Articles

E3 2006 by Ray Ivey

A Kinder, Gentler E3

Fed up with the ubiquitous earsplitting music of past years, the
producers of the event actually cracked down this year. Therefore,
this year it was much more possible to actually hear the fascinating
game developer you were talking to.

Also reportedly far fewer
admissions were allowed, so the floors weren’t quite so horribly crowded. Then again, maybe this was
simply because everyone but me was over in the line to see Nintendo’s
Wii.

Adventure

I usually show up at
E3 glad that adventure games aren’t the only genre
I enjoy playing, because there’s usually a cringe-inducing dearth of
good adventure titles on display.

But, lo and behold, not this year! This year I saw more interesting
adventure games than you could shake a Babel Fish at.

Broken Sword 4

A new game from Charles Cecil is always an exciting event. This
year I got to sit down with Charles and take a look at Broken
Sword 4: Angel of Death.

After ending on such a high point in the last game, Charles and
his team wanted to challenge poor, hapless George Stobbart by having
him start at a very low point this time around. And so, when we first
meet George this time around, he’s a lowly bail bond clerk in a lousy
part of town.

The main idea the designers had with this episode in the series
is to stress the dramatic action to the point that the characters
and player would be under pressure from the very beginning. In other
words, the story isn’t a flat thing sitting there waiting for the
player to point and click on it. It’s happening, and the player must
react to it!

The interface is very simple and elegant. There will be a choice
of mouse- or keyboard-driven character movement. Getting to the inventory
is as simple as moving the cursor to the top of the screen.

The story this time around involves a very important historical
manuscript that George gets involved with. The game’s story has deep
roots in history and the game includes a database that will help
the player manage all of the historical information.

The game will take place
in several iconic locations, includes series favorite Nico (of
course!) and even deals with conspiracy-theory-hot-button-topic “monoatomic
gold.”

The game is currently 70% completed and at this point is scheduled
to be released in September for the PC exclusively. And yes, Charles
promises far less crates this time around!

Coding Da Vinci

Another title to watch for from Kheops is Secrets
of Da Vinci. This
puzzle-laden adventure has you investigating Leonardo’s notes, diaries
and sketches. Many of the puzzles are inventory-based, which makes
sense as you are recreating some of the master’s cool gadgets. The
game also features a good and evil path, lending the game replayability.
(Remember it was Kheops who created Return to the Mysterious
Island,
which features puzzles with multiple solutions!)

This intriguing game will be released for PC in late May or early
June.

Drew. Nancy Drew.

The stalwart Her Interactive studio is back with its 14th and 15th
entries into its popular Nancy Drew series.

Danger By Design (July)
throws Nancy into the world of haute couture in Paris. She’s on a double mission to both intern and spy
on a flamboyant and troubled fashion designer. The mask-wearing diva
designer of plus-size dresses has been getting threats and it’s
up to Nancy to get to the bottom of the things. This will include
traveling the Paris Metro, skin diving in the catacombs beneath the
city, haggling with local merchants, doing paint-by-number puzzles
and herding cockroaches (yes, really).

Following Danger
by Design will be The Creature of Kapu
Cave, in
which Nancy investigates a beetle outbreak in Hawaii. (There seems
to be a bit of an insect theme at Her Interactive this year.)

Dreamcatcher

Dreamcatcher’s lineup of games is quite impressive this year. For
one thing, they all look fantastic. Either the software to render
impressive graphics and animations has gotten more economical or
the games all have bigger budgets than last year’s lineup. In addition,
they generally look, well, FUN.

Murder on the Orient Express

Following up last year’s And
then There Were None, Florida developer
Awe is working on another adaptation of an Agatha Christie classic.
I know, you’re thinking what I was thinking: Everyone knows the end!
Not so fast, says Dreamcatcher. They’ve taken liberties with the
plot of the book to keep players guessing. In the game you play a
crime buff who meets famed detective Hercule Poirot on the Orient
Express. When the Belgian sleuth falls ill, the players character
begins investigating the murder. A large portion of the game takes
place in and around the train after it is trapped by an avalanche.

One change from last years game is that the largely piano-driven
musical score will give way to a much more ambitious orchestral soundtrack.

