|
|
Editorial For: Monday, June
1, 1998. |
  Daily editorial on trends in the gaming industry and hot topics. HERE  Interested in the process of game development? Sound, graphics, code, and design are all covered in our game design section. HERE  Back to Index HERE |
||||||||||||||
Well, we are back from E3, the trade show that becomes the epicenter of interactive entertainment for a whole hot and humid week in Atlanta. A lot of you e-mailed me asking where the editorial nugget updates were for last Wednesday through Friday, and to answer your question, we had updates each and every day to our E3 section instead of the editorial. If you haven’t been there, check out that area now. Nevertheless, each day this week I’ll be talking about E3, the trends, the big games, and even the disappointments. Today I wanted to point out six games were surprises – games that made me say, "Wow, I’m going to have to keep tabs on this!" AnachronoxTom Hall has always been one of my favorite guys in the industry – witty, cool, and collected. Although I’m the first to admit that nothing out of Ion Storm thus far has really impressed me, Tom’s demo of Anachronox (or Nox as its often referred to) was simply breathtaking. The 24-bit art combined with incredible visual effects programmed by Corrinne Yu makes this a stunning title to look at. Throw in the node-oriented camera module for the Quake 2 engine (think of full camera movement within the engine) and prepare to be blown away. It doesn’t hurt that Tom has an incredible story planned for this game which is best classified as role playing complete with over 400 NPCs. The cinematic feel of the engine is already apparent and this looks like the kind of futuristic RPG I’ve always wanted to sit down and play – Sort of a fusion of Blade Runner and Proyas’ Dark City movie from earlier this year. Finally, someone in the industry has realized RPGs on a computer don’t have to be fantasy based with swords and dungeons. Nox was one of the best games of the show. Unfortunately, there won’t be any screenshots available for another few weeks. Drakan I think I’ve finally figured out how to spell the name of this incredible new action and adventure game from Surreal Software, a Seattle-based developer who is working with Psygnosis. Think of this as a mixture of Panzer Dragoon and Tomb Raider; you get to move around on foot and explore caves and land, but also jump on a dragon and fly through the air and avoid obstacles. Mixing these two styles of gameplay is a great idea, and the result is a seamless game environment that is stunning to look at. Although Drakan won’t be out until the first quarter of next year, it’s one to watch and a surprise hit of the show. Indiana Jones and the Infernal MachineLucasArts always has one of the best lineups at E3, and this year was no different. However, the surprise announcement from them involved Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, an incredible new adventure game designed by Hal Barwood who worked on the last fantastic Indiana adventure, Fate of Atlantis. The game is now fully 3D and uses the Jedi Knight engine to tell a cinematic story about Indy’s worldwide adventures. Although it wasn’t playable, the images presented via a PowerPoint-esque slide show spoke to the rich visuals and story in the game. Kudos to LucasArts for keeping this quiet for so long – It’s schedule to be out in early 1999. RecoilVirgin hasn’t had a good game in years, but Recoil is a surprisingly strong new vehicular-based action game from Zipper Interactive (they did DeathDrome for Viacom a few years ago) that may set the trend for future Virgin releases. The visuals in the game are stunning and the gameplay is extremely immersive: dynamic terrain, lots of reactive environmental effects, and fast-paced action on immense battlefields. The control scheme is also brilliant: players use the keyboard to move around on the battlefield and the mouse is used to aim the turret on your vehicle. Scheduled to be released in the fall with a demo due this summer, Recoil is a surprisingly good action game that you should keep tabs on. Urban Chaos The most impressive game at Eidos’ booth wasn’t Tomb Raider III but rather Urban Chaos, a game under development from British group Mucky Foot, comprised of former Bullfrog employees. Although this wasn’t originally scheduled to appear at the show, Eidos was so impressed with a demo they saw two weeks ago they decided to show it off to the press. In some ways similar to 3D Realms’ Max Payne, the game has some stunning interactive physics effects and a third-person perspective. For instance, running through a puddle causes the water to ripple and a real-time reflection in the water. Similarly, leaves on a street are disturbed when you run past them and they blow in the wind. Combining elements of platform gaming – jumping across rooftops – and typical action gaming, Urban Chaos is one of the sleeper hits of the show. Coming from the group of developers who had a hand in games such as Magic Carpet and Syndicate Wars, you can bet it will be innovative, stunning, and give Max Payne a run for its money. Tomorrow I’ll be back to look at some of the major trends from the show. Geoff Keighley
|
||||||||||||||||
©
Copyright 1996, 1997, 1998 GMK Studios |
||||||||||||||||
