E3 2000 Extravaganza
Best of Show
Neverwinter Nights
Sacrifice
Black & White
Madden NFL 2001
Tribes 2
Max Payne Giants: Citizen Kabuto
Nox
Rites of War/Panzer General III
Age of Empires II
Diablo II
And there’s no way for one person to cover all of E3; in fact, we found out there’s no way for four people to do it. We didn’t get to see everything we wanted, and we got to see some stuff we wish we hadn’t. But out of all the PC games I did see, I’d like to award the top ten of them the first annual GamesFirst! Best of E3 awards. Remember, some of these games are a long way from completion, and might not fulfill the promise that they now show. And of course this is a highly subjective list, and it was damned difficult to limit it to only ten games. We’ll run more in-depth previews of these games later, but for now these are quick looks at the games I’m most looking forward to, listed in no particular order.
Neverwinter Nights—From the good folks that brought us Baldur’s Gate comes a very promising venture based on third edition D&D rules, Neverwinter Nights. Due to ship in 2001 by Interplay, it will utilize the new BioWare Aurora 3D engine and let me tell ya folks, it’s one of the prettiest games we’ve ever seen. With a 3D rotational camera and real-time lighting that produces authentic material reflections, this work-in-progress was absolutely visually stunning. Not only does it look remarkably detailed, Neverwinter Nights will ship with an Editor Tool Set that allows players to create their own game worlds. Players will assume the role of a Dungeon Master and craft castles, place monsters, build landscapes and hide treasures with a few simple mouse clicks. Able to host their own adventures, the DM will also be able to assume the role of various NPCs that influence and alter the course of other players’ experiences. It looks like the folks at Black Isle Studios, Bioware, and TSR/Wizards of the Coast have a big winner with Neverwinter Nights.
Sacrifice—Another Interplay title that also incorporates a 3D world and fascinating multiplayer online potential, Sacrifice combines RTS, Action, and RPG elements in an remarkable, large-scale environment. Developed by Shiny Entertainment, Sacrifice looks to present an entirely new gaming experience by placing the player in the role of a powerful wizard attempting to appease one of five gods. Players roam huge landscapes, cast powerful spells, and summon up to 55 unique monstrous creatures as they battle to gather opponent’s souls and sacrifice them at their altar. Sacrifice also includes an easy-to-use level editor that will produce completely customized and unique battles in both single and multiplayer games. Look for Sacrifice to hit the shelves in Winter 2000.
Black & White—From the legendary game designer, Peter Molyneaux, comes a unique RPG that offers two contrasting gaming experiences; black (evil) or white (good). Set in the magical world of Eden, players enter in the role of a deity possessing the ultimate power: Divine Intervention. Players progress through the game with four simple and powerful tools—brain, magic, moral stance, and creature. The primary tool is the mystical creature; whether it grows into an evil colossus or a gentle giant is determined by the player—as are the powerful spells used to battle opposing deities in pursuit of become the world’s supreme god. Good and evil are the extreme approaches; right or wrong doesn’t enter the equation. The world of Black & White is filled with challenges that are broken into tests and quests that each player must deal with: do you heal the sick villager or assist the thief? Eventually players will encounter other tribes and gods seeking control over Eden that can only be obtained through a combination of increased worshippers, forged alliances and epic battles. Ship date for Black & White is Winter 2000.
Madden NFL 2001—The Madden franchise is back with a vengeance this year with an all-new interface and true-to-life player models. For the first time ever, Electronic Art’s Madden NFL 2001 incorporates coaches into the game with the exclusive NFL Coaches Club license that allows coaches to be seen on the sidelines and results in unique coaching strategies for each team. As for the players, details right down to wristbands, facemasks, turf tape and elbow pads are player specific and match equipment in the game to match what they use in real NFL games. More importantly, The weight and height of each player is now factored into collisions and pass routes that will affect everything from tackles to blown assignments; a small DB will have a tough time knocking down a large fullback and a linebacker will find it difficult to cover a fast receiver. And look to play an entire season on-line with rankings and stats of other Madden players in EA sponsored tournaments. Anticipated release Madden NFL 2001 is Fall 2000.
Tribes 2—Building on the success of Starsiege Tribes, Tribes 2 places you in breathtaking new worlds where teamwork is the ultimate key to survival. Join an existing Tribe, start one of your own, or enlist in a new race in Tribes 2: the BioDerm Horde. Developer Dynamix is intent on pushing Team-Based Action to the limit by not only including new vehicles, weapons, and massive maps but also by introducing a new Tribes 2 client that includes the ability to establish websites and e-mail specific to each tribe. This community-building feature allows teams to scout opponents as well as communicate via voice chat, e-mail, and web browsing. A completely new graphics engine adds visual depth in a “no boundary” environment and includes an elegantly simple point-and-click terrain editor that allows on-the-fly construction of sophisticated maps. Tribes 2 also features a single player component that allows new players the chance to learn and offers veteran players authentic multiplayer action in an off-line arena. Distributed by Sierra, Tribes 2 should land in stores in Q3 2000.
Max Payne—From developer Remedy comes a story-driven third-person action game with Film Noir themes that follows a lone man’s gritty descent to the violent night of New York City. The story goes something like this: Max Payne was an ordinary cop until three years ago, when his family was brutally murdered by the New York Mafia. Going undercover as a DEA agent, Max was getting close to the source of a new deadly drug, Valkyr, when his superior officer (and best friend) was brutally slain; the blame was pinned on Max who now has to fight the mafia and avoid his finger-pointing former comrades. Max Payne sports a custom-designed engine, capable of dynamic radiosity lighting, particle systems, and realistic character movement; this means that all characters will be lit dynamically by local light sources, giving them an eerie sense of realism as their animation punctuates superb motion capture. In Max Payne, your character reflects harm imposed upon him, limping and holding damaged body parts. There is also a quasi-realistic system in place so that damage to certain locations will do much more harm than to others. Get shot in the head and its game over. Look for gameplay to echo a combination of John Woo and the Wachowski brothers—lots of exotic moves and plenty of slo-mo. In addition, Remedy has decided to display no less than 80 comic-style story panels to eliminate the boredom of level loading. Distributed by Gathering of Developers, the only release info available is “When It’s Done”.
–Rick