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[scitek]

The old studio head (Brian Raffel, up til 2006) seems to have retired as he isn't credited with anything past that point.

Looking at other major players a lot of them ended up at Human Head.

There's still a bunch of long-timers there including the Raffel brothers, Eric Biessman (creative director on Quake 4, Soldier of Fortune and Wolfenstein), Kevin Schilder (Jedi Knight) etc... Aside from the original Hexen guys splintering off to form Human Head and the 2008, 2009 and 2010 layoffs, they seem to have a pretty consistent team.

Apparently Activision owns the Hexen licence. I thought Zenimax acquired it during id's acquisition but according to the Edge of Chaos (Doom 3 Hexen total conversion) team that's not the case.

@ Sinatar. Brian Raffel's still there. Check their Facebook page or this interview from last year.

Thanks for the info.

I think I'm sadder now that I know the talent's still there she being used on Call of Duty. Also, uncredited work being a legal thing is such BS.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

Another cog in the COD machine.

 

[kamspy]

Single player FPS games are my favorite genre, so Raven is really one of my all time favorite developers.

If any former or current Raven staffers are reading this, I fucking love you, and you made my life a little better.

 

[Apdiddy]

A Heretic/Hexen game in the style of Wolfenstein: The New Order from Raven Software? Please?

I would love to see a Singularity II or at least a spiritual sequel. That was one of my favorite games from PS3/360 gen.

 

[faceless007]

I really like Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2,i played like a maniac when i bought it,its a shame they just doing cod now,is there any chance of they go back to doing their oun games like a independent studio ?

MUA2 was by Vicarious Visions.

 

[OnimaruXLR]

What I don't understand is... annual Call of Duty games have been a thing for years now. Yet more and more staff seem being locked in the Call of Duty production machine, while neither quality or quantity for those games increase.

Whassup with that?

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Loved this studio and I hope they can survive. Singularity was truly great as was Wolfenstein 2009.

 

[VariantX]

Damn, this thread is kind of depressing. I want to say I hope the guys behind great games like war on cybertron and orgins wolverine went on to somewhere else in the in the industry to work on original stuff, but where? It looks like thr same stuff happening no matter which way you turn amongst the big pubs. Visceral making a battlefield game and not dead space or something else is a tremendous waste of talent and a crime I think.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

it sucks that they've been subsumed into the COD machine, but at least they're still around, unlike Activision owned Radical and Bizzare.

on another note, Activision is gonna need a lot more product diversity then they've got now for whenever their cash cow dries up.

Destiny looks to be another massive hitter for them so I don't think CoD having an off year or two will affect them at all.

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

Raven was one of my favourite studios just for Jedi Outcast/Academy.

 

[wonderdung]

Raven's games are the sole reason I got in the game industry. Would love a Hexen 3 sometime this gen.

 

[jacobeid]

Singularity is one of those Colin Moriarty joints where he talked so much about it that I had to pick it up.

I didn't regret it one bit. I also got a nice laugh when Nolan North's character

Spoiler

dies

because of his notoriety around that time.

Definitely had some Ravenholm vibes throughout the entire campaign. What a meaty campaign too.

Raven deserved better

If any former or current Raven staffers are reading this, I fucking love you, and you made my life a little better.

This.

 

[Neuromancer]

That's sad. Singularity was really great.

It really was, one of my favorite shooters of last generation. Activision left them high and dry on advertising, the game was practically unheard of when it came out.

I still remember Raven from when they used to make Doom levels. They were a great team, it's sad to see what happened to them and this coming from someone who likes CoD. Their talents are being wasted making MP maps.

Maybe now that Activision is letting teams get a little crazy with CoD campaigns, they should let Raven make one and put their own unique spin on it.

 

[Jigorath]

Man I wish they could create another X-men Legends game. Such a great series.

 

[jacobeid]

Man I wish they could create another X-men Legends game. Such a great series.

I wouldn't cry about another Marvel Alliance either...

 

[ChawlieTheFair]

Raven was one of my favourite studios just for Jedi Outcast/Academy.

Yup.

 

[Novocaine]

Raven used to be awesome. Hexen and Elite Force are both so good. I'm not holding my breath for any new Raven awesomeness though.

 

[RoboPlato]

Reminding me of how good Singularity was and of Raven's sad current state is cruelty.

 

[Hurley]

Activision fucked High Moon over hard on Deadpool:


http://www.examiner.com/article/ex-high-moon-studios-employee-on-deadpool-troubled-development

Fucking Activision.

 

[BPoole]

Another martyr to the CoD-Machine

 

[fade_]

Just would like to chime in and say that SOF2 was ahead of its time. Great multiplayer and Raven were pioneers in gore. For those that never played...there really hasn't been anything like it since FPS wise IMO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VsotpwBiBs

 

[Atomski]

Its depressing how many studios have been absorbed to just make COD content.

