Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri (1996): The Squad-Command FPS That Looking Glass Never Got Enough Credit For
Official re-releaseYear: 1996 · Developer/Publisher: Looking Glass Technologies · Designer: Dorian Hart · Platform: DOS · Theme: Science Fiction
Looking Glass Technologies is remembered today mostly for System Shock, and that’s a fair legacy to have. Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri is the studio’s other major achievement from the mid-1990s, and it’s spent decades being the forgotten one, despite standing as one of the best squad-level first-person games ever made from its era. The setup is straightforward science fiction: interplanetary war has broken out between Centauri colonists and an oppressive Earth Hegemony, and you lead a Strike Force commando unit through that conflict.
What actually earns the game its reputation is how many genuine innovations it packed into the first-person shooter format at a time when the genre was still mostly about running, shooting, and finding keycards. You choose up to three other commandos to bring into most missions, and each one carries real statistics and a defined specialty: recon experts who spot enemies and move without being detected, demolitions experts who are the difference between success and failure on any mission that calls for destroying enemy structures. Picking the wrong team for a given objective has real consequences, which makes squad selection a genuine strategic decision rather than a formality before the shooting starts.
The command system built around that squad is where Terra Nova separates itself most clearly from its contemporaries. Once your squad lands, you can order fire-and-maneuver tactics, set up diversions, split the group to pursue separate objectives simultaneously, or direct fire toward a specific target rather than leaving it to squadmate AI discretion. You can even call a repair specialist over to patch failing systems in your own battle armor as you take damage. None of these commands function as icing on top of a normal shooter; they’re load-bearing parts of how missions actually get won or lost, which is a level of squad depth that plenty of later shooters still don’t attempt.
Presentation backs up the mechanical ambition. The action runs fast and genuinely captivating against lush, realistic terrain, with rain, lightning, and racing clouds giving the alien skies real atmosphere, and the SVGA visuals at full detail rival anything else released in the same period. Full-motion video sequences with real actors carry the campaign’s narrative beats between missions, a production choice that was still a genuine investment for a game this mechanically dense. Across 39 missions, plus a scenario editor for building custom combat scenarios, there’s a real amount of content here, with training missions easing new players in before the harder difficulty settings test anyone with prior FPS experience.
It’s a real shame that so few later shooters picked up Terra Nova’s cooperative squad-command ideas directly. Dynamix’s Tribes is usually named as the closest spiritual successor, but that’s a fairly thin lineage for a design this influential in concept. For anyone who wants a mix of strategy and action from a first-person perspective, this remains close to the high point of that particular combination.
How to run it today
Terra Nova now has an official modern rerelease that runs natively on current systems, which is the simplest route in. The original DOS release also runs cleanly under DOSBox, including its SVGA graphics mode, for anyone specifically after the unmodified period build.
Compatibility: Windows/Mac/Linux (native, via the modern rerelease) or DOS (via DOSBox) · Controls: Keyboard and mouse · Setup difficulty: Low
Legal status
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri received an official DRM-free rerelease on GOG, followed shortly after by a Steam release, and both remain currently active storefronts for the game. The rerelease includes bonus material such as high-resolution manual scans and the original soundtrack, making this one of the more completely preserved Looking Glass titles available today.
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Laser Squad shares the squad-tactics DNA that drives Terra Nova’s mission design, if approached from a turn-based angle instead of real-time first-person action. System Shock is the obvious next stop if Looking Glass’s broader design sensibility is what drew you in, and Strife is worth exploring for another mid-90s shooter that tried to layer real narrative choice on top of standard FPS combat.
Frequently asked questions
What makes Terra Nova different from a normal first-person shooter?
You command up to three other squadmates in most missions rather than fighting alone, and the commands you give them, fire-and-maneuver tactics, diversions, splitting the squad for separate objectives, actually change mission outcomes instead of functioning as cosmetic flavor.
Do individual squadmates matter, or are they interchangeable?
They matter. Each commando has distinct statistics and a specialty, such as recon experts who spot enemies and move undetected, or demolitions experts suited to missions requiring structures to be destroyed. Building the right team for a given mission is a real part of the strategy.
What's the story setup?
It's set in a future where interplanetary war has broken out between Centauri colonists and an oppressive Earth Hegemony, and you lead a squad of Strike Force commandos through that conflict across 39 missions, with a scenario editor available for building your own.
Is Terra Nova connected to other Looking Glass games?
It comes from the same studio behind System Shock, though it's a separate game with its own squad-command focus rather than a shared setting or story. Dynamix's Tribes is often cited as the closest spiritual successor to Terra Nova's cooperative squad concepts, which few later shooters picked up on directly.
Can I buy Terra Nova today?
Yes. It received an official DRM-free rerelease on GOG, followed shortly after by a Steam release, both currently active and including bonus material like the original manuals and soundtrack.