It's hard to be a PC gamer and not to be interested in TRON 2.0 from Buena Vista games. It's a game sequel to the classic early-80's movie around a game developer getting sucked into digital world of computer hardware and programs. The new form of special effects called "computer animation" no doubt impressed those who saw the movie over 20 years ago. TRON 2.0 mimics the style perfectly and some would even go as far to say, improves on it. All players and structures have an iridescent glow around their bodies, representing the electrical current that powers them. Everything about the game looks very skeletal, almost like what you are viewing are the basic building blocks or underpinnings of a game.
There are actually two separate multiplayer components to the game: one is disc combat, which is the TRON version of deathmatch, and the other is the lightcycle race. The disc combat can be played over the Internet, either free-for-all or team-based play, with up to 16 players. The light cycle race, unfortunately, is limited to only LAN-based play, with no Internet option. A Buena Vista representative informed us that latency for the light cycle races over the Internet was too unpredictable and would hinder gameplay so much that the game would cease to be fun. So Internet play was eliminated from that portion of the game, and there are currently no plans to add it in the future. It's a shame too, because it seems that the light cycle races would quickly become the most popular feature of multiplayer TRON 2.0.
For the uninitiated, the light cycles in the TRON movie are two wheeled speed bikes that erect a barrier behind them, kind of like a physical backwash. One "cycler" would then try to box in the other "cycler" in by speeding ahead and cutting them off, forcing the cycle to ram the wall. The setup is essentially the same in TRON 2.0 except with the addition of power ups such as speed boosts, shields, etc. thrown in to mix things up a bit. Action is fast and furious and a crash is usually only a quick turn away. The current performance on the lightcycle races is still a little shaky, and even on a Pentium 4-3.0 GHz, NV35-equipped PC, framerates frequently drops below the 40 fps mark. This issue should be cleared up by TRON 2.0's release date of August 26th.
Next on the E3 game list is Ubi Soft's XIII (pronounced "Thirteen"), the cel-shaded, first-person shooter based on the comic series of the same name. You play the role of an amnesiac with no clue to your identity, other than the tattoo on your chest that reads "XIII." From there the game player is thrust into a world where you realize pretty quickly, that it (and all of its inhabitants) wants you dead.
If you're rolling your eyes and envisioning a "kiddie cartoon" first person shooter, then stop right there. XIII is hyper violent. Gallons of blood spray out with every bullet delivered to enemies. And if that weren't enough, every now and then, a comic panel on top of the screen shows a zoomed in slideshow of the bullet actually making contact (and again, with plenty of blood). XIII confirms quite handily that cel-shading can be used not only to make games look like Disney cartoons, but can also to create an edgy, graphic novel type look and feel. Expect to see XIII in the stores sometime within the next month.
There was palpable disappointment when it was announced that DOOM III would not in playable form, at least not on the first day of E3. Fortunately, a new trailer with actual gameplay was released and gave us all a better look at the story's background and how the action is carried out. It all starts out with some scientists conducting experiments on what looks like an inter-dimensional portal, something goes wrong and the laboratory is flooded with alien beings that possess human bodies, disfiguring them to the point that they become almost undead. Gameplay takes place from the first person perspective, obviously, and enemies don't look to come at you more than one or two at a time. Does DOOM III still seem revolutionary now that we've seen it in action? It's hard to say.
From a graphics standpoint the answer is a resounding "yes!", as DOOM III not only pushes a tremendous amount of polygons and has extremely crisp textures, but is also quite adept at creating foreboding environment. This is one of the most important parts of any FPS, and DOOM III is sure to keep gamers constantly on the edge of their seat, anxious as to what monstrosity lurks around any dark corner.
From a gameplay standpoint, the jury is still out. Plot wise, at least from what the introduction demonstrated, there is nothing here that we haven't seen many times before. The whole contaminated city, survival/horror plotline has been explored ad nauseum, through Capcom's Resident Evil series. And as far as the intro and action in the trailer, is there really anything fresh brought to the table that we haven't seen from games like Half Life or Unreal? Not from what we've seen so far. This is only a gameplay trailer, but even so we'll stay away from superlatives and maintain a level "cautious optimism" regarding DOOM III.
That's it for today's game coverage, but what's an E3 report without at least one gratuitous shot of those lovely ladies of E3?
There are still a lot more games to cover and only two more days to do it in. Now that we've settled and gotten past the initial shell shock of the E3 stimulatory bombardment, check back with us tomorrow as we deliver additional coverage of more E3 gaming goodness.
