E3 2005 - Previews & Impressions
E3 2005: Day 1 Coverage
Originally published on 05/19/2005 at ActiveWin.com
Greetings from Los Angeles! Well, another E3 is upon us and, as always, you can count on ActiveXbox to bring you the coverage of the hottest games at the show. There are hundreds of games being shown for the current and next-generation iterations of the Xbox this year, and today we'll be looking at some of the best and the brightest of these titles.
One title in development for PC and Xbox 360 that was being shown off this year is Call of Duty 2. The sequel to the hit PC first person shooter, Call of Duty 2 is trying to keep the fast and furious action from the first game, while adding a bevy of new elements to the gameplay. A demo of one of the levels was being shown at Activision's booth, and, from what was shown, this sequel looks to do that rare feat of surpassing the original game. The demo starts with your character in a landing craft headed to Pointe Du Hoc, an imposing 100-foot tall cliff topped by German artillery guns, which was one of the locations that needed to be secured to assure victory on D-Day. As your craft reaches the base of the cliff three grappling hooks are shot out to the top of the wall, giving you and your men a route to the top. Seeing the mass of soldiers attempting to scale their way to the top really shows off the new graphics engine, which surpasses recent titles such as Doom III and Half-Life 2. The first thing you will notice in Call of Duty 2 is that the battlefield is a very noisy place. You're assaulted from all sides by the sounds of weapons fire and, more impressively, the shouts and orders of your teammates. Unlike most FPS games which usually have only a few NPCs that have lines, there are literally hundreds of soldiers barking orders, talking to each other, and even giving advice on how to proceed; it definitely brings the battlefield to life. As you reach the top of the cliff you are tasked with taking out the German artillery guns. The explosions going on around you showcase the particle effects in the game, which creates the most realistic looking smoke seen in any console (or PC for that matter) game to date. After destroying the guns, the demo drew to a close. Call of Duty 2 looks set to continue the tradition of quality World War II action set by it's predecessor when it's released for the Xbox 360 and PC later this year.
Another high-profile game being demoed at E3 this year was a little game called Quake IV. Built on the Doom III engine and taking place directly after Quake II, Quake IV is easily one of the most impressive shooters being shown this year. Set to release on Xbox 360 and PC, Quake IV uses the Doom engine to impressive effect, showing incredibly detailed character models and backgrounds, as well as rendering vast outdoor battlefields. The demo being shown gave a glimpse at the first few levels of the game. The game begins with you as a soldier headed to the Strogg homeworld shortly after the news that the Strogg leader has been killed, but things don't go quite as expected. Your ship is shot down and you find yourself on the surface of the planet, one of only a few survivors from Rhino squad. As the demo continued the soldier made their way inside of a Strogg compound, showcasing the impressive lighting and shadowing effects that the Doom engine is known for. After a few minor firefights with an ally at your side, you make your way deeper into the compound but (spoilers ahead) are captured by the Strogg. When your character awakens you are strapped down on a conveyor belt, watching the person ahead of you being sliced and diced by some rather nasty looking machinery. Instead of pulling the normal video game move of freeing you at the last possible second, you have to watch as you are impaled by a huge metal spike and have your legs cut off. As you watch, Strogg bio-mechanical legs are grafted onto your body, along with chest armor and a neural link. Before the link can be activated, however, you are rescued by your comrades. Though you are now part Strogg, you are still fighting the good fight, with a few new powers as well, which were unfortunately not shown. Even though it's going to be several months to release, Quake IV looks to be shaping up nicely, with gameplay and visuals appearing very polished.
