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Saints of Virtue

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saints of Virtue
Box art
Developer(s)SHINE Studios[1]
Engine3D Gamestudio[2]
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
ReleaseJuly 1999
Genre(s)Action, first-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Saints of Virtue is a 3D medieval first-person shooter video game developed by Shine Studios and published by Cactus Game Design. Released in 1999, it was one of the first Christian first person shooter games, and led to the release of other medieval/ancient FPS games of the same style.[2][3][4][5]

Plot

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The game takes place in a world allegorical to the spiritual aspects of the human heart. The player represents a Christian who enters his own heart to do battle with spiritual forces of temptation and to become a true 'Saint of Virtue.'[6]

Development

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Saints of Virtue was first conceived in October 1997 by three people who wanted to tap into the Christian video game market, the development wrapped in 16 months and Saints of Virtue was released in July 1999 in Christian bookstores.[7][8] The game also sold around 15,000 copies.[9] The programmer of the game was Dave Slayback who was also a former programmer at Sierra.[10][11] Michael Ulrich designed the game and he is currently working on the art team at 2K Sports.[12][11] Bud Gillian was a teacher.[13][11]

Gameplay

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The game features four levels, each representing a spiritual obstacle to the player's journey towards becoming a 'Saint of Virtue'. Enemies – floating masks representative of negative moral choices – appear frequently in the game, and must be destroyed using the Sword of the Spirit, which fires blue bolts. Players can pick up power-ups like the Shield of Faith, which reduces the damage taken by enemies, and "Spiritual health", which boosts the player's health bar.[14]

Gameplay screenshot

Discontinuation

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After an extended period of time supporting the game, Shine Studios decided to discontinue the game in 2014 at the same time that the website (http://www.saintsofvirtue.com/) was set to expire. The game is no longer available for purchase digitally, and finding a CD version of the game is becoming increasingly difficult.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "About Shine Studios – creators of Saints of Virtue". Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Hardcore Gaming 101: Christian First Person Shooters". Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Saints of Virtue (Game)". Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Saints of Virtue: the best-selling Christian computer game!". Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Saints of Virtue – PC – IGN". Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  6. ^ "About Saints of Virtue". Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  7. ^ "Saints of Virtue Interview". www.christiangaming.com. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Star-Telegram.Com | What Do You Want to Know?". 16 February 2001. Archived from the original on 16 February 2001. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Museum". Saints of Virtue X. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  10. ^ "David Slayback". MobyGames. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  11. ^ a b c "Hardcore Gaming 101: Christian First Person Shooters". 3 April 2016. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Michael Ulrich". MobyGames. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Bud Gilian". MobyGames. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  14. ^ "About Saints of Virtue". Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  15. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20141218082838/http://saintsofvirtue.com/ Official website (archived from the original)
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  • SaintsX - A Windows 64-bit patch and runtime environment