Talented writer Lee Sheldon is back working on the script to the
sequel, which promises to have 25 hours of game play and lots of
inventory-based puzzles. There will be stealth elements as well,
as your character has to shadow a suspect or two. Dreamcatcher is
even trying to get David
Suchet to do the voicework for Poirot, which
would be quite cool, as he’s pretty famous for playing the detective
on television. We’ll know for sure when the game ships for PC in
November.

Dead Reefs

Despite its gloomy title, this game from Streko Graphics looks to
be an atmospheric and exciting adventure. The game takes place on
a small island off the west coast of England in the 1700s. The islands
residents are the descendants of pirates, who, 100 years before,
made it a practice of luring unsuspecting ships to their doom along
the rocky shorelines of the island. One of the ships they helped
destroy was filled with a bunch of monks. Now, a series of mysterious
events are taking place around the island. Could it be the doings
of the restless monk spirits?

The puzzles in the game will include working with contraptions,
vehicles, and even a flying machine. Controls will be mouse and keyboard.
Conversations topics are driven by easy to use icons for different
subjects, and all of the game’s dialog will be fully voiced..

This is yet another Dreamcatcher game with a stunning opening cinematic
created with the in-game engine.

The Sacred Rings

Another Streko title is this sequel to Aura. After the events of
Aura, it seems the bad guys are seriously after you! The developers
promise a lot of dramatic tension (we’ll see how it compares to Broken
Sword 4 in this department!) with lots of beautiful cutscenes and
over 400 locations across three worlds.

The game looks like another feast for puzzle fans. Each puzzle I
saw was impressive, the best being a dandy brainteaser involving
a wall of differently colored candles that must be lit in a certain
order. (Between this and Safecracker I think I’ll soon be in puzzle
heaven!)

The game ships in North America for PC in September.

Secret Files Tunguska

This was a pleasant surprise. From Koch
Media and Deep Silver (new
teams for Dreamcatcher, as far as I know) comes this vivid third
person adventure. The title refers to the forest region in Siberia
where a gigantic explosion in 1908 was believed to have been caused
by a meteorite. The story of the game uses this real historical event
as a jumping-off place for an adventure thriller.

The most notable element
of this game from the demo were the graphics. I know, every year
we go to E3 and talk about how pretty the games
are. You’d think we’d get jaded. I imagine readers’ eyes begin to
glaze over when we describe the 435th “gorgeous” game we
saw.

However. This is one GORGEOUS game. The warm, luminous color palette
reminded me of both the first Broken Sword and Hopkins FBI. If you
know how I feel about the look of those two games you’ll understand
that this is a VERY good thing. This is a game in which the retina-seducing
intensity of the colors makes even a mundane bedroom or office a
feast for the eyes. Adding to the visual impact are lots of little
animated details that make each screen come alive. I didn’t want
to walk away from this game.

The puzzles are both environmental and inventory-based, with a built-in
hint system as well as a diary. The game will be about 25 hours long
and is due for the PC in Q4 2006.

Safecracker

Here’s a game I can’t wait to get my mitts on!

Even though it bears no connection to the wonderful first Safecracker from the Scandinavian company Daydream, it looks to also be a big,
stinky pile of fun. As a rabid fan of the first game, I had to force
myself not to drool as the game’s director Benoit Hozian of the talented
Kheops studio showed us the game.

The premise is similar to the original game: Open a bunch of safes!
It’s pure puzzle bliss, ladies and gentlemen. This time around there
will be a bit more plot than the original game (mostly involving
a locked-up will), but it’s still all about the puzzles.

I’m already threatening Randy with physical violence if he doesn’t
assign me to review this game when it comes out in late August or
early September.

Let Djamil and His Buddies Creep the Hell Out of You

Master of the creepy Djamil Kemal has two new offering in the works.

The first is Evidence, sort of a cross between the Saw movies and
Silence of the Lambs and also the sequel to the excellent Missing
Since January. Once again you are on the trail of that creepiest
of internet-loving serial killers, The Phoenix.

The game is even more “M” rated
than the first was, with lots of disturbing imagery that some might
find offensive. Not me,
but we all know how tasteless and crass I am.

The new game has you in touch with two different women who need
your help: One in New York and one in Spain. The game will feature
more internet and email gameplay like that featured in the original.
I found the sound design in the demonstration to be particularly
well done, adding a more yummy ookiness to the proceedings.