The next demo I had the opportunity to witness was King Kong. Following the story of the soon-to-be-released film from director Peter Jackson, King Kong places you in the roll of Jack Driscoll, the "hero" of the film. The game is being helmed by Jackson himself, who hopes to bring a cinematic, emotional touch to games that hasn't been seen before. With help from the creative director behind "Beyond Good and Evil", a sleeper hit from 2003, it looks as if Jackson might well achieve his goal. The game itself is a first-person shooter, but with several interesting elements. First and foremost, from the gameplay that was shown, King Kong is very focused on providing a very rich experience for the player. The demo started with your character in a sacrifice pit watching as King Kong snatches up a blonde beauty who has been placed as an offering for him. You escape your binds with help from your friends and begin to make your way out of the pit. Nearly as soon as you escape, however, you are assaulted by the indigenous people of the island on which you'd come to find Kong, with flaming spears being chucked at you from all over. You are able to take these spears and toss them back in an attempt to buy yourself some time to escape. This is only one example of the many weapons you will be able to use in the game. While it looks like firearms will be your best choice most of the time, you are also able to use spears, clubs, and other objects found lying around to defend yourself from the dinosaurs and creatures that roam the island. After fighting back a T-Rex while rafting down a raging river, you find yourself cornered with nowhere to go. Suddenly Kong emerges on the scene, blonde still in hand, and the game seamlessly shifts you to control of Kong. The sequences where you play as Kong take place from a third person perspective and look to be focused on brawling and destruction. The dinosaurs, which moments ago had seemed so menacing when you were playing as Jack, are now nearly helpless as you pummel them with Kong's massive strength. Though the demo was extremely short, it showed a lot of potential. If it continues on its current course, King Kong looks to be a game that could re-define the medium, blending action, story, and character development like never before. Look forward to this one coming out on all the major consoles (including the Xbox 360) near the movie's release.
Finally, we'll take a look at Prey, a first person shooter from 3D Realms, makers of the Duke Nukem games, and Human Head Studios. Prey puts you in the role of a Native American man trying to get away from his ancestry and heritage, but fate has other plans. As you are walking around your grandfather's bar a strange green light illuminates the outside, and you see a car being drawn into the sky. Without warning, the building begins to shake and the lights go out. The green light now floods the interior of the bar, the roof dissolving away above you. Your grandfather and girlfriend both struggle to keep from being drawn into the light but to no avail; the three of you are pulled up into a strange alien craft. Before I go any further, let me say this: Prey is without a doubt the best-looking game that I have ever laid eyes on. The Doom III engine is used to create a world that is bizarre and surreal, and unlike anything you've seen in a game before. Back to the demo, though. After being "beamed up" you are in a sort of control room when a portal opens in front of you, another part of the ship visible on the other side. When you step through the portal it is a seamless transition to the other room, as was shown in the demo by having the protagonist run back and forth through it as they fought vicious four-legged aliens that were attacking. Going through another portal brought the player to a brightly lit walkway which went up the wall in front of you. Defying gravity, these walkways allow you to traverse floors, walls, and ceilings while fighting enemies who attack from seemingly every direction. In addition to allowing you to walk anywhere and everywhere, gravity can also be used to solve puzzles in the game as was shown when the player shot a block ahead of them that flipped gravity in the room, sending you to the ceiling and allowing you to bypass an obstacle that had blocked further progress. Although you're in a spaceship not all of the enemies you fight are alien, one that was shown looked to be a zombified little girl who, quite brutally, kills another little girl before your eyes. Another interesting aspect of the game is in how it handles player death. Instead of forcing you to restart after dying, you are sent to a "spirit realm" of sorts where you must kill strange flying creatures in order to gather enough energy to return to your body, and subsequently continue from where you left off. In the same vein as the spirit realm area, your character is able to astral project themselves, leaving their body temporarily to solve puzzles or kill out-of-reach enemies. This does, however, leave your physical body vulnerable while your spirit is roaming around. With many unique and original gameplay elements, and out-of-this-world visuals, Prey seems prepped to make quite a splash when it comes out for PC and Xbox360.
