NC SOFT - E3 2002
The NC Soft booth was closed to public. In fact, they were located in the dungeons of the convention center and would be nearly impossible to find had I not schedule an appointment with them. The showed two games (actually 3), both being massively multiplayer online games. The Lineage (original) was shown to us and I guess they have a new patch coming out to enhance the existing version that about 12,000 people in the US play. In Korea there is a HUGE fan following of over 4 million people. You'd think this game was awesome to have such a huge fan base. Well, I saw Lineage for the first time and I must say it looked awful. Frame rate in the single digits, and plain looking graphics. The patch 'enhanced' the graphics so that now they actually animated. Even after the patch it wasn't up to Diablo 1 standards (IMO). That said, Lineage 2, while early, is the exact opposite... it looked better than games like World of WarCraft, but it is still VERY EARLY.
| City of Heroes - is actually a really good game! This PC title is centered around Paragon city, which consists of different areas... commerce, slums, destroyed, etc. You custom create your own hero with offensive moves, costumes and customized skill settings. The customization is one of the highest out there with an absolute ton of different options. You hero will certainly be unique. There are 3 things you try and achieve: Money, Experience and Fame. Your character can fly around the city and jump really high, all in an effort to catch bad guys. If you die, you'll revive in a hospital, if you have insurance. The game has lots of story to it and is actually really really cool. The only downside will be that dreaded monthly fee. |
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Lineage 2 - After seeing Lineage 1, anything would look better, but take my word for it, Lineage 2 looks very nice! Detail of landscape is better than Blizzard's World of WarCraft. This game is clearly VERY early though, all the demo allowed you to do was take a morning jog on the terrain, no combat, no enemies, no interaction. The game's intro movie was played and was Blizzard quality and entertaining. If the game plays like the graphics look, then this will be a valid competitor in the US market, and the 12,000 users of Lineage 1 will look more like the Korean figures. Still very early, but it did look nice thus far. View more screenshot's here. |
