E3 2006 – Article
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Articles
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.
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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. |
The stalwart Her Interactive studio is back with its 14th and 15th entries into its popular Nancy Drew series. 
Following up last year’s 
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?
This was a pleasant surprise. From 
Here’s a game I can’t wait to get my mitts on!
The first is Evidence, sort of a cross between the Saw movies and Silence of the Lambs and also the sequel to the excellent 
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.
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).