That's it for today's E3 coverage, but be sure to check back tomorrow when we take a look at Microsoft's booth at the show and get some hands-on time with the new Xbox360 along with screenshots and videos of the games for the new system. And for those of you (myself included) who still love the original Xbox, we'll also have coverage of all the big games coming out this year, including the long-awaited port of Half-Life 2, and the latest iteration in the Burnout series. Like always, keep checking ActiveXbox for the most up-to-date news and previews for the Xbox and Xbox360.
E3 2005: Day 2 Coverage
Originally published on 05/20/2005 at ActiveWin.com
Well, if you're reading this right now that means another day of E3 has drawn to a close and we're here again to give you the latest coverage on the show. While there weren't any high-profile announcements today like yesterday, that doesn't mean there isn't a ton of information coming out of the expo.
Before we get into the games that were shown, let's take a closer look at the Xbox 360, Microsoft's upcoming next-gen console. I was lucky enough today to have some time to sit down with Scott Henson, the Director of Advanced Technologies at Microsoft and the man responsible for working with the developers of next-gen titles to make sure they get as much out of the system as possible. In the Q&A session, Scott went over several of the previously announced features of the console as well as expanding on the information that was presented at the press conference earlier this week. The biggest focus of the Xbox 360 at this point appears to be its all-encompassing integration with Xbox Live. All games on the system are required to have Live integration, which means even if there isn't an online component to the game you will still be able to get messages and invites from your friends while playing, which will show up via an onscreen prompt and also on your controller on the "ring of light" that encircles the Xbox 360 logo on the controller. One cool change to the Live service is the addition of Zones, which allow you to show the world, by way of your Gamer Card, what type of gamer you are. Right now there are four of these zones; R&R for the casual gamers, Underground for gaming without rules, Pro for people who love the competitive aspect of gaming, and Family for when you just want to sit back and play games with your friends and family.
Another feature being added to the Xbox Live service is the Gamer Card. This card will show other Live users feedback about you, your Gamerscore (each game can hand out up to 1000 Gamerscore points for various in-game accomplishments), and your picture or icon, which can be uploaded from your digital camera. And before you start worrying about having to see obscene images in people's profiles, I was assured that there is a community team that will respond to any misuses of this feature. One thing that hasn't changed from the original Xbox Live is the 100 person cap on your friends list, although with the Gamer Card feature it will be much easier to go through and find out who the people you really want on your list are. Speaking of friends, the new Xbox Live will also let you know just what your friends are doing when they are signed in, be it playing the latest game or even watching a DVD or TV, and you will even be able to send them invites while they are doing so. It looks like Xbox 360 and Xbox Live are set to continue their upward march in the console wars.
Of course, no matter how powerful the hardware or internet support, no console can succeed without great games, and Xbox 360 has these in spades. I got a chance today to spend some hands-on time with two of the launch window titles; Full Auto, a car combat game in the vein of the Twisted Metal series, and Condemned, an atmospheric first person shooter in which you are hunting down serial killers. Though their premises couldn't be more different the two games did have a few things in common, namely amazing graphics and interesting twists on old genres. Full Auto, for example, plays out like Need for Speed with guns…lots and lots of guns. Instead of having the combat take place in arenas like most car combat games, the demo shown at E3 had players duking it out on the streets in a "traditional" lap race. While speeding through a turn you could launch a missile taking out an opponent, or whatever else happens to be in your way be it a gas station or a pesky semi. The levels blew apart with spectacular explosions and, if you find yourself a little too close to one them, you can always hit the right analog button and rewind time a few seconds to correct your mistake. Full Auto is definitely one to watch for.
On the FPS front, Condemned looks to be adding several new and interesting features to the at-times stagnant genre. Instead of being a super-powered, one-man killing machine like in most first person shooters, you are placed in the role of an investigator trying to get to a brutal serial killer. The game features new and interesting gameplay aspects, such as using a UV light to find spatterings of blood for clues which you send back to your analysts, and being able to make a weapon out of just about anything, including broken boards and loose pipes. While the demo level was exceedingly short, it did showcase each of these features, as well as the visceral, close-up combat that one developer assured me will be present throughout the game. Condemned is looking to be another must-have title at the launch of the Xbox 360.
