Snatcher

12.02.1996

Genre: Adventure Visual Novel

Snatcher is a graphic adventure game produced by Konami. It was originally released for the Japanese PC-8801 and MSX2 computers in 1988 and later remade for the Super CD-ROM in 1992. In 1994, a Sega Mega-CD version was made specifically for the West and released in North America and Europe (without any equivalent version on the Japanese Mega-CD). In 1996, the game was re-released in Japan once again, this time on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation. It was written and directed by Hideo Kojima, who would go on to become famous thanks to the success of the Metal Gear Solid series, although he was not directly involved with the Mega-CD version or the later 32-bit console versions. It was followed by a spiritual successor, Policenauts, which Kojima also wrote and directed.

On June 6, 1996, "Lucifer-Alpha", a deadly biological weapon under secret development at the Chernoton Research Facility in Russia, was released into the atmosphere, killing millions of people on the Eurasian supercontinent and half of the people in the world. Panic, chaos, and lack of resources eventually resulted in a destructive war that engulfed the planet. This incident becomes known simply as "The Catastrophe." Asia is no longer recognizable from the viewpoint of a person living in the 20th century. Japan, though not as severely affected by the Catastrophe, still suffered due to the disruption of the trade with its neighbors and the rest of the world. In order to fix this problem, the Japanese government eased the restrictions on immigration, accepting anyone who can contribute to society. No city in Japan better exemplifies this new policy than Neo Kobe City, a metropolis built on a chain of artificial islands and containing a heterogeneous population of many different nationalities living together. Fifty years later, the world is experiencing a threat that is even more grave than biological weapons or world wars: Snatchers. Named after their tendency of kidnapping and murdering their victims and taking their place, Snatchers are the newest menace terrorizing the already weary population. These androids appear during nighttime or the winter months and wear artificial skin that can sweat and bleed, giving them a perfect human appearance over their metallic endoskeletons. No one knows their origin or their intent. The story takes place in December 2047. Gillian Seed, a former soldier who is suffering from amnesia, travels to Neo Kobe City and enlists in JUNKER (which stands for "Japanese Undercover Neuro-Kinetic Elimination Rangers" in the Mega-CD version or "Judgement Uninfected Naked Kind & Execute Ranger" in the Saturn version), a Japanese government agency tasked with eliminating the Snatchers.