Articles
Every year in late August,
London hosts what is the equivalent of Americas annual E3
event the ECTS.
Developers from around
Europe demo their upcoming console and pc games for the European
press, albeit without much of the unbridled hoopla and blaring
noise that can make the E3 unbearable..
This year, Jonathan Boakes the
Stephen King of horror adventure and developer of the critically
acclaimed Darkfall: The Journal attended
the ECTS and was kind enough to offer Just Adventure his
insiders perspective of the adventure games at this
years event.- Randy
(ALMOST) LIVE FROM THE 2003 ECTS
By
Guest Columnist Jonathan Boakes
Braving the game geeks (“he can talk”, I hear you say)and game
bosses I took my senses to Earls Court in London for chat, game spying and
hopefully fun.
Well….
Not too many adventure games on show, well, not “pure adventure” anyway.
Plenty of FPS’s, of which Unreal Tournament 2004 was a stand out.
Adding land and air vehicles to the action is going to be great. There were
vehicles in many of the old fanmade levels (UT) which worked wonders for
the game engines longevity. So, it was great to see the makers taking
advantage (UT03 was a bit rubbish).
So, on to the adventures…. well, there were two that I really got to have
a play with (for hours, and hours! What security men?). One of them leaves
me wanting more, and the other just needs more.
Uru is a very odd beast. It could have been beneficial for Cyan
Worlds to drop the Myst theme, and pass it on. Uru does
not feel like a Myst game. At all. The single player mission I
experienced (from a dusty canyon with a guy and his mobile home, to a
lovely landscape with rusting machinery) was fun, if a little tedious.
Walking large distances strains even the most patient of explorers, especially
when you appear to be wearing GAP clothing with no Starbucks in sight (though
you will be able to import your own clothing designs, from what I saw). The
puzzles are of the Riven/Schizm variety, but actually loose impact
when presented in realtime 3D. This could have something to do with me childishly
expecting to see Riven quality animations against 2D. Who knows. I
might have to sleep on that one.
On the plus side, the wildlife looked really cool! Ornithology is the new
buzz word.
No multiplayer version was available to test, well, not that I saw. So no
comment on ingame/online interactions. Sorry.
Right, onto number 2. Broken Sword 3..
…is a marvel!! BS fans have no worries whatsoever. This truly continues
the series, in both gameplay and interaction. It is also the most successful
game I have played to use new technology to actually enhance the existing
positives.
Lovely lighting effects, smooth easy movements and a truly delightful reworking
of the “active cursor” makes this my ‘must have’ adventure of the
year. Both George and Nicole look gorgeous, and cute, with meticulous human
movements and mannerisms. Also, the almost trademark dialogue and quips (that
always made the Broken Sword games) are also present. What more can I say?
This is going to really please.
My play experience was with a joypad, on the NVidia stand. I am useless with
joypads, but had no problems. The movements are designed so well that it
felt natural within minutes, to the point where I had George jumping fantastic
leaps!
Having said that, the game will be multi control anyway. So, again, no worries
BS fans. You are in for a treat!
Playing both Uru and BS3 within hours of each other (knowing
that I was getting a really sneak preview) exposed why one succeeds and the
other doesn’t. Uru should be a stand alone game and drop the Myst/Riven link.
It could be an excellent MMORPG(Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing
Game), but as a Myst game it can only disappoint. Broken Sword, however,
shows that the makers, Revolution, know exactly what’s great about thier
games, and brought them forth into a new arena, and taken us with them!
Also at ECTS, or not as the case may be, were Arxel Tribe. Maybe I should
check my event program again, in case they weren’t due till tomorrow. Nonetheless,
it would’ve been great to see ‘Hannibal‘(beta version). It is another
FPS, but must have some adventure elements. No?
Lastly. Eidos. After a terrible time with Tombraider (“Run Lara!!!Damn
you!!run!!!” …too late, she’s dead) I have been living in fear of
what is to become of the “Thief” series and DeusEx II. You
can’t go wrong with the Thief games can you? Well, I won’t know for a while,
as Eidos were there in substance (a booth) , but not in spirit. It was a
‘no show’ for either games. In fact, Lara was strangely absent as well. Remember
my ambition to be photographed with her? It just wasn’t going to happen.
Perhaps the recent reviews hurt her feelings…
…this happens when you plummet to your doom 40 times in one sitting, and
drive your controller insane.
Lastly, if today’s event was brought to life by anyone, it was NVidea. I
played BS3 and UT04 here. They easily had the best stand, even
though Ubisoft did their best to “out show”, and provided a classy
podium. Incidentally, I noticed a lot of Russian and Polish TV glued to that
area for an awfully long time…. maybe Uru has found its niche.
Jonathan