Evidence will be released in Q4 2006 for PC only.

Djamil’s other game is called Experience
112.

After a stunning cinematic opening (made with the in-game proprietary,
Renderware-based engine), the player is introduced to a huge, rusty,
creepy cargo ship. You soon meet a woman who’s trapped on the ship.
The game consists of you helping her escape.

The trick is, while you
can see and hear her, she can’t see or hear you. You have complete
control over the electronics in the ship,
however, and you learn to communicate with her by flashing lights
on and off, moving cameras up and down or sideways (to indicate “Yes” and “No”),
and manipulating temperature, water level, door locks, etc. To make
matters more complicated, she always has the choice to disobey your
direction.

The game looks like a fascinating spin on the traditional adventure
game, with dual themes of communication and voyeurism.

It is my considered opinion that Djamil is leading one of the most
talented teams making adventure games right now. His innovative ideas
make him and his team game makers to watch!

Non Adventures for the Adventurous

Sacred II

Many gamers enjoyed the solid action/RPG Sacred and its add-on Sacred
Underground. It returns in Q3 2007 with a sequel. The most noticeable
change is that the format has gone 3D in a big way. Only one character
class from the original game, the Seraphim, will be returning for
the sequel.

An interesting innovation
this time around is the parallel Good vs. Evil quest track. The
Seraphim will only be able to play the
Good track; the new Inquisitor only the evil track. All of the other
new classes – High Elf Adept, Temple Guardian, Undead Centurion
and Dryad Scout – will be able to choose quests from either
moral path.

PSP RPG Goodness at Last?

Good news for PSP-owning RPG fans! The desperate dearth of anything
like a decent RPG to play on the Sony handheld (cough Untold
Legends cough) will soon be remedied by several new titles.

Dungeon Siege will be making an appearance on the PSP! It will be
a new adventure, not a port, and will draw from elements from both
the original game and the sequel. The big question I was not able
to get a good answer to was whether the PSP game will have all of
the enriched gameplay elements that improved the PC sequel.

More Da Vinci Madness

It should surprise no
one that the gameworld will soon be blitzed by The Da Vinci
Code movie tie-in game. It’s easy to be cynical
about this kind of licensed game, but I will say that the game has
these three things going for it: First, the book is so puzzly and
globetrotty to begin with, it seems a natural fit for an action/adventure
game. Second, It was developed by 2K Games, the studio that helped
Bethesda make The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (‘nuff said).
Finally, the talented Charles Cecil (Broken Sword) was hired to work
on the early stages of the game.

The game will be released on PC, XBox and PS2 and is now in stores.

Square Enix

The Japanese powerhouse
studio had its usual overwhelming rack of goods for display. Naturally
I was most interested in getting my
hands on Final Fantasy XII, which is due sometime late this year
for the PS2. The graphics looked a bit shimmery for my taste, but
I enjoyed the new battle system (pausable real-time). Never a big
fan of the endless FF-style random encounters, I also like the fact
that you can see monsters on the field before you encounter them.
Finally, I’m very happy that the game takes place in the same
interesting gameworld as the two Final Fantasy Tactics games.

Square Enix continues
to exploit the popularity of Final Fantasy VII with a new game
called Dirge of Cerebrus. I think I’ll
be able to ignore this game as easily as I did the silly sequel to
Final Fantasy X (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it
again: My Yuna does NOT wear hot pants and sing bad Japanese pop
songs!). Dirge looks like an action game, and it’ll take some
convincing to get me interested in it.

Also on display was the
upcoming DS port of Final Fantasy III. I’ve
been looking forward to this game, but was a bit disappointed that
the use of the handheld’s dual screen was minimal.

Two more games in the
lineup looked promising, both based on an earlier PS game from
2000. Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria is
a sequel for the PS2, and Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth is a PSP port
of the
original title. Both look gorgeous and intriguing.

Nintendo

I refused to burn an entire
day of the show waiting in line to see the new Nintendo console
(E3 attendees were waiting in line for up
to six hours!). I’m sure it’s going to be great, but
I’m equally sure it’s a long way away and frankly, the
hugely unfortunate new name it’s been given really puts me
off.

