Game previews at EIF

Tuesday was a packed day at the EIF, Not only was there alot of discussion to think about, there were a few games being showcased through the day and while some were a bit of a let down (Age of Conan) others blew me away.

Unreal Tournament 3
I’ll start at the top with the first presentation that I made a point of sitting through the entirety of, simply because I’ve always been a fan of Unreal Tournament. Mark Rein, who I assume needs no introduction, presented the first European screening of UT3 on the PS3. I have to say that it looks absolutely gorgeous. The level of detail and the particle systems used look stunning. Playing on a huge screen in HD, which I’d never seen before apart from a brief glimpse of Guitar Hero III earlier in the day (I’ll get to that in a moment). As before my camera was not up to the task of capturing fast moving video images and so I’m unable to bring you pics, which doesn’t really matter as you can’t appreciate the beauty of this game without seeing it in motion. A still image does not do it justice.
New features present in UT3 have been publicised before but to actually see them in action was quite something. There are two completely different sets of vehicles which have differing strengths and weaknesses. The Deathwalker, an alien equivalent of the human’s Goliath battletank, is a tripod very reminiscent of War of the Worlds. It stalks the battlefield on flexible, prehensile legs, allowing it to climb and get a height advantage or duck under overhanging scenery, its a go-almost-anywhere engine of destruction. Its weakness is that its weapons are primarily long range, its closest defensive capability is a shockwave generator which knocks anyone underneath it flying but really doesn’t do them much damage, you have to be pretty quick to pick them off with your main guns before they pick themselves up. The hoverboard is there, and there will be a limited number of tricks available, I see a mod in that already. The hoverboard is used mainly in the larger Warfare maps, which replace the much loved Onslaught offerings of UT2004. The premise of Warfare is pretty much the same as Onslaught with two sides fighting over nodes which allow the opposing team’s main base to be attacked. one difference is the introduction of unlinked nodes which deliver you no closer to being able to attack the enemy’s base but bestow some other advantage upon your team such as an extra tank or aircraft, all the way up to things like airstrikes or artillery support. Another change is the addition of Orbs, which if taken to an inactive node will instantly activate it negating the need to charge it up with your link gun. All in all there are many many things to look forward to with UT3, the new editor looks like it might be something very special, with a visual scripting language, timelined particle system and improved matinee features. Everything from maps to total conversions to full length movies can be made with it.

Haze
Another of the games I saw on Tuesday was Haze, which while looking like a standard FPS has some interesting twists to it and a storyline which is reasonably grown up for its genre. You start off as a soldier on the corporate forces, with access to a combat drug called Nectar. Halfway through the game you switch sides and give up the Nectar and the game play changes. Whilst using Nectar, Mantle forces have enhanced perception and regenerate health at a greater rate, there is a drawback however, overuse brings on a combat craze where you shoot anything that moves and can’t tell the difference between friend and foe. Nectar also has the quite cleverly done side-effect of sanitizing the war, dead bodies fade out, the horror isn’t as horrific, war is a video game. Off the nectar and on the rebel’s side a whole series of abilities become available to you. You know the weaknesses of the Mantle troops you are now fighting against. You can induce overdoses of nectar by hitting the applicator displayed prominently on the Mantle troop’s backs, making Nectar grenades by taking the applicators from fallen Nectar troops and attaching them to your existing grenades. Anyone in the cloud of Nectar gas that is released when they explode, if they’re Mantle, goes into immediate overdose. A neat trick that the rebels have, which Free Radical are still balancing, is the ability to play dead. Because Mantle troops can’t see dead bodies due to their use of Nectar, a rebel playing dead is invisible to them. Some interesting ideas both in terms of gameplay and a more mature storyline. As Dr Doak said, “We’re not making an anti war game here, I mean you still go through the game shooting people,” but he hopes that gamers will appreciate the story told along the way.

I didn’t get to see all the screenings, having to settle for sticking my head around the door when I got a moment, but what I did see was impressive to say the least. Both Haze and UT3 are exclusively for the PS3 (and PC in the case of UT£) at the moment, though Mark Rein was hopeful that they’d be able to work out any kinks with Microsoft. I can understand their reluctance, Microsoft seems to want to use Xbox Live as a way of generating money, whereas the PSN looks to be a mostly free service.

More News on these titles when I get it.

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