Finally, on the PC front, I got a chance to play a few rounds of Battlefield 2, the soon be released sequel to Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield Vietnam. Besides the requisite better graphics and bigger maps, Battlefield 2 has added a variety of new elements to keep the gameplay fresh. One such element is the addition of the commander mode, which will allow one player on each team to take the role of a military planner, sending ammo and more to their soldiers where it is needed by use of an overhead map of the battlefield. Beyond the obvious advantage of being able to help comrades in need, it also allows for much more strategy when planning an attack on the enemy. One of the first thing I noticed about the game is that the guns felt much more solid and lifelike than in previous entries in the series. The sniper rifle, for example, provided a noticeable kickback and strong recoil, as well as a nifty new feature that lets you see just where your last round landed. That brings up another new feature to the game, which is realistic drop rates on bullets. Whereas in the previous titles you could shoot from halfway across a map and, as long as your aim was dead on, you would hit your target, you now have to factor in the dropping of the bullet along it's path to constantly decreasing speed. The game is planned to have 30 vehicles and I was informed by one of the developers that they will be releasing a one-map demo about 2 weeks before the game's release in late June. With support for over 64 players per match, as well as a system that will scale a map's size to the number of players, Battlefield 2 looks to be a worthy heir to the Battlefield name.
Well, that's all for today, but be sure to check back again tomorrow when we will take a look at some of the high profile PC games, including Age of Empire III, as well as a few games for the original Xbox that are worthy of mention. This year in releases is shaping up to be great for gamers, both hardcore and casual alike, and things look to only be getting better.
E3 2005: Final Day Coverage
Originally published on 05/21/2005 at ActiveWin.com
The lights have gone out at the L.A. Convention Center and another E3 has come to a close. Like every year, this year's E3 was full of the requisite hyperbole and one-upmanship between the big 3, but didn't come up short on promising new titles. While the majority of the games being shown were still for current generation consoles, the demos being shown for the next-gen consoles (with Xbox 360 being the only system with playable demos on the show floor) stole a lot of thunder from the current systems. With that in mind we're going to spend some time with the new Test Drive game, Test Drive: Unlimited for the Xbox 360, as well as taking a look at some promising Xbox titles.
Test Drive: Unlimited is the latest entry in the long-running Test Drive series, a franchise that has released dozens of games on just as many systems. In Unlimited, however, the franchise takes a new approach by allowing players to explore a fastidiously recreated version of the Hawaiian island of Oahu featuring over 1,000 miles of roads to race on. In addition to this, Unlimited is doing a genre first by having you create a custom appearance for your driver, right down to the clothes they're wearing, at the outset of the game to assure that every player will have their own, unique identity. Even though there were only two race types available in the demo being shown, the game is already showing a lot of promise. Even in this early build there were several miles of road available to traverse. In a half hour of playing, I never crossed the same patch of road twice as I twisted and turned through the natural beauty of the island. That leads into another aspect of the game; it's absolutely gorgeous. From the detailed lighting and reflections on your vehicle to the sweeping panoramas of the Hawaiian coast, the team behind the game has gone to great lengths to make this the most photo-realistic racing game ever released. The little details are the most impressive, like the little roadside shacks that litter parts of the island. From what information has been released so far it appears that the game is going to be a complete recreation of the island, right down to every last road sign and building. The demo was using a steering wheel and pedals so I wasn't able to gauge how well the game will control with the Xbox 360 gamepad, but in any case the controls felt very tight, with cornering and acceleration feeling very realistic in all of the cars available. Given the pedigree of the Test Drive name and the large amount of effort that has been clearly been put into this title, picking up Test Drive: Unlimited at the Xbox launch seems like a no-brainer for any fan of the racing genre.
