaroth, return to his own
dimension, and prevent his soul from being captured by demons.
David Bowie, who had some input into the story and game's design, has two cameo appearances
within the game, although not as himself; first as Boz, a game character who's a
revolutionary wanted by authorities, and secondly as the nameless lead-singer of the
fictional musical group, "The Dreamers", who perform illegal concerts in Omikron.
Gameplay: The game combines the mechanics of distinct game genres such as Adventure game,
First person shooter, and Fighting game, but focuses primarily on adventure gameplay, with
FPS and fighting game gameplay provided in very few, but key, circumstances.
One of the main features in this game is the possibility to reincarnate in a different world
character upon the death of the one you "incarnated" in, though losing all the experience
earned.
Trivia: The game's soundtrack is a main feature as well, featuring songs by David Bowie and
Reeves Gabrels (most of which appeared on the 1999 Bowie album 'hours...' or as B-sides on
the associated single for the song "Thursday's Child") in addition to the primary
composition work by Xavier Despas. Most of Bowie's songs are then available (in-game only)
for later listening if the player opts to "buy" the recordings of them within the game.
Bowie's wife Iman Abdulmajid also makes a cameo as one of the numerous Omikronian citizens
the player can "reincarnate" into.
The game received mixed critical reaction, but achieved enough success with a cult audience
that Quantic Dream began production on a sequel entitled Omikron 2: Exodus which was to take
place hundreds of years after the events in the first game. Tensions between the publishers,
Eidos Interactive and the developers led to the game winding up in development limbo. At the
time, it was unlikely that the game would've ever been completed since Eidos originally
controlled most of the rights to Omikron. Eventually Quantic Dream severed ties with them in
favor of working with Vivendi Universal, and then Atari, to pursuit other projects such as
Fahrenheit (known as Indigo Prophecy in the US).
On April 6th 2005, Omikron 2 was announced along with a new franchise, Infraworld. It has
been confirmed by series creator David Cage himself, that the old title for Omikron 2,
Exodus has been dropped and renamed to Karma. Infraworld was eventually cancelled a few
months later (as the concept did not appeal to its publishers) and now another new franchise
is taking its place, which is titled Heavy Rain. As of June 27, 2006, Karma has been
temporarily cancelled due to production for Heavy Rain.
Omikron makes a cameo appearance in Fahrenheit in the form of a news story which can be read
by Tyler Miles when he logs onto the Internet from his work terminal.
Another reference to Omikron in Fahrenheit where the character Tyler has a small figure of
the robot Soks and refers to him as "His favourite character from his favourite video game."
3D adventure game developed by Quantic Dream and published in 1999 by Eidos Interactive. It
was released on November 1, 1999 for PC and on June 22, 2000 for Sega Dreamcast.
Synopsis: The Nomad Soul is set in a futuristic city known as Omikron, which is a densely
populated metropolis on the world of Phaenon, the second planet of the star Rad'an. At the
start of the game, players are asked by an Omikronian police officer named Kay'l 669 to
leave their dimension and enter Omikron within his body (therefore breaking the fourth
wall). After doing so, players continue with the investigation of serial killings that Kay'l
and his partner Den were originally working on, attempting to pick up where Kay'l was
apparently stopped from investigating. The city of Omikron exists beneath an enormous
crystal dome which was constructed to protect against the ice age that Phaenon entered after
its sun's extinction. The city is split into four different sectors: Anekbah, Qualisar,
Jaunpur and Lahoreh. Because it is forbidden for the inhabitants to leave their respective
sectors, each area has developed uniquely, which is reflected by the diverging lifestyles
and architecture. Common to all Omikronians, however, is the heavily oppressive and
controlling government which is run by a supercomputer called "Ix".
