Sentinel Returns

Sentinel Returns is a sequel to Sentinel from 1986 and a logic game developed by Hookstone, under the watchful eye of the original dev, Geoff Crammond. The title was published by Psygnosis.

Story

In Sentinel Returns the players take on the role of a consciousness whose task is to defeat the title Sentinel - a mysterious being with the features of abstract sculpture and an organic colossus, which constantly scans the environment in search of objects underneath it, which could be absorbed (this also applies to the existence controlled by us). Fortunately, we also have such abilities, which we must use to the disadvantage of our adversary, trying at all costs to absorb it and take its place.

Mechanics

During the game in Sentinel Returns we observe the action from first-person perspective. The competition takes place in more than six hundred and fifty locations; due to the fact that we cannot move around freely (and in order to perform the task set before us, we must be above Sentinel), during the game we must constantly absorb the objects underneath us (like trees and stones). In this way, we accumulate energy enabling us to build towers, on top of which we put robots called Synthoids, and then we teleport our consciousness to them.

However, it is complicated by the fact that Sentinel is constantly looking at the whole area (which direction it is looking at a given moment is shown by the indicator in the upper right screen), and when it notices us, we only have a short moment to react before we are absorbed. In addition, with time, smaller guards with similar abilities enter the arena, who is also a deadly danger for us.

Technical aspects

Three-dimensional visuals of Sentinel Returns adopt a highly abstract style. As a curiosity, the PlayStation 1 version is one of the few games released for the console that use the PlayStation Mouse.

Last updated on April 18, 2020