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Articles
Adventure Games at the 2004 E3
By
Randy Sluganski
Oh, the things we saw….
Eight years of attending the E3 and this was easily the best and most positive show for the adventure genre since the last E3 in Atlanta almost seven years ago.
And this in the wake of the big-name cancellations of Uru Live, Sam n Max 2 and Jane Jensen’s Gray Matter. Go figure.
How devoted are we to bringing you the most extensive adventure coverage? Well, I had special media passes for screenings of Half-Life 2 and Final Fantasy and I blew-off both to instead look at some adventure games that won’t sell 1/1,000th of the copies of the aforementioned. In fact, I can honestly state that the only thing at the E3 that would have changed my plans to look at even the most obscure adventure game would have been an invitation to the party at the Playboy mansion. But despite my pleading, cajoling and hanging onto the legs of the Playboy Bunnies as they dragged me across the E3 floor, an invitation was not forthcoming. I’m thinking Hef would have felt threatened by my sexy adventure gaming banter anyhow.
Now if you are the type who likes to skim through articles like this, then you will be doing yourself a great disservice as we not only have lots of great pictures, but announcements of upcoming adventure games that have not yet been revealed anywhere else. So smoke ‘em now if you got ‘em, cause we’re about to enter a non-smoking area and I guarantee you that by the time we reach the end of our journey you will be both exhausted and euphoric.
We will eventually feature full previews/reviews/screenshots of every game mentioned in this E3 round-up, but for now we would rather share our immediate impressions of the games and concentrate more on the people behind the scenes.
The Adventure Company
Our first stop was to visit our friends at Dreamcatcher/The Adventure Company. Immediately I was greeted by Annette Bechamp, Renata Richardson (Product Manager) and Tara Reed (Public Relations Coordinator). Hugs ensued all around (as you will see, the adventure community is very loving; whereas FPS aficionados head-butt each other as a form of greeting, we hug) and then it was time to get down to business.
While TAC’s offerings this year seemed slimmer than usual, the games that were in the spotlight were top-notch.
Atlantis Evolution had gorgeous graphics and is projected to be the first of a trilogy. It is in no way connected to the three previous Atlantis games released by TAC. This new series features a photographer who is trapped in a vortex that deposits him in the mythical city of Atlantis. The cut-scenes from developers Dreamcatcher Europe are especially impressive and it looks as though they have some former Cryo employees in their fold.
Aura: The Fate of Ages was also one of the more graphical beautiful games at the E3. Don’t believe me? Well, ask the Myst IV: Revelation development team, they were overheard exclaiming aloud over the colorful backgrounds. It is evident that Aura has been strongly influenced by Myst, but with much more character interaction and a deeper storyline. If sales and word-of-mouth are strong for Aura, then expect a sequel from this talented development team of Streko.
Finally, there was Missing from
Lexis
Numerique. Already released in Europe as In
Memoriam,
the renamed Missing offers something that
the adventure genre needs more of – innovation. Missing has
you searching for two missing investigators who have been kidnapped
by a serial killer known as
Phoenix. The catch? Phoenix is the only one we can provide you with
clues to their whereabouts and he will actually contact you via email!
We spoke at length with Lexis Numerique Marketing Director Djamil
Kemal - who is a fascinating individual - and we
were informed that not only is an add-on to Missing being considered,
but also
a sequel. Look for more on our discussion with Djamil in weeks to
come as we talked at great length of Europe’s attitude towards
software piracy.
Even though they were both listed in the E3 Media Guide, conspicuous by their absence were Dark Fall: Lights Out and Riddle of the Sphinx 3. We did encounter Sphinx developer Jeff Tobler, but it is still too soon to speculate on the progress of either title.
Well, lets take leave
TAC in search of other adventures, but wait, who is that waving
in our direction? Why it’s Jane Jensen and
husband Robert Holmes. After hugs all around
(that’s
right, I was hugged by Jane Jensen, eat your heart out!) we promise
to meet later to discuss Jane’s new project.
Not
yet though as we turn around only to see Philippe Gaude,
Vice President of Galilea
Production. After a brief
chat about his last game – Jack
the Ripper – my
attempts to pry any information about a sequel from this tight-lipped
Frenchman prove futile so I finally head for Vivendi to see the game
that would be, for me, the highlight of the E3.