The “Wii”? Really? What were they thinking? What was
wrong with the “Revolution”?

“Wii”?!

I’m confident the name will change again once the North American
Nintendo executives regain full consciousness after whatever it is
they’ve been smoking.

In more immediate Nintendo
hardware news, the new version of the popular Nintendo DS handheld
gaming system will be out in the States
in June. It’s 1/3 smaller and 20% lighter than the original,
and has MUCH brighter screens. The price point is reputed to be about
$129, which is not bad at all.

God of War II

Last year’s God
of War for the PS2 was a tremendously entertaining
experience. The game was sort of a brutal, Greek version of Prince
of Persia, featuring spectacular environments, interesting combat
and loads of fun environmental puzzles. The sequel (for the PS2 and
due February of 2007) looks to maintain the same balance of combat
and puzzle solving. The developers seem to be taking the “Bigger
Better More” approach to the sequel, and it looks to be a worthy
follow-up to a great game.

Insomniac Gets Serious

I’ve long been a huge fan of Insomniac, the studio behind
both the Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet & Clank franchises. This
year they are going back to their shooter roots with a stunning first-person
action game for the PS3 called Resistance. The game deals with a
hostile takeover of planet Earth by vicious aliens. The game looks
brutal, scary, and visually stunning.

Did Someone Say Ratchet & Clank?

A group of Insomniac employees
formed their own studio to create Ratchet & Clank:
Size Matters for the PSP. It looks to be even
and even more lush platformer than the recent Daxter. It’s
about time we got some more good platforming action on the PSP!!

The Sounds of Sonic

One of the best overall
games I saw at the show, and a game I kept returning to over and
over to play, was the new Sonic The Hedgehog from Sega for the PS3 and XBox 360. The developers have gone back
to Sonic’s speedy platforming roots and come up with a visually
jaw-dropping 3D adventure that looks simply irresistible. The game
is only about 30% finished, but what they had to show looked amazing.

Spore

The only line I DID stand in was to see the unrelentingly innovative
Wil Wright demonstrate his wildly ambitious new game Spore.

Spore is basically SimEvolution.
You get to design a primitive creature from the ground up using
an ingenious set of tools. Then the game’s
A.I. expertly animates your creation and gives you a little planet
to populate with it. You then guide your creature and its descendants
through various stages of evolution, through intelligence and even
interplanetary flight.

All this sounds cool enough,
but it’s the online component
that really sold the game for me. As you work on your set of creatures
and planets, the game goes online and cherry-picks other creatures
made by other players that aesthetically fits in with your planets.
It then copies them and puts them into your game. You can even bookmark
the creations of players that you particularly like. All in all Spore looks like an amazing experience, and is due for the PC in Q1 2007.

Bethesda’s
Pirates

Unlike last year’s
awkward Pirates of the Caribbean, which started out life as Sea
Dogs II and then late in its development
was sort of contorted into a tie-in with the successful Disney movie,
the new Pirates game looks like it may get things right.

Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow is and person
action-adventure from Bethesda and Seven Studios. Johnny Depp provides
the voice of Jack Sparrow in a good-looking and lively game. You
get to do all sorts of piratey things in the game, and the player
gets to spend money on various character powerups (such as new fighting
moves). An additional perk is that you can play the entire game in
co-op mode (single station, not online) with one person controlling
Jack and the other controlling a second character. The game will
be available soon for the PS2 and PC.

Bethesda has another game
that will make certain hardcore Star Trek fans happy. It’s called Star
Trek: Legacy. It’s
a beautiful space combat game with this heady hook: You get to
control every
ship that has ever been in Star Trek, including all the television
series and the films. To give the game extra punch, Bethesda has
hired Rick Knox, generally considered the premier Star Trek model
guru, to help design the dizzying array of ships. The game will be
released in the fall of 2006 on the PC and XBox 360 in time to coordinate
with the 40th anniversary of Star Trek.

The Lamentations of the Women

A game I’m extremely interested in is FunCom’s
World of Conan. Yes, the same FunCom that brought us The
Longest Journey and Dreamfall are preparing their second MMORPG (their first was
Anarchy Online).

Remember that the universe
of Conan was created before Tolkien wrote his Middle Earth books.
It’s been around quite awhile, and
its brutal Bronze Age setting looks to be quite a change from the
traditional high fantasy environments that are so common in most
MMOs.

