ECTS/EGN/GameStarsLive A Live Report by Red Egnes
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ECTS/EGN/GameStarsLive September 7, 2004 |
Three For The Price Of One
The silly season commences! London’s three major games shows, ECTS, EGN and GameStars Live have all opened their doors and the press and public have flooded in in droves. It’s an interesting year, with the introduction of EGN in competition with the ECTS… and ECTS has suffered. The previous crown jewel on the UK gaming calendar has been reduced to a bland, empty meeting place with very little marketing evident. The games companies seem to have moved on to the brand new press and paying developers trade show, which is now coupled with the public GameStars Live – a massive gaming event full of pre-release titles to play and a LOT of fanfare.
Cube
Starting the day with ECTS in Earls Court, I was greeted with dismal white cubicles and a distinct lack of much to write about. However, jovial AG god Steve Ince turned up to cheer the proceedings, keeping any information about his presence firmly under his hat, and pointed out possibly the only major talking-point of the entire event. The new Resident Evil on Gamecube is an incredible makeover on the old title, with swinging camera angles, incredible design work, tons of gore and a new, almost Silent Hill feel. Certainly, a sizeable crowd had gathered to watch the action, and unfortunately impeded me from actually picking up the pad and having a go. That said, fans of shock-horror should definitely keep an eye out for it.
Other than Steve and Resident Evil, there wasn’t much going on at ECTS. The Games Developers Conference seemed as popular as ever, but on the gaming front, particularly the AG gaming front, nothing was forthcoming. So I hot-footed it over to EGN and GameStars Live at East London’s ExCel venue to see if I could sneak a peak at any forthcoming titles.
Raiders Of The Lost Genre
EGN turned out to be reasonably fruitful for this adventure game journalist! To be honest, even though there really wasn’t much in the way of adventures in comparison to other genre titles, what there was was enough to get me excited about the future of AG’s. My first stop was at The Adventure Company stand, where the effervescent Lorraine Liu was on-hand to show this lucky journo the new crop of games they’ve got lined up… and I was impressed! Not only by the games, but also Lorraine’s intimate knowledge of the product line and apparent interest in adventures. It goes to show TAC’s commitment to the genre, but also that the staff have as much interest in pushing quality games out as we do in waiting to see them…
Underwater Love
The first title I saw was the new Atlantis Evolution. It’s not really a game that has previously interested me, mainly due to market saturation of certain underwater elements, but after my brief encounter with it I came away with a vastly different perception. The game isn’t related to the others and was developed after gamers had said they wanted more adventures that involved Atlantis itself. Well, here it is in all its glory! AGers are going to be very happy with the result – well-executed cut scenes, a change in style to a more cartoony/Pixar oriented look which suits the fantasy backdrop and well-rendered scenes with plenty of life.
Not giving too much away, the initial cut-scene on a ship in heavy seas really set the scene and tone, and amazingly after the movie ends you find yourself in a cabin which rolls about convincingly whilst still retaining full 2D 360-degree movement. I was also shown an outdoors scene in Atlantis, surrounded by well-designed statues, which was reasonably crisp. A man standing over a well was very well rendered and animated, and from what I could make out over the hubbub of EGN the voice-acting appear to be well done.
What struck me, and was reiterated by Lorraine, is that the cut-scenes are well integrated into the puzzles and don’t appear to take over, instead taking part in your actions and making sure the story is fluid. They also appear to make logical sense, although it’s really too early to tell from what little I saw. That said, the game is coming on nicely and is something to look forward to.
I See Dead People
Next came Dark Fall: Lights Out. I’ve been looking forward to this one. Due to the amount of big sequels at the show, the main thing I noted during the shows was that most of them contained “the same, but more” in terms of gameplay and graphics. Dark Fall: Lights Out appears to follow that dictum to the tee. Using the same postcard-style engine of the previous title, a brief cut-scene leads into the murky visuals we all know and love… only… a little more colorful. Dark Fall: Lights Out appears to have the same gloomy atmosphere, but Jonathon Boakes seems to have pushed the visuals further, making them appear more stylized yet retaining the haunted look.
The presence of people you can interact with seems to further the gameplay and although I didn’t really see much, I was impressed with the amount of care and attention to detail that had gone into it. Puzzles again seemed well thought out, utilizing the same system and appearing to rely a bit more on the inventory. The two areas I saw included a musty interior and an old seaside town shrouded in mist and even though the atmosphere around me was noisy, the oppressive tone still managed to radiate from the monitor.
Lorraine told me that this time the story will take over various time zones (past, present and future) and locations, and the character you play will also change throughout the game. The way this is handled is very discreet and sounds very intriguing, but I won’t give anything away… let’s just say it’ll make for some intentionally confusing, and possibly quite creepy, moments. Through its twisted storyline, it truly looks like Jonathon has pulled out all the stops on giving a really meaty plot to the games haunted bones. Be on the look out for it, I know I will be.
