Codename Crescent

***Codename Crescent*** is an Adventure, Racing and Role-Playing game developed and published by Illusion Works exclusively for the Tropicon system, to be released some time in 2018. The game focuses around a popular contest known as the "Nebula Tournament", where people from all around the various galaxies and universes come together to participate in a Grand Prix, where the winner receives intergalactic fame and fortune.

## Plot

In a world filled with poverty, illness and chaos, there is one refuge the world has left to take advantage of, the Nebula Tournament. Ever since the early 2040s, species from all around the multiple galaxies have met to take part in the biggest racing competition ever to be held. However with gaining popularity, the racers of the competition began to become more corrupt and more drastic in the way that they would go around competing. There is a group of teams from all around the universe standing as a collective in order to stop the ways of the tournament and change it back to the way it used to be once and for all, for generations in the future to enjoy.

## Gameplay

Whilst being majorly a typical racing game, Codename Crescent also has elements from other video gaming genres such as Role Playing. In Codename Crescent, you are not only restricted to racing on tracks like other Racing games such as the *Mario Kart* series, but there is also a large open world that you are allowed to explore as much as possible. It shows more similarities to the *Grand Theft Auto* franchise, without the violence and other mature themes being present.

In the Role Playing element, you have the chance to explore the universe labelled "Carpe-Diem", and you can travel through the galaxy to different planets and different nations to experience the culture of those residing there. You can accept quests from the residents and collect items or skills to help pass the requirements of the quest or mission you are currently on.

### Stats

There are seven different statistics in Codename Crescent that are customizable through the rider and their vehicle combination. Power, Resistance, Speed, Acceleration, Weight, Handling and Tactics. Power allows the rider to charge through other vehicles and possibly break them easier, resistance is how many hits your vehicle can take, Speed is how fast your vehicle is without boosters, Acceleration is how fast your vehicle can reach its top speed, Weight is how heavy your vehicle is, Handling is how easy it is to control your vehicle and Tactics is how quick and easy it is to fill up your tactical finisher.

### Tactical Finishers

Tactical FInishers are special moves used by the racers to help aid themselves whilst racing. They allow the racers to gain advantages over others and hopefully eventually win. Every leader of a team has one and can use them whenever they manage to fill up their Tactics metre. Once filled, they can activate their Tactical Finisher and rain havoc on their opponents.

### Popularity

Popularity is a very important mechanic. You can gain or lose popularity based on how you're doing in the Nebula Tournament rankings, if you're doing a good job in racing and getting in the top three places you will earn more reputation and popularity, however if you aren't and keep getting low placings in races you will lose popularity and become more irrelevant and obscure as the weeks pass. You have to stay on top of your game as much as possible to avoid being knocked out of the tournament!

### Unlocking Racers

Unlocking Racers can be very difficult if there is a specific character you are trying to unlock. You can unlock characters randomly by beating them in a race, but this is only a randomized chance. However in Rival Mode you are sure to recruit whoever your rival in that mission is, which can make it easier to track down specific characters. There are multiple characters you can unlock this way but some are mode specific, so you will have to try every mode and method possible to unlock every character!

## Game Modes

### Story Mode

In Story Mode, you are given missions (or quests) by other competitors and racers in the Nebula Tournament. However these missions have cutscenes and other special purposes which begin to construct a story within the game. Once you have completed a mission you will be rewarded generously for your efforts which often means you will receive extra parts to help improve your vehicle or rarely new characters for your roster.

### Point-to-Point Mode

In Point-to-Point Mode, you race against other racers in an open world environment. You are able to drive around in your vehicle in the world of Carpe-Diem freely and you can access different missions and quests through this mode which get added to a Quest/Mission Book in your inventory, which you can then accomplish whenever you find the time to do so.

### Circuit Mode

In Circuit Mode, you race on a bounded track against a group of opponents. You are able to drive around the track and place the highest you can in every race. There is less freedom in Circuits than in Point-to-Point but it serves as a throwback to how older racing games worked such as Burnout or Mario Kart. Through doing so you can unlock a lot more content such as Characters and other tracks to race on.

### Knockout Mode

In Knockout Mode, you have the choice whether you would like to play on a track or in an open world environment, whichever you decide to do so, you will have to race through laps, and the last place racer per lap will be eliminated from the race. As every lap closes, another racer is knocked out. When it reaches the final two racers there will be two laps instead of one to build tension, and the winner receives a miniature trophy of themselves which goes into a Trophy Case. If you collect every trophy for every default character in the game, you will unlock Rival Mode. If you return and collect every trophy for every unlockable character in the game, you will receive more money to spend in the Space Station and one final character.

### Rival Mode

Rival Mode is initially unlocked after all the default character trophies have been earned in Knockout Mode. In Rival Mode, you are to race against another player 1-on-1 in a three lap race, again you can decide whether it is open world or a track. If you defeat the rival and match their conditions, you can then proceed to recruit them onto your roster. There a lot of characters that can be unlocked this way but some characters' requirements are harder to accomplish than others so you may have to result to other modes in order to eventually unlock them.

### Quick Time Mode

In Quick Time Mode you can race single-handedly against the clock to try and accomplish new records and the like. By doing so you can increase your popularity and make it easier for people to want you to succeed or join your team. In this mode you can also set a character to race for you whilst the console is turned off or the game isn't in play, meaning you can earn more popularity points even when you're not physically playing the game.

### Space Station

The Space Station is the hub of your purchasing needs. In Space Station you can go shopping for items and parts for your vehicle to help boost its stats or to repair certain parts which turn ineffective after a certain while. You can buy items for your character to make them more happy and content with you and themselves and you can buy more parts to help customize your vehicle's stats or even just its look. Having a vehicle which has a signature look can help boost your popularity as you become recognisable to the crowds of people for having a certain design of vehicle.

## Racer Profiles

There are a total of twelve racers in Codename Crescent, four of which are default and eight of which can be unlocked later on.

## Quests

There are a total of fifteen quests in Codename Crescent, some of which help you unlock character quicker whilst others give you in-game rewards to help boost your team. The quests (if done in chronological order) help align a story and give the game some depth, whilst also giving an insight to the life of the characters on their home planets and their racing careers. Once all quests are completed you are then able to play in the Nebula Finale, the final race of the season.

## Trivia

* Codename Crescent has been stated as having a very large roster, which was backed up with the leak of there being over 50 characters in the game overall, but it is still not confimed to this date.
	+ However the information is contradictory as there have only been four characters revealed so far, none of which were included in the supposed 50 that were leaked.
	+ This was proven false as the game has only 12 characters available for use. However through data mining into the game there are several more racers that have been programmed into the game but were scrapped somewhere along the line in development.
* Codename Crescent is the first racing game developed by Illusion Works.
* Codename Crescent is also one of two of the first original games from the company, the other being Black Magic.
* Suprisingly, Earth is the only planet to not be represented with a playable character. This is mainly due as the Earth team are the main antagonists in the game.