Millennium Soldier: Expendable

Millennium Soldier: Expendable, known in Japan as Seitai Heiki Expendable (生体兵器エクスペンダブル, Seitai Heiki Ekusupendaburu, lit. "Organism Weapon Expendable") , and in North America as just Expendable, is a Run and Gun video game that was released by Rage Software for Microsoft Windows in 1999. It was later ported to the Dreamcast and PlayStation consoles. A remake of the game, entitled Expendable: Rearmed, was released for Android in 2012. It is in the format of a modern arcade game. The player starts with 7 "credits" and can continue until running out of credits. A second player can join the game at any time by pressing start.

Millennium Soldier: Expendable
European PlayStation cover art
Developer(s)Rage Software
Publisher(s)
Programmer(s)Alan Webb
Phil Scott
Kevin Franklin
Composer(s)Gordan Hall
Platform(s)Windows, Dreamcast, PlayStation, Android
Release
Genre(s)Run and Gun
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

Expendable takes place sometime in the post-apocalyptic future, where most of the galaxy was conquered by a hostile alien race. To combat the aliens, scientists had developed a "Millennium Soldier" project by cloning two super-soldiers. Like most top-down run and gun video games, Expendable has collectible upgrades and weapons, and features common aspects like bosses and levels, familiar with most games of this type.

Development

Expendable supports Environment-Mapped Bump Mapping, a DirectX 6 feature first supported by the Matrox Millennium G400.[2]

Reception

The game received mixed or average reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[3][4][5] Edge praised the PC version's graphics, stating that "the textures are near works of art, aided by colour lighting, true shadows and ubiquitous explosions."[8] An unnamed reviewer of Next Generation in its August 1999 issue called the same PC version "a smart little shooter, but one with limited appeal in the PC market. A forthcoming Dreamcast version may be a better fit."[22] However, their premonition was proven wrong one month later in the magazine's September 1999 issue, when Jeff Lundrigan called the Japanese Dreamcast import "a shameful waste of technology", and warned the reader to "Stay away. Stay far, far away."[21] In Japan, Famitsu gave the latter a little bit better score of 26 out of 40.[11]

References
  1. IGN staff (April 26, 2000). "PlayStation Gets Expendable". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  2. Shimpi, Anand Lal (May 20, 1999). "Matrox Millennium G400 & G400MAX". AnandTech. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  3. "Expendable for Dreamcast". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  4. "Expendable for PC Reviews". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 29, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  5. "Expendable for PlayStation Reviews". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  6. Sutyak, Jonathan. "Expendable (DC) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  7. Knight, Kyle. "Expendable (PS) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  8. Edge staff (June 1999). "Expendable (PC)". Edge. No. 72. Future Publishing. p. 84. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  9. EGM staff (1999). "Expendable (DC)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis.
  10. EGM staff (2000). "Expendable (PS)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis.
  11. "生体兵器エクスペンダブル [ドリームキャスト]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  12. McNamara, Andy (October 1999). "Expendable: Millennium Soldier [sic] (DC)". Game Informer. No. 78. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on May 23, 2000. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  13. "Expendable (PS)". Game Informer. No. 87. FuncoLand. July 2000.
  14. Mylonas, Eric "ECM" (September 1999). "Expendable (DC) [Import]". GameFan. Vol. 7 no. 9. Shinno Media. p. 76. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  15. Uncle Dust (October 1999). "Expendable Review for Dreamcast on GamePro.com". GamePro. No. 133. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 6, 2004. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  16. Mielke, James (July 2, 1999). "Expendable Review [Import] (DC) [date mislabeled as "April 28, 2000"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  17. Provo, Frank (May 24, 2000). "Expendable (PS) Review [date mislabeled as "May 17, 2006"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  18. Fragmaster (September 13, 1999). "Expendable". PlanetDreamcast. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  19. Dunham, Jeremy (September 8, 1999). "Expendable Review (DC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  20. Zdyrko, Dave (May 1, 2000). "Expendable (PS)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  21. Lundrigan, Jeff (September 1999). "Expendable (DC) [Import]". Next Generation. No. 57. Imagine Media. p. 84. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  22. "Expendable (PC) [Import]". Next Generation. No. 56. Imagine Media. August 1999. p. 92. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  23. "Expendable". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Ziff Davis. 2000.
  24. "Millennium Soldier: Expendable". PC Gamer UK. Future Publishing. 1999.
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