History of the Snake's Lair Franchise Part 1
A screenshot from Snake's Lair from 1992, where a Confederate soldier is about to meet his demise to the player.
One of the sprites of Jake Featherston in his Mecha Suit.
In 1992, the Austro-German company IG software would release a game called Snake's Lair (the original title translated from German) to the market. The game would be known under different names in other countries, most notably the English title was Fortress Featherston. The game was one of the first First Person Shooters to ever be released to the market to have critical success. The plot followed a Union soldier named B.J. Blazkowicz around as he battled Confederate soldiers and Freedom Party Guards in various locations of the Confederacy. He would battle different bosses at the end of each chapter of the battle, a notable one was President Jake Featherston in the last level of the game, which the famous quote upon death was "O' Confederacy, remember me!" The expansion pack, known as Spear of Destiny, has a German commando named Karl Pfieffner to recover the Spear of Destiny from French Actionists in Southern France. In 1992 alone, the game would sell a total of 50 million copies worldwide. In the United States, the game would banned due the usage of Freedomite symbolism.
A screenshot of one of most iconic enemies of the Snake's Lair series is the Freedom Party Elite Guard (note: Pretend that this church actually is an old Aztec Temple)
In 2001, IG Software would release the sequel called Snake's Lair 2: Lords of War. The game was built upon the same engine that was used on an earlier game developed by the company. The plot followed B.J. Blazkowicz as he fought the Confederacy and their attempt to resurrect an Aztec Warlord in Mexico. The game starts off in Mexico following Blazkowicz's capture by the Mexican Army in early 1943 alongside with his counter-part named Agent One. Blazkowicz would escape from the Mexican Army barracks and infiltrate the town called Tlaxco where the Confederacy was doing archaeological diggings nearby. With the help of a Mexican Resistance named Rico and another unnamed fighter, Blazkowicz would eliminate the Mexican soldiers guarding the site and enter the catacombs. While there, he would fight through the catacombs battling both Mexican Army soldiers and undead Aztec warriors, ultimately reaching an area where a Freedom Party Guards officer named Hannah Baker and her assistant Smith were investigating one of the Undead that they had killed. Following a fierce firefight with both Mexican soldiers and Freedom Party Elite Guards, Blazkowicz would battle a monster that Baker would summon while getting an old Aztec artifact. The second mission of the game would have Lieutenant Blazkowicz be sent to destroy a secret Confederate Missile Base in Northern Georgia and to acquire an experimental jet fighter plane called the Cobra. The player would infiltrate the base, blow up a rocket which was aimed at New York City armed with a Chemical Warhead, reach the base's airfield in which he encountered Freedom Party Guardsmen reinforcements, and leave with the Cobra. The third mission would have Blazkowicz infiltrate a secret laboratory in Southern Mississippi, which was controlled by a certain Colonel William Stuart. The player would reach and infiltrate the laboratory after battling through the town of Glaston with the help of some local Black Resistance fighters. While in the lab, Blazkowicz would discover a man-made monster called the Hopper and a new weapon called the M43 Super-Ripper. Blazkowicz would also discover a Confederate officer, and would learn from him about the exact location of Colonel Stuart's Laboratory in Cuba. The fourth mission would have Blazkowicz sent off to the some island off the coast of Cuba, where the outside of the X-Labs was guarded by both Freedom Party Guardsmen and by Confederate Marines. After getting defeating the base guards and penetrating into the X-Labs, Blazkowicz would battle both the lab guards and the various abominations created by Colonel Stuart and his team. The final level of Mission 5 would have Colonel Stuart meeting with Blazkowicz, and deploying his new creation, the Super Soldier, to kill the Union commando. Unfortunately, the commando would destroy the Super Soldier and pursue Colonel Stuart, but the Colonel would escape on a Cobra rocket fighter. The game's final mission would have Blazkowicz sent into Chihuahua to stop the Confederacy from resurrecting an Aztec Warlord named Tiuchixoco. After getting past the outer defensive parameter, the commando would infiltrate into a town called Naica to eliminate several Freedom Party Guards officers who had been sent to attend the ceremony. After killing them all and battling the Freedom Party Guardsmen and Elite Guards, the player would head off to the ceremonial grounds where a sorceress named Helen Browne would successfully resurrect the Warlord, and as a result, the Warlord would turn Browne into his slave. Following an intense battle, Blazkowicz would defeat the Warlord and his minions. The game would be universally praised as a successful sequel to it's predecessor from 9 years previous, critics would put the game in high regard for it's campaign and for it's multiplayer mode. The game would also have a GameStation exclusive expansion pack known as Tides of War. The pack would also have a second campaign that would follow the German commando named Karl Pfieffner, as he was sent to Britain to recover the Excalibur from the hands of the British Silver Shirts. Unlike the previous installment, for sales in the United States, the game would have it's Freedomite symbolism and imagery censored to prevent a potential ban.
