• Peter Molyneux's stated ambition as a designer is to make FABLE 2 a landmark game. In order to achieve this three big design features have been added. The inspiration and rational behind these features will be discussed along with their evolution throughout the development process. The wider context of their impact and influence on the RPG genre with also be examined as the ambition is also to evolve the genre itself. The talk will be supported by retrospective videos as well as live game examples.

• Game stories can matter, even in first person shooters. But first we're going to have to give up a lot of our preconceptions about what people care about when playing a game. For too long, games (especially first person shooters) have been stuck in a "game sequence followed by story sequence" mentality. Ken Levine will tell the tale of how the BIOSHOCK took a pointy-headed idea about a pseudo-objectivist utopia and turned it into one of the most compelling and succesful game worlds in recent history. What were the tools used? What compromises had to be made? Where did the shooter end and the story begin? How did we make people give a crap? How did we use story and narrative to become perhaps the most talked about game at the super-crowded E3 2006? What does this all mean for stories in games? And must of all, what hell does "Mise En Scene" mean?

• The online multiplayer mode of HALO 3 features an automatic matchmaking system to place players into games. Players may join individually or with parties of friends, and are quickly matched into groups. This presentation describes the algorithms behind the peer-to-peer matchmaking model, and its implementation over Xbox Live. It examines the impact of matchmaking on the HALO online community, and provides techniques for shaping the player experience and discouraging cheaters. The tradeoffs of an automatic matchmaking system compared to traditional multiplayer game browsers will be discussed, and illustrated by some results from the first months of HALO 3's operation.

• This session will offer a look into key areas of CRYSIS development that markedly depart from Crytek's first project, FAR CRY. Main topics include Nanosuit design and gameplay, creating a rich, destructible/non-linear world, and peopling it with dynamic, believable AI enemies that challenge and entertain the player.

Video games based on movie franchises. Yeah, I know, nobody really wants to hear about them because unfortunately, the majority of games based on movies are cheap cash-ins designed to pocket even more money for the movie studio based on whatever blockbuster is getting a lot of buzz from the gaming demographic. However, things are changing, as movie directors are realizing more and more that the interactive medium can be used to further the experience from the films and be more involving, immersive and expressive as technology continues to evolve. They’re just beginning to realize that this is no longer the Pac-Man, Pong and Space Invader era. Peter Jackson had a big hand in the Peter Jackson’s King Kong game, making sure that his vision was adhered to the entire way, but does it make for a good game?

Director Carl Denham has happened across a secret map, to a place never believed to be in existence - a place that time has forgotten. What better place to shoot a movie, right? The game kicks off with a few explanatory scenes - actual footage from the 2005 Peter Jackson movie - of Carl discussing this; finding the leading lady; boarding the ship; and then crashing at Skull Island. The story is established in mere minutes and then you take the reigns controlling Jack Driscoll, the writer behind Denham’s film. You trek across Skull Island with a team comprised of Denham, the leading lady Ann Darrow, and Hayes and Jimmy, at first finding shooting locales and filming footage, until it’s discovered that a variety of dinosaurs, huge creepy-crawlies like bats, millipedes, crabs and scorpions also inhabit the island. There’s also an ancient tribe that’s not too happy about your surprise visit and a giant gorilla named... Kong. The game then becomes about gathering any crew you’ve become seperated from and leaving the island alive.

It’s only a matter of minutes into the game when you’re thrown into a situation of having to protect yourself from creatures and making sure the rest of your team is also alright, a gameplay mechanic that you’ll see carried across for the rest of the game. When the action starts you’re introduced to the games superbly simplistic control scheme. It takes a second to learn and it’s easy to use. A quick run-down is: L2 aims weapon, R3 zooms weapon, R2 does a double act of the action button and firing the weapon, R1 reloads your weapon and X lets you talk to other characters and take their weapon. It’s that simple, and it works like a charm. You can only carry one weapon at a time (after all, this is Skull Island, not San Andreas where you can find a gun shop and liquor store on every corner), ammo is rare on the island and whatever you find is courtesy of care packages dropped by the pilot in your team circling the island. You can carry a spear, which there are plenty of on the island thanks to the native tribe that inhabits it, or a bone which can also be thrown like a spear, at the same time as you carry a firearm, though the spear must be dropped before you can use the firearm again.

If this was just your traditional first-person shooter, the way the weapons system works in King Kong probably wouldn’t fly in it, but because of the scenarios created in the game, the weapon system is incredibly successful. You have to always think about conserving your ammo because you don’t know when you’ll find another weapon crate; when fighting a handful of millipedes you may instinctively use the spears surrounding you against them because you don’t know if there may be a raptor or T-Rex around the corner that you’d need a firearm for more than a giant bug. Of course, when the fast moving dinosaurs enter the scene you usually run out of ammo quick and the game becomes purely about survival and using the environment to your advantage, weaving around stone columns that the dinosaurs can’t fit through or hiding in an ancient stone building while you think of a way to distract the dinosaurs. This could mean killing another nearby creature to get the attention of the predators, so that they’ll be too busy eating it while you leave, or in a situation where a gate needs to be opened, you could divert attention to yourself by shooting at the dinosaurs and running through columns so that their attention is on you while your team opens the gate.