Just seems like a lot of talent wasted.

 

[Nokterian]

Just would like to chime in and say that SOF2 was ahead of its time. Great multiplayer and Raven were pioneers in gore. For those that never played...there really hasn't been anything like it since FPS wise IMO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VsotpwBiBs

And to think that Killing Floor 2 is going to that even better with the amount of gore with there new system. Yeah when i played SOF 1 and 2 i was blown away how you could kill a baddy in many ways.

Here is the article they where inspired by SOF2 and want to make it even better.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/05/08/k...rror-with-the-most-advanced-gore-system-ever/

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

What I don't understand is... annual Call of Duty games have been a thing for years now. Yet more and more staff seem being locked in the Call of Duty production machine, while neither quality or quantity for those games increase.

Whassup with that?

Not sure that's true. There are mobile apps, last gen and current gen versions, CoD online, Hardline, maybe more that I'm unaware of besides the regular series. Quantity seems to be higher.

Just would like to chime in and say that SOF2 was ahead of its time. Great multiplayer and Raven were pioneers in gore. For those that never played...there really hasn't been anything like it since FPS wise IMO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VsotpwBiBs

well that was certainly a disturbing video.. good thing no one walked in on me watching it..

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

Excuse the bump.

Kat Bailey just posted a fantastic feature on Raven Software over at USGamer.

From Dungeon & Dragons to Call of Duty: The Story of Raven Software

Nestled in the upper midwest, the studio behind Heretic and Soldier of Fortune has survived to make video games for nearly 25 years now. Here's how they've done it.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

I wish all of their catalog would get rereleased with full widescreen and gamepad support.

 

[KKRT00]

Excuse the bump.

Kat Bailey just posted a fantastic feature on Raven Software over at USGamer.

Thanks, will definitely read later.

Raven is one of the best FPS studios ever. They made timeless classics and they deserved better than being COD map pack outsourcing force ;\

In perfect world Arkane would be rich and made them their 3rd studio or Raven would be independent and Chris Roberts would hire them for FPS Module for Star Citizen.

 

[Donos]

Have Singularity still unplayed in Steam (from a sale). Keep forgetting i have it. Going to give it a shot.

 

[HK-47]

RIP

I ended up owning a ton of their games.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Doing CoD maps.

Yep; alongside Neversoft, Radical Entertainment and High Moon Studios. Sigh.

 

[Bastos]

Never played Hexen II, only the first one. Should I?

iirc from the Hexen II demo I had on CD, it doesn't play like the first one at all.

Does it feature huge maps and a Hub, etc?

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Never played Hexen II, only the first one. Should I?

iirc from the Hexen II demo I had on CD, it doesn't play like the first one at all.

Does it feature huge maps and a Hub, etc?

I actually enjoyed the heck outta Hexen II when it came out. I remember getting it and Quake 2 Christmas of 1997. Good times!!

 

[Massive Nights]

Played through Wolverine recently, the combat in that just got Wolverine so right, literally tearing through folks like tissue paper, the way a Wolverine game should be. And any game that let's you pop the claws manually is alright in my book.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

Black Crypt...

 

[Baron_Calamity]

with Call of Duty's future looking grim, I imagine it won't be long till Axedivision will make Raven no more. :\

I really need to play Singularity some day.

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

Star Trek Elite Force

Now those were some good times...

Raven was phenomenal in those days. Most of my favorite PC games of that era were Raven games. Raven + Q3 engine was one of the best things ever.

 

[Baron_Calamity]

Singularity wasn't great, it was a serviceable Bioshock clone with above average shooting.

The funny part is it was in development before Bioshock was.

I'm still ticked off i never got Elite force II

 

[JNT]

I don't know how reliable Wikipedia is on the matter, but according to their entry they have 173 employees. That seems like far too many to just make CoD maps, no? Maybe they are working on something they have yet announced?

 

[Saganator]

I want a new Soldier of Fortune with high res gore god damnit!

I don't know how reliable Wikipedia is on the matter, but according to their entry they have 173 employees. That seems like far too many to just make CoD maps, no? Maybe they are working on something they have yet announced?

If you read the article posted above, you'll see they do more than making maps. They localize CoD for China, they change game modes, add their own modes, and even redo the SP campaign.

 

[JNT]

I want a new Soldier of Fortune with high res gore god damnit!



If you read the article posted above, you'll see they do more than making maps. They localize CoD for China, they change game modes, add their own modes, and even redo the SP campaign.

Missed the link. Thanks.

 

[CaptainofIndustry]

I really enjoyed Wolfenstein (2008). I have Singularity, but haven't played it yet.