The team at FunCom is cooking up all sorts of elements to shake
up the traditional MMO mold.

First of all, the first
twenty levels take place in a single player, offline game! It’s only after level twenty that the player
enters into the online part of the game. FunCom feels this will allow
the player to learn the character and the gameworld and eliminate
the boring, early “rat-killing” quests so common to the
early stages of MMOs.

When you begin the game,
all you can do is pick your character’s
race (Cimmerian, Stygian, or Aquilonian). You begin life as a galley
slave. Then at levels 20, 40 and 60 you make choices that further
specify your character’s class and characteristics.

Conan’s game director, Gaute Godager, stressed that the game
will “embrace its M rating,” which means, among other
things, brutal combat. He also said that FunCom is using their experience
in the adventure game genre to make character interaction and quests
more exciting and story-driven. This can only be a good thing.

In a development common to virtually every new RPG and MMO that
I saw at the show, melee combat is a much more active endeavor than
simply clicking and letting the under-the-hood number crunching determine
the outcome of a fight. Aiming, blocking and combo moves are all
an integral part of successful melee fighting.

We didn’t see any
magic in the demo, but we do know that only one race (Stygians)
will be able to practice magic.

The game is also employing
very advanced A.I. on the part of the monsters. The monsters will
evaluate the player and his party before
attacking, and modify its attack based on how large the player’s
party is and how it is equipped. Scent will also play a large part
in monster fighting, as monsters will have a powerful sense of smell.
Successful monster hunting will therefore include keeping track of
which way the wind is blowing, and the masking of scents.

The game looks extremely interesting and I hope to persuade some
of my World of Warcraft buddies to give it a try when it launches
soon.

Okami

A nominee for Best Game in show, Okami is one of the most remarkable
games I’ve ever seen. And it may well be the most beautiful. From
the same designer who created Viewtiful Joe, this game looks like
a Japanese screen painting come to life. And it plays like you were
pushed into a Miyazaki film.

This PS2 exclusive has you playing a sort of spirit wolf who’s trying
to right some celestial wrongs. To aid you in your endeavors, you’ll
have a magical paintbrush which you can use to alter the gameworld.
You can use it to repair bridges, provide escape routes, help you
in a fight, etc. In a memorable example of the brush at work in the
demo, you paint in the final star of a constellation of a dragon.
When you do, the dragon comes to life and comes down from the sky
to help you. I can’t overemphasize the enchanting atmosphere this
game creates.

Guilty Pleasures

Three more games caught my attention while trolling about on the
floor.

The first is Titan
Quest.
It’s PC action/roleplaying game
very much in the Diablo mold. It takes place in mythical ancient
Greece, Egypt and Asia. The player will chose two different combat “specializations” and
can develop up to 20 skills in each of these areas.

Playing through the demo
levels at the show was intuitive and fun, and look forward to getting
my hands on this game when it’s
released in late June.

The second is Dark
Messiah of Might and Magic. This is a brutal, first-person action game
set in the high-fantasy Might and Magic
universe. It looks and feels a bit like Arx Fatalis or Oblivion,
but it’s heavier on the action and lighter on the RPG elements.
The graphics, courtesy of Valve’s Source engine, look gritty
and realistic, and the gameplay is visceral and exciting. This one’s
coming out for the PC in the fall.

Finally, there’s the juggernaut Hellgate
London. Developed
by many of the same folks who created Diablo, it’s a first-person
action/RPG set in a post-apocalyptic London. Your character has to
scurry through the old subway tunnels of London’s Underground
fighting hordes of demons from the netherworld. The game looks to
be very polished, scary and exciting. The official release date is “When
it’s ready,” but we think the game may be shipping for
PC as early as October of this year!

Overheard, I Swear to God

My two favorite overheard
quotes this year:

“ . . . which, as you know, is Icelandic for ‘pancake.’” HUH?

And of course:

“ . . . so when your character gets an epidural, you’ll
really feel it.” Who said I wanted to?!?!

Will all the games we
saw at E3 this year live up to their promise? You and I will find
out together over the next year, Dear Reader.
Let’s get started!

Tomorrow: our annual E3 awards.