V2000 is a commercially underrated sequel to Virus, David Braben's innovative 3D action game released in 1988.
Developed and released 10 years after Virus, V2000 received favorable reviews in game magazines and was one of only three nominees for "best game" in the first BAFTA Awards in 1998. However, it fared much worse commercially, and today remains relatively little known even to fans of the original Virus.
The plot of V2000 is the same as Virus: your goal is to save 30 levels spread across 6 different worlds from a virus that has infected them. The virus is being spread by evil alien creatures, so you have to hunt them down and kill them. The fun gameplay of the original Virus is here, and even more addictive with numerous enhancements. The game could best be described as a 3D hybrid of Thrust and Defender, except much more difficult than either game.
What makes Virus a memorable game for hard-core gamers is that it is very challenging - you will crash and burn every few seconds until you master the mouse-based controls, and that can take several weeks. Fortunately, V2000 allows you to set things up so that you don't have to be so precise with the controls. There are many new weapons and pick-ups not present in the original game, the same elegant but subtle real-time strategy element, and gorgeous SVGA graphics that offer plenty of eye candy such as rolling ocean waves.
Even though it takes less time to master than Virus, V2000 is still an extremely difficult game. Like in the original game, later worlds are virtually impossible to finish without mastery of controls and near-godlike reflexes. If you are new to action games, V2000 will probably prove too frustrating to be fun. If you consider yourself a hard-core master of 'twitch' games, though, V2000 is a blast to play.
Highly recommended, with caveats for beginner players.
Review By HOTUD
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Comments and reviews
Try playstation 1 version. Easy setup with duck station emulator plays great no problems with saving.end game anytime and the emulator uses a save state for whenever you return to the game or just use the in-game save options
German version :
https://archive.org/download/redump_pc_V/V2000%20%28Germany%29.7z
Italian :
https://archive.org/download/redump_pc_V/V2000%20%28Italy%29%20%28Covermount%29.7z
Japanese :
https://archive.org/download/redump_pc_V/V2000%20%28Japan%29.7z
Nothing works to get this to work. WTF do I do?
My God, I played the demo of this game like 20 years ago. After years of searching everywhere (I didn't
even remember the name), finally I found it here :)
This is a gem of a game. Highly recommended.
I've the "cannot run in this mode" error. Tried compatibility options. Same error with RIP and ISO version.
Would like to add that the .iso version of the game will work, but crash whenever you try to save. My guess is its trying to detect the CD-ROM, and can't find it and so crashes. Quite a few old games have this kind of copy protection which doesn't work on modern Windows. The RIP version of the game works fine however.
In the demo downloads folder there is a .doc file with the keyboard instructions!
To get this game to work on Windows 10, use dgvoodoo2. http://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/dgVoodoo2.html
It's a directx wrapper that acts as a sort of go-between between an old game and modern windows.
Oh Man !! Blast from the past. My laptop with Win 10/64 bit, Nvidia 2080 & Desktop I9 - Bla bla bla … runs this game nicely in DOSBox!!. As Mark said above … I agree. Daemon Tools rocks. There are some problems running on this machine. Load game crashes, I have to spam [c] (Pick up) and [d] (Drop off) to manage the natives, weight pick up/drops, etc. - Fuel, Powerups, and heath packs, oddly, are no problem. All in Direct 3D. The mouse control ( Self righting OFF) works great, but took a couple loads (quit & restart) before it was controllable.
What are the chances STEAM will come up with a fully 64-bit V2K runnable game? I'm in. Oh, and yes. The cheat code from the original CDROM licensed game still works.
Does anyone know what the keyboard controls are for this? Absolutely no idea how the hell to do anything
Cant run the game. The screen pop up and information wich says: Cannot run in this mode.
Can anyone help with that ?
The rip version works fine for me, but the ISO versions crash when I try to load a save (and my actual physical copy is unreadable. Wonder if it's some copy protection thing?)
I got it to work just fine by simply installing it and running the game with the iso mounted in Daemon Tools Lite. However on my crappy laptop I get single digit framerates if running in Direct3D. Running in software mode did the trick.
No comment nor review for this game at the moment.