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The Carnivores games were a series of three games released by Action Forms Ltd.: Carnivores, which was released in 1998, Carnivores 2, released in 1999, and Carnivores: Ice Age, released in 2001, all for the PC. In addition, Carnivores Cityscape was released in 2002, but it was developed by a different company and is considered by many fans to be little more than an attempt to share the limelight with its predecessors.

Carnivores

Carnivores is a Fantasy First-Person Shooter developed by Action Forms Ltd. in 1998 for the PC. Carnivores, released shortly after WizardWork's successful Deer Hunter, proves itself to be more than "just another Deer Hunter clone" by adding two major twists to the genre: allowing the hunter to hunt dinosaurs, and allowing the dinosaurs to hunt the hunter as well. The Carnivores 2 sequel gives slightly better graphics, a new format, more dinosaurs and weapons, and brand new maps. The AI is also improved. The second sequel, titled 'Carnivores: Ice Age', adds a brand new list of animals to hunt, a new format, new abilities, new maps, and a vastly improved AI. The graphics of Ice Age show some improvement.

Storyline

Carnivores, once one starts playing, doesn't really provide much in the way of a story line - the player picks a weapon, a dinosaur, and a hunting area, and they hunt. This basic formula of the absence of a storyline in gameplay is continued by Carnivores' two sequels. However, there is an 'official' storyline behind the game, as provided below:

On a routine exploration mission in 2190 A.D., science vessel FMM UV discovered a planet with suitable climate for humankind. During the initial scouting expedition, this young planet, code-named FMM UV-32, was declared inhospitable for colony life, due to its unstable terrain and immense population of prehistoric reptiles. News of this amazing planet spread, and articles on the "Dinosaur Planet" lead an earth corporation to purchase the rights to the planet and create DinoHunt Corp. DinoHunt creates the opportunity for paying customers to become dinosaur hunters for the first time in 50 million years. You are the newest client of DinoHunt Corp.

Animals

Throughout the series, the animals are divided into two groups: Those that can be hunted for points, and those that can't. Each game has a unique set of animals.

For Carnivores:

Animals that are not worth points:

• Moschops
• Gallimimus
• Dimorphodon

Animals that are worth points:

• Parasaurolophus
• Pachycephalosaurus
• Stegosaurus
• Triceratops
• Allosaurus
• Velociraptor
• Tyrannosaurus Rex

Carnivores 2

The storyline of Carnivores 2 is almost identical to that of the first one, and the game gives the impression that the DinoHunt Corp. has found new dinosaurs and built new technology.

Animals

Animals that are not worth points:

• Moschops
• Gallimimus
• Dimetrodon
• Dimorphodon
• Pteranodon
• Brachiosaurus

Animals that are worth points:

• Parasaurolophus
• Ankylosaurus
• Stegosaurus
• Chasmosaurus
• Allosaurus
• Velociraptor
• Spinosaurus
• Ceratosaurus
• Tyrannosaurus Rex

Carnivores Ice Age

For the Ice Age sequel, the storyline is an addition to the original storyline. DinoHunt Corp. scientists discover Ice Age animals living in the Arctic regions of the planet, and they set up a separate hunting program for big game that existed after the dinosaurs.

Animals

Animals that are not worth points:

• Archaeopteryx
• Wild Pig

Animals that are worth points:

• Brontoteriy
• Giant Deer
• Wild Hog
• Sabre-Toothed Tiger
• Wolf
• Diatryma
• Cave Bear
• Woolly Mammoth
• Woolly Rhinoceros
• Yeti

Mistakes and Trivia

As with most dinosaur games, there are inaccuracies. For the original two, all the animals are sized wrong, most notably the carnivores like Velociraptor and Ceratosaurus, which are too big, and Spinosaurus and Allosaurus, which are too small. The dinosaurs are all from different periods, and Pteranodon, Dimorphodon, Moschops, and Dimetrodon are not dinosaurs at all (although the game never says they are). Edaphosaurus, Velociraptor, and Chasmosaurus appear to be Dimetrodon, Utahraptor, and Triceratops, respectively, instead of the actual animal. Other miscellaneous tidbits are that the Yeti is portrayed as a giant ruthless killer that has superior senses, the Tyrannosaurus can only be killed by being shot in the eye. The dinosaurs do not eat each other or live in groups or leave a trail of blood or tracks when they are shot at and run away. The Brachiosaurs also cannot be killed. In Ice Age, The Archaeopteryx is the main 'aerial' animal, yet it is from the Age of Dinosaurs and was extinct before the other animals in the game. There are also spelling errors, with Brontotherium being spelled Brontoteriy, Archaeopteryx being spelled Archeopterics, and so on. The animals that can't be killed for points do not attack, and some of the herbivores that are dangerous in reality are harmless in the game, like Ankylosaurus and Stegosaurus. In Ice Age, all the animals have their own attack animation, but Brontotherium and Megaloceros are identified as harmless, which they are not. Also the carnivores always go after only you and not the other animals (even when they run straight into a dead carcass or feeding animal).

The attack animations for each dinosaur is as follows:

Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Pteranodon, Archaeopteryx, Dimorphodon, Dimetrodon, Gallimimus, Moschops, and the Wild Pig have no attack.

Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Spinosaurus, Velociraptor, and Diatryma all chew on the player while he is face-up on the ground.

Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Wolf, Smilodon, and the Cave Bear grabs the player in its jaws and swings him around with some bamming it into the ground periodically.

Chasmosaurus and Triceratops simply run over the player.

Brontotherium stomps repeatedly onto the player with its front legs.

Megaloceros hooks the player onto its antlers and swings him around.

The Mammoth swings the player around with its trunk, banging him into the ground.

The Rhino gores the player on its horn, then tries to buck the carcass off.

The Yeti grabs the player by the legs and bangs it into the ground very hard.

Carnivores: Cityscape

This game, as its name suggests, takes place in the city of a future world. The storyline is that a ship carrying dinosaurs from a faraway planet to a secret facility crashes in the city, with the dinosaurs escaping and causing pandemonium. Several levels exist, such as the Subway, the Sewers, and The City. Players have the opportunity to play as either a hunter or a carnivorous dinosaur. It did poorly compared to its namesakes, as graphics were not as good and the gameplay and storyline had the characteristics of a B-Movie.

External Links

The Official Sites:

• Carnivores
• Carnivores 2
• Carnivores: Ice Age

Fan Sites:

• La Saga de Carnivores (in English and Spanish)
• The Carnivores Saga: Forum (the "official" unofficial fan board)

Template:Shooter-cvg-stub

• 1998 computer and video games
• 1999 computer and video games
• 2001 computer and video games
• Windows games