Story: Soon after the beginning of the game's introduction, the player begins the
investigation in the Anekbah sector. He uncovers information that suggests the serial killer
he is looking for is in fact not human but actually a demon. When members of an apparent
underground, anti-government movement contact the player and confirm his suspicions, the
investigation deepens and uncovers information; one of Omikron's chief police commanders
(Commandant Gandhar) is a demon pretending to be human and lures human souls into Omikron
from other dimensions by way of the Omikron video game. Kay'l 669 asking the player to help
him was a trap: supposedly, if the in-game character dies, the real human playing the video
game will lose their soul forever. Despite many assassination attempts on the protagonist's
life by other demons working behind the scenes, the player destroys Ganhar with supernatural
weaponry.
After this brief victory, the player is invited to join the mysterious anti-government
movement named "The Awakened" (referring to the fact the characters have "awakened" from the
lies and drugs of the government). The Awakened work in tandem with an ancient religious
order who are led by "Boz", a mystical being that exists in purely electronic form on the
computer networks of Omikron. The Awakened refer to the protagonist as the "Nomad Soul"
since he has the ability to change bodies at will. The Nomad Soul learns afterwards that
what is going on in Omikron is merely an extension of a thousands-of-years-old battle
between mankind and demons led by the powerful Astaroth. Astaroth, who was banished to the
depths of Omikron long ago, is slowly regenerating power while using demons to both collect
souls and impersonate high members of the government; he believes he can eventually take
complete control and move across Phaenon and the Universe beyond. Only by harnessing
ancient, magical technology and by re-discovering several hidden tombs underneath Omikron's
surface, can the Nomad Soul hope to discover how to destroy Astaroth, return to his own
dimension, and prevent his soul from being captured by demons.
David Bowie, who had some input into the story and game's design, has two cameo appearances
within the game, although not as himself; first as Boz, a game character who's a
revolutionary wanted by authorities, and secondly as the nameless lead-singer of the
fictional musical group, "The Dreamers", who perform illegal concerts in Omikron.
Gameplay: The game combines the mechanics of distinct game genres such as Adventure game,
First person shooter, and Fighting game, but focuses primarily on adventure gameplay, with
FPS and fighting game gameplay provided in very few, but key, circumstances.
One of the main features in this game is the possibility to reincarnate in a different world
character upon the death of the one you "incarnated" in, though losing all the experience
earned.
Trivia: The game's soundtrack is a main feature as well, featuring songs by David Bowie and
Reeves Gabrels (most of which appeared on the 1999 Bowie album 'hours...' or as B-sides on
the associated single for the song "Thursday's Child") in addition to the primary
composition work by Xavier Despas. Most of Bowie's songs are then available (in-game only)
for later listening if the player opts to "buy" the recordings of them within the game.
Bowie's wife Iman Abdulmajid also makes a cameo as one of the numerous Omikronian citizens
the player can "reincarnate" into.
The game received mixed critical reaction, but achieved enough success with a cult audience
that Quantic Dream began production on a sequel entitled Omikron 2: Exodus which was to take
place hundreds of years after the events in the first game. Tensions between the publishers,
Eidos Interactive and the developers led to the game winding up in development limbo. At the
time, it was unlikely that the game would've ever been completed since Eidos originally
controlled most of the rights to Omikron. Eventually Quantic Dream severed ties with them in
favor of working with Vivendi Universal, and then Atari, to pursuit other projects such as
Fahrenheit (known as Indigo Prophecy in the US).
On April 6th 2005, Omikron 2 was announced along with a new franchise, Infraworld. It has
been confirmed by series creator David Cage himself, that the old title for Omikron 2,
Exodus has been dropped and renamed to Karma. Infraworld was eventually cancelled a few
months later (as the concept did not appeal to its publishers) and now another new franchise
is taking its place, which is titled Heavy Rain. As of June 27, 2006, Karma has been
temporarily cancelled due to production for Heavy Rain.
Omikron makes a cameo appearance in Fahrenheit in the form of a news story which can be read
by Tyler Miles when he logs onto the Internet from his work terminal.
Another reference to Omikron in Fahrenheit where the character Tyler has a small figure of
the robot Soks and refers to him as "His favourite character from his favourite video game."
Sources
| SHNID | Date | Venue | City | State | Archive Identifier |
|---|
Created At
Sun Apr 13 2008 22:33:57 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Updated At
Sat Apr 12 2008 14:03:46 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
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