The Configuration Lament
Sentinel came next. The new game by Detalion, the creators of Schizm, it looks like the puzzle-hungry are going to really pleased with this one. Again, it retains the striking look perfected over the company’s last two titles and is once more presented in complete 3D. The backgrounds are a dream, with more movement apparent through lapping waves and exploding volcanoes. A journey through a town surrounded by a wheat field nearly put me in mind of Half Life 2, although the thankful lack of man-eating zombies put my mind at ease. With every title Detalion appear to be getting better, and on the evidence of this one the freedom the storytelling gives them means more bizarre locales to visit.
However, it has to be noted, even though there’s a narrative, this game really is about well-integrated puzzles. People who have found the previous titles to be really, really tough should be happy to hear that although they’re difficult, they’re aimed for the casual gamer this time around. As such, hopefully this means less of the base-number mathematics-heavy mind benders and more of the logic-based cipher and mechanical elements, although it still remains to be seen.
Beautiful Stranger
Moving on, those with a penchant for inventory-biased play will be pleased to learn that, much like Sentinel is basically a pure puzzle game, Return To Mysterious Island is very much based around collecting and combining items to help lead the way forward. In that respect, it really is quite innovative as the core of the gameplay is centered around every little thing you pick up.
Say you need a fishing rod, as your character gets hungry and the only thing available is fish… just check out what items you have that could combine to realistically create one and put them together. Snakes and monkeys getting on your nerves? Again, check the inventory and see what you can come up with. The one puzzle I saw was remarkably intuitive despite the amount of things the player had picked up throughout the journey, so any worries that it’ll be a head scratching nightmare are unfounded. Again, it’s for the casual gamer, but looks like it could require enough thought to keep the ardent adventurer happy.
Despite being another 360 pre-rendered adventure, Return To Mysterious Island makes good use of the format to present a world that feels reasonably alive. Fish swim and jump in shallow pools, and along a beach you can watch a turtle pull itself towards the sea after laying its eggs. The scenes also hook up nicely with eachother as you move about and the interface is attractive and clear, much like the rest of its presentation.
The textures and models really look like they’ve had a lot of care taken on them and the attention to detail is remarkable. One area that stood out for me was a lake shadowed by an old volcano, surrounded by lush vegetation. If you’re after a peaceful, ambient and well-made adventure, it looks like something to make a note of in your diary.
Adventures In Trade
Coming away from the Adventure Company’s stand, and after having a brief chat with their marketer about putting adventure games in bookstores, I felt kind of refreshed. As if I’d seen something a bit different from the usual fare. Nothing completely mindblowing, but solid enough for me to look forward to the release of each title. The presentation of each game was excellent, each expressing an individual and unique style in both looks and gameplay. Puzzle freaks are well catered for, inventory gamers are too and so are those who want to sit back and enjoy a good story. I hope TAC keep on the tack of pushing interesting and diverse product and it’s always nice to see people who enjoy what they help create.
Do you think I’m funny?
Other than that, the only other true AG producer was Digital Jesters, on hand with a compact room in EGN full of a variety of titles from different genres. However, their GameStars Live area was a blast. They’re really pushing titles like Sherlock Holmes and The Moment of Silence, with the two Sherlock demo’s pretty much locked down by a steady stream of interested people.
The Moment Of Silence new trailer was getting a ton of airplay on their monitors and although it was absent from the show with no playable code available, the movie showed some highly-animated in-game footage alongside professionally produced CGI cut-scenes. It could be good, but it was difficult to tell as the gameplay sections only briefly touched upon.
Talking to the staff, it appeared that they really knew their stuff and were proud of the retail performance of Sherlock Holmes And The Case Of The Silver Earring. It looks like, in the UK at least, good quality AG’s are finally getting a look-in, with the game in an Amazon top-30 position and number 9 in the overall sales charts. Digital Jester’s excellent marketing of the game in the mainstream press and its presence at the show should be commended.
Show Me The Money
Meanwhile, at Vivendi, nubile young ladies were in attendance at the unveiling of Leisure Suit Larry; Magna Cum Laude (what is it with games companies and long titles?!).
What can I say? Well, it would appear that adventure gamers initial fears were correct. It isn’t a bad game from what I played of it, with responsive controls, reasonably fun mini-games and great voice-acting… but it definitely isn’t an adventure game. One thing that put me off from the games otherwise fine art direction was the tacky, real-life model loading screens… completely unnecessary and made a game that appeared quite fun-loving feel sleazy and cheap.
Talking to the Vivendi representative, who quite excellently dodged my Half Life 2 quip when talking about the possibility of Leisure Suit Larry not performing on time (just a joke, folks), he confirmed that the AG point and click fan was not catered for in this title. Although the game is most definitely about… er… interaction… its been created to bridge the gap between people who love the Larry humor (present and correct) and the X-Box generation.
