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Metal Gear Solid 2
for the Playstation 2 - 8 screen shots, all in game sequences (no
CGI)
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Metal Gear Solid 2
- Easily, the best game of the show.
The reason is for several reasons. The first thing that
stands out is the awesome graphics. This is the only game of
the show that made the PSX 2 look like the powerhouse it was hyped
to be. Animations and camera angles of in the game are
lifelike. The camera shuttered with emotion when Solid Snake
fired slugs into enemy swat team shields. The Gear shown in
the photo really looked like it was 10 stories high.
Everything in the game had twice the detail that needed, but you
won't find anybody complaining. While full of action, Metal
Gear Solid still contains stealthy aspects. Sneaking around
undetected gives you an adrenalin rush many games lack. The
only drawback is that this game is about a year and 3 months away
until a U.S. release. From the looks of it, it will well
worth the wait. This game is leaps and bounds beyond any
other game at the show. |
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Neverwinter Nights -
PC game of the show? I think
so! While my heart will always be set on real time strategy
games, I couldn't help but fall in love with Neverwinter
Nights. Bioware, under the Black Isle label (which falls under
Interplay distribution) has an absolute gem on their hands.
The gameplay is influenced by Diablo, with graphics comparable to
that of Vampire the Masquerade by Activision. The game is set
to be a multiplayer type of game where you can quest with
friends. Bioware plans on having 2 server types, one which
allows player killing, and one that is more friendly. A
powerful level editor will be included for those inclined to design
their own levels. Awesome shadows created by source lighting
give this game an eerie realistic mood. Based on the 3rd
edition Dungeon and Dragons rule set, Neverwinter Nights is
where this genre is headed. Awesome!
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Sacrifice
- Stuart Roch, Executive Producer of
Sacrifice at Shiny Entertainment spends some time explaining the
features of this unique game. Sacrifice is a real time
strategy game (RTS) that plays unlike traditional games.
There is no resource management, instead, players concentrate on
combat and capturing the souls of the fallen. Once you
'sacrifice' the captured souls at your home base, you are able to
use them in your army. It sounds a little spooky, but the
game has some interesting innovations and the graphics are
breathtaking. You are able to see miles into the distance
with a unique 3D game engine that reduces polygon count of objects
and terrain as they get further away. The result is a highly
detailed game that runs liquid smooth. Several former
Blizzard employees are currently working on the Sacrifice project.
StarCraft was the greatest real time strategy game, but now there
may be a game that blows it away! We'll see this winter when
it is released. |
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Warcraft 3 -
Warcraft 3 is actually not that
new. It was announced almost a year ago and many fans had a
feeling it was in development anyway. After 'Warcraft
Adventures' was cancelled, components of that game were put into
Warcraft 3, which is still a real time strategy game (RTS) with
components of role playing and adventure. Warcraft 3 uses an
overhead camera that is locked into position so that you are not
fighting the camera during gameplay. 3D terrains, characters, and the beautiful game art you are used to seeing from
Blizzard will catch your eye. Unfortunately, the game still
has a ways to go. Blizzard says 1st quarter next year, but I
predict E3 2001 for a release. |
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Ground Control
- I admit it, I am a hardcore real
time strategy gamer. Although I prefer to play these kind of
games, I am not bias toward the genre. I have been
disappointed by several RTS (real time strategy) games, Lucas Arts
Force Commander comes immediately to mind. With some
reluctance, I took a peak at Sierra Studios 'Ground Control'.
After about 5 minutes of playing the tutorial, I was in total
shock. This game is sweet. The game is 100% 3D,
and finally, the camera control is easy and intuitive.
Controlling your units is simple and is influenced by the best of
all the other RTS games out there. Graphics are drop dead
gorgeous and combat is tactical and full of strategy.
Excellent game! |
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Halo - One
of the best games of the show and showing an incredible amount of
promise. The movie Bungie wowed crowds with demonstrated the
ability to tell a good story while providing visuals good enough to
make an entire full length feature film out of. The 3D engine they have developed
allows players to venture in and out of buildings, explore vastly detailed
landscapes and have epic battles on alien worlds. In some
ways, the game reminded me of Team Fortress, which was shown at last
year's E3 show. Halo is far more than your typical shoot em up. The
real time rendered sequences shown at the show are as impressive as
any CGI movie you have seen because of the excellent use of the 3D
camera and scripting. The game is was roughly 60% complete when shown at
E3. |
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Black and White
- In development for well over a year
now is Black and White. Whenever I walked by the demo area
for this game I always saw these giant animals roaming around, so
I talked with one of the designers to get the low-down and see
what else the game had to offer. Basically, there are many
mini-quests that you can partake in. As a God, you have the
ability to influence your people by performing acts of goodness,
or by fear. There is no right or wrong, it's whatever you
want to do. These giant animals are used to create awe in
your followers so that they will worship you. If you want
your people to recognize your greatness, just have your beast eat
some villagers or destroy a building and they'll react. You
also have to watch out for the other Gods in the game, because
they will want your people too. In the end, you will have to
win over all the other humans in the game. Very unique game
that looks very fun! |
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Bleem - Bleem
is emulation software that allows you to play Playstation titles
on your PC, or as demonstrated at E3, on your Dreamcast.
Yup, you read it right... throw away your Playstation because the
majority of your PSX games will now run on your Sega Dreamcast
system. From what I saw at the show, games runs faster, at
higher resolution, and best yet, using smoothing techniques that
the Sega 3D hardware has. Games no longer look blocky.
This is a fantastic product that should sell like hotcakes.
There will be 4 Bleem CDs for the Dreamcast, each one containing
over 100 PSX game schemes. In my opinion, seeing is
believing. Look to Technodynamic in the near future for a
full review. |
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GeForce 2 GTS -
Deciding which card to get can be a
difficult thing to do. After seeing both the nVidia and 3Dfx
cards in action, it is still difficult for me to declare a winner.
From what I saw, the GeForce 2 GTS card was capable of doing far
more than just traditional "3D acceleration." They
showed incredible bump mapping demos, lighting effects, and were
able to create ultra realistic worlds. This particular card,
while still ultra fast, was not released because of its advances
in fill rate, but because of the new transform and lighting
effects. The only question is " will game developers
support it?" Well, I asked, and the game companies
seemed to welcome nVidia's card with open arms. Warcraft 3,
Black and White, and Sacrifice are just a few of the awesome games
that will be supporting this fine card. With a price tag
slightly more than 3Dfx's Voodoo 5500, I think this may be the
'hardcore' gamers card of choice. |
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