GraphSim Entertainment reports that the Macintosh version of Summoner has gone golden master. In a recent conversation with MacCentral, company president Jeff Morgan said that he expects the game to hit store shelves within the next couple of weeks.
Summoner is a fantasy role playing game rendered in 3D third person perspective. The title was originally developed for the PlayStation 2 and PC by game studio Volition, which is now a part of international game publisher THQ Inc.
“We’re darn pleased to get the game shipped,” said Morgan. “It’s a remarkable title, and there’s nothing like it on the Mac — it’s totally unique. It’s also a total blast to play on newer Macs.”
Summoner recounts the tale of Joseph, a reluctant hero with the power to summon demons, dragons and elementals to his command as he fights against the minions of Murod, an evil emperor with plans for world domination. Joseph is joined by three other adventurers as he goes on a quest to recover the Summoners’ Rings.
Summoner was first published last fall — the game was released at the same time Sony’s PlayStation 2 video game console was released, and was one of the first titles available for the platform. Last March Volition finished work on the PC version of Summoner, and now the Mac version is complete.
“You can tell that this game was designed for the PC and the Mac,” said Morgan. “Everything from the look and feel of the game and its interface to the way it plays using a keyboard and a mouse tells you it was designed with this sort of system in mind.”
GraphSim Entertainment first unveiled plans to publish the Macintosh version of Summoner at this past January’s Macworld Expo in San Francisco, CA. The company also has plans to release another Volition title — Red Faction, a 3D first person shooter built around the Geo-Mod engine, which provides real-time, arbitrary geometry modification (in other words, when you fire weapons at terrain or a building, it actually causes damage).
Summoner ships on two CDs. The game requires a Mac equipped with a G3 processor operating at 300MHz or faster; Mac OS 8.6 or higher; 64MB RAM; 800MB hard disk space; and an 8x or faster CD-ROM. It will carry a price of around US$45.
Morgan said that Summoner for Mac will not initially support Mac OS X, but GraphSim and Volition plan to offer an OS X update. Multiplayer gaming via the Internet is also supported through Volition owner THQ’s THQ Multiplay.net service.
“It’s cross platform,” said Morgan, “and it works really well.”
For more Mac-specific info about Summoner, please visit GraphSim’s Web site. You can also pick up some general game info from the official Summoner Web site.