That said, it did feel like a Larry title… just not the same one we all know and love. Time will tell if the loose collection of games which make up the core of the 15-18 hours worth of gameplay will be enough to tickle the hardcore fan, or even the casual games player.
Tales Of The Unexpected
For the adventure gamer that likes to play the field (OK, I’ll stop now!), there was a good few titles worth looking at.
Sid Meier’s Pirates! on the Atari stand revealed a game very much stuck in the past, only in a good way. The core gameplay is essentially identical to the original, ambitious title that appeared in 1987 to critical acclaim, all the way down to the dialogue boxes when talking to the Governor or the locals in the tavern.
Aside from a glitch which made the dialogue change to German halfway through a conversation, and a beautiful intro made of rough, Disney-style storyboards, the game appeared to be pretty complete. The presentation is wonderful, the animation detailed and well studied and the sound, as a whole, really fitting. Even better, the entire game is mouse controlled.
Personally, I’m looking forward to it. It might not have changed that much, but when the original was essentially perfect, then sometimes it doesn’t matter!
Prince Of Persia: The Warrior Within on the Ubisoft stand (who’s stand stunning lacked the upcoming Myst IV: Revelations) looked, again, like more of the same, only more. More action, more puzzles, a keener mix between the two and some wonderfully dark visuals. A fight on a ship was very well handled and graphically stunning, whilst interiors were dark, gloomy and atmospheric. Something to look forward to if, like me, you felt that the original was a little too lightweight.
For the Sims fanatics out there, and you know who you are, The Sims 2 at Electronic Arts was on-hand to surprise me. The quality of the animation, from conversations to just moving about the screen, is absolutely brilliant and reminded me of the kid from Toy Story. Essentially, it’s The Sims but with more detailed backgrounds, more emotive characters and some very nice design work. I’ve gone from being completely uninterested to putting down a preorder, which should tell you something.
Again at EA, RTS crazies will hopefully love Lord Of The Rings: The Battle For Middle Earth. Astounding cut-scenes, rendered with the same models as those found in-game, lead onto a beautifully detailed map of Middle Earth which faded into a full 3D model. Zooming through the clouds, you can click on the battle you want to take part in, my choice being Helms Deep, and the world of LOTR is brought to life in vivid detail and sound. Although still unfinished, if you can handle RTS games it looks like this one will be stunning with fluid mouse-controlled interface and basic but effective resource management.
Even though Half Life 2 was conspicuous by its absence, narrative driven FPS’ were around in droves. Unfortunately, the good-looking Chernobyl-based shooter Stalker was only there in multiplayer form on the AMD stand and the same went for Halo 2, complete with two-hour queue to play (which, being press, I skipped). Both look good, though my money is on Halo 2 for being this Christmas’ no.1 present for kids with its visceral action and hefty weaponry. It was a shame that the much-mooted single player elements weren’t available to try out, as both promise great stories and atmospheric levels.
However, WW2 and Vietnam were well catered for. EA had the Japanese repeatedly battering punters in the face in Medal Of Honour: Pacific Assault, which this time concentrates on close combat and, apparently, bloody noses. It looked like it played pretty well, with vibrant backgrounds and scarily real character animation.
Men Of Valor was also there, and is possibly one of the most cinematic war shooters yet. Early scenes include a stunning base ambush that takes place during a game of first-person American Football, and a convoy being attacked by an exploding cow. If cinematic FPS’ are your thing, this looks really quite realistic with excellent voice acting and well-posed animation – but some truly shocking scenes.
Lastly, Brothers In Arms (back again at Ubisoft) is both stunning looking and appears to have the gameplay and emotional impact to back it up. An incredible D-Day drop, far surpassing anything seen in Medal Of Honour: Breakthrough, leads on to a narrative-driven shooter that places strict emphasis on relationships between the soldiers. Highly expressive faces stare out from underneath the helmets, each one modeled on a real person. Out of the three war-based shooters, this is the one that most adventure fans should take interest in.
It makes you think, but also places the emphasis of the destruction of humanity in combat. Every man lost, and the terror on the Germans faces when ambushed, really makes you feel a loss unlike the other titles. This is one to keep an eye out for.
Missing, Presumed Delayed
So, there you have it. Unfortunately, GMX Media weren’t on hand the day I managed to visit EGN, so any questions I had about Runaway‘s UK release are still hanging. But otherwise quite a fruitful year. Adventure fans have a lot to look forward to in TAC’s upcoming releases, all of which look quite promising and very varied, and thankfully it seems Digital Jesters are really quite firm in their commitment to pushing quality AG titles.
Fellow adventure gamers, rest easy for now, safe in the knowledge that the future should bring something which caters for all tastes. The genre is not dead… long live the adventure!