A screenshot of Snake's Lair 3 of B.J. Blazkowicz.
Following the success of Lords of War and Tides of War, IG software would start work on Snake's Lair 3 in late 2003 and planned for release in 2006. However due to new developments and problems with the game's development, the game would be released in 2009. The third installment would be known internationally as Atlantis and set in Cuba in late 1943. The plot would follow Blazkowicz and his mission to disrupt the Confederacy's archaeological operations to recover the lost technologies of Atlantis and the mining operation for a crystal called Nightstone. The agent would be sent to the Cuban town of El Gurano where all of the Confederate Operations were taking place at. While at the town, Blazkowicz would link up with the Cuban Resistance, and would do various operations in the town. The town would have several sections including the Resistance Hideout, Train Station, cannery, hospital, Freedom Party Headquarters, harbor, a palace, an airfield, and finally an airship. While at the hideout, the player could purchase weapons and upgrades at the Blackmarket run by two brothers named Anton and Rafael Zuniega. Blazkowicz would eventually find a young Texan named Fred Campbell, who was a part of an organization called the Golden Circle, and organization that was dedicated to the study of the Occult. It's leader, Dr. Leo Alexander, would give Blazkowicz an old Atlantean Medallion, in which Campbell would teach Blazkowicz how the medallion worked. With the provision of a Nightstone, the player has the ability to shift into the Veil, a barrier between the Real World and Atlantis. While in the Veil, the player has the ability to run faster, jump higher, and go trough doors that has the Altantean Seal on it. Over the course of the game, the protagonist would acquire new upgrades to his weapons and to his medallion. The agent would then fight against General Victor Sorlington, who would turn out to be a monster when viewed through the Veil. Following Sorlington's death, the Resistance and the Golden Circle would move to another location in the fear of retaliation. After this, Corona Perez would be captured and Blazkowicz would go to the airfield in an attempt to rescue her. There he confronts Sorlington's replacement, Colonel Stuart, who was eager to get revenge on Blazkowicz for the events that happened in Lords of War. During a struggle, Herbert Griggs (who was one of the bosses in the first Snake's Lair and a henchman of Stuart) shoots Corona. Upon returning to El Gurano, Rafael Zuniega informs the agent that he has executed his brother, Anton, in the belief that he was the mole who betrayed both Corona and Blazkowicz. B.J. also learns that the Confederates on their airship were going to fire a super-cannon (which was powered by Atlantis' energy) at the town. He would board the airship and learn that the Dr. Alexander was the real traitor all along. As a "reward", the Doctor was shot by Griggs. Blazkowicz would follow Stuart through the portal (which the Confederates would find and reconstruct.) After fighting the Freedom Party Guards through the city of Atlantis, he would catch up with both Colonel Stuart and Griggs at the City's "Heart" (which was just a star.) Through failing to kill Stuart, B.J. would fight with Griggs, which would result in Atlantis' Destruction. B.J. would escape the burning airship by taking the only parachute and gliding back down to earth. The game would not be as successful as the previous installments, in fact, the game would get a lot of negative criticism. The planned expansion pack for the game, Dark Winter, would be cancelled as a result of the game's failing while it was about 90% finished. The expansion in question, was to follow Pfieffner while he was fighting on the Eastern Front against the Russians, who were attempting to resurrect Koschei the Deathless in an effort to try and turn the war back into their favor. In the limited edition Gold Anniversary Collection that was released in 2017, the cancelled expansion pack would be released in it's incomplete state along with the other games in the franchise. Despite it's incomplete status, Dark Winter would be praised, in which one reviewer said "This is what Snake's Lair 3 should've been."
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Part 2 coming soon.