Another game that I was lucky enough to be able to try out was the newest iteration of the Gauntlet series, Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows for the Xbox. With it's development being helmed by John Romero of Doom fame (and Daikatana infamy), Seven Sorrows looks to be taking the Gauntlet series in a more mature, darker direction. Now, before the purists start throwing up their fists in anger at this, let me assure you that in my brief time with the game it felt just as fun and chaotic as the old Gauntlet games. The gameplay still consists of taking control of one of several character archetypes (such as a Wizard, Warrior, etc.) with up to three friends either in-person or over Xbox Live and beating the crap out of anything and everything that moves in a rich fantasy world. One drastic change in this outing of the Gauntlet series is a much stronger focus on story. Whereas the previous entries in the series consisted of very thin stories with little or no focus, the story in this game has been moved to the forefront and will play prominently into the game. The basic premise is, in the words of Midway, "The legendary arcade classic Gauntlet is reborn with a new vision, story and gameplay in Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows. Seeking to undo the past, a powerful emperor is lost in his own dreams and nightmares. After being imprisoned by him for two centuries, four immortal heroes set out to undo their tormentor's lifetime of regrets. In the process, they must deal with the consequences of their own actions and watch as the world shakes apart around them. Seven Sorrows is the fusion of fantasy fighting action with strategy and user friendly RPG elements." Putting such a large focus on the story allows the developers to experiment with a few new gameplay elements as well, such as light RPG features like upgradable weapons and spells throughout your adventures. While toying with the formula of such an iconic series as Gauntlet may alienate the old-school gamers, it seems like taking the series in this bold new direction might be just what's needed to make Gauntlet exciting again. Look forward to a release in late 2005.
One final Xbox 360 title that I was able to view was "The Outfit" from Relic. Though in the past Relic has been known for it's real-time strategy games, such as last year's successful Dawn of War, it's throwing its hat into a new arena with this title; the WWII shooter. Though at first glance "The Outfit" appears to be your typical 3rd-Person shooter, a few minutes of watching the game in motion quickly shatters that image. Although it takes place from 3rd-person view, the game plays out more like a RTS game. As far as the story, the rep showing the demo described it as "high action, like a Jerry Bruckheimer" movie and, from what I was able to see of the game, this seems a very apt description. To play the game, you take control of two of three distinct heroes; JD Tyler, the stealth fighter; Tommy Mack, a close-up guts and glory warrior; and Deuce Williams, a fighter whose specialty is high-explosive anti-vehicle weaponry. In addition to controlling your main characters, which you can switch between at any time, you also have power over 4-man squads which you can order to do specific tasks (hence the RTS similarities). These squads function like races in a RTS game by way of unique powers and abilities. The gameplay itself was reminiscent of this year's blockbuster Mercenaries, in that you are able to call in drops of supplies at any time from any place on the battlefield. These can consist of new weapons, manned gun emplacements, or even vehicles like tanks or personnel carriers. The supply drops aren't free however, they require the use of currency which is gained by completing missions or just blowing up anything and everything around you. The weapons and vehicles you have access to scale up throughout the game becoming increasingly powerful. This comes in handy when you take into account that virtually everything in the game is destructible; from walls and fences to whole buildings and bridges, you can destroy nearly everything you see in the game. At this stage in development the game seems to be "borrowing" heavily from Mercenaries, albeit with a different timeframe, but I have no doubt that by the time it is released it will stand up as a unique title bearing the same quality as Relic's previous releases.
So that's it. E3 has come and gone, teasing us gamers with all sorts of tantalizing new distractions and new worlds. With the Xbox 360's release looming just over the horizon, and a huge number of PC games ready to be unleashed on the gaming public, this coming year is shaping up to be a golden age for video games whether you're a console or PC gamer. Hopefully you enjoyed reading about this year's E3 as much as I enjoyed attending it. But just because the show is over doesn't mean there's no more news to be released. Keep checking here at ActiveXbox and ActiveWin and we'll keep you on the cutting edge of gaming. See you next year!
