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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!