Besides the shooting element, the game also relies on the use of physical puzzles. The puzzles all focus on the fact that you need to go through gates at certain parts of the game to progress. To open the gate you usually need two people to crank the gate open. Sometimes a peg is missing and you must search the area for it. Sometimes when you find the peg it’s behind brush which you cannot pass through and must set a fire, but the nearest fire may have been a little ways back, behind obstacles like spiders and water. It then becomes your initiative to somehow get that peg into the post and open the gate to proceed. It sounds like an extremely simple premise, which it is, but every time it happens there’s a new spin on it and new variables which always make it interesting. 

Of course, the other component to the game besides the first-person shooting segments with Jack is the third-person element featuring King Kong himself. Kong’s segments find you swinging across the jungle on tree limbs, running on vine-covered walls, and fighting whatever beast wants to take Ann away from you. It plays part like a platformer and part like a wrestling game once you start fighting the other creatures on the island hand to hand. The fights can be particularly exciting to watch, especially when Kong enters rage mode by pounding his chest - the colors become desaturated and the lighting blown out as Kong delivers lethal slow-mo blow after slow-mo blow. 

While all this action is taking place you may be surprised that there is absolutely NO HUD. That’s correct, no heads up display, no little meter that tells you whether you’re almost dead or out of ammo; instead there are visual and audio cues that more than do the trick. As for ammo, every time Jack reloads he’ll say something along the lines of "It’s okay, I’ve got enough magazines,” “One magazine after this,” or “I’m dry,” so you always know what your weapon status is just by hitting reload. I would say this method works even better than an HUD, because with a HUD, even if it’s for a mere half a second you have to look elsewhere on-screen than the action to see what your status is during the heat of the moment, the moment where it matters for you to know how much ammo you have is the moment in the game that it’s hardest for you to check it. As for health status, when you’re critical you’ll hear your heart beat faster and see the screen go red, and that’s when you know you have to get out of danger or die in one more hit. If you manage to get away, and take a few moments to collect yourself so the screen is no longer red, you’ll be recovered from the incident and ready to move on.

Video and audio effects are used well throughout the game. First off, the game is letterboxed on 4:3 televisions and that adds so much to the movie feeling, the way the picture is composed in a widescreen format is instantly more compelling than one with a simple 4:3 ratio (if you don’t like letterbox you can turn this off in the options, as well as be able to get a weapons HUD). Whenever Jack is scared you can hear his breathing become faster and more erratic, this in turn makes you feel a bit more scared about what may be just ahead of you. Whenever a huge beast like a T-Rex roars in front of you, the camera will shake and the screen will blur to further enhance the frightful experience. The graphics in the game in general are simply gorgeous, the first few levels especially. I was wondering how the team managed to get all of these textures to work with the PS2’s limited memory, as well as great character and environmental models, with random rock formations and foliage everywhere. The lighting is also fantastic - both the fire effects and natural lighting are very realistic. The music in the game is very cinematic and fitting with such a game, and the sound effects are top notch; the sounds of all the creatures are harrowing and can give you a jump now and then. The cast comes back to voice their characters, so that movie authenticity is added there as well. 

Though King Kong is a great game, it is notoriously short, maybe clocking in around six hours. The shortness is probably due to the game’s other problem in that it is very linear. Though this is not instantly recognizable through playing some parts, because it is a dense jungle in most of the game and you’re simply following whatever path is clear for you, you realize later on you’ve pretty much been on a straight path the whole time. What’s even worse is that the Kong segments might as well have been on rails. When Kong goes through the jungle, swinging on trees and running on walls covered with vines, you simply hold forward as the direction to run or swing and press square to jump or speed up. Apparently, it’s impossible to jump too early or late during these sequences, so you don’t even need to worry about timing or accuracy. I just found myself holding forward and continuously tapping the square button like a Track and Field game through all of Kong’s “jungle chase” sequences. When it comes to fighting, the Kong segment becomes more interesting, as you have to fight off many small creatures at once or face off against big foes like the T-Rex; this portion plays a lot like a simplified wrestling game and can be quite dramatic to watch but repetitive to play, consisting of only button-mashing.

I really wasn’t expecting this much from a movie license, but King Kong obviously had a lot of work go into it to make it something more than just a movie cash-in. Though it is very linear and very short, it is excellent at creating a rich visual, audio and emotional experience in an extremely cinematic manner. Fans of the upcoming movie should definitely pick this one up as it does both the movie and the video game format justice, but casual gamers ought to give it a rental first, because you’ll probably be able to beat it before you have to return it and make your decision based on that.

Simplistic controls and premise, but the situations make the game tense and fun.

Really beautiful textures, models and lighting effects, has a cinematic flare.

Excellent cinematic score, edge of your seat sound effects, star voice talent.

You always want to see what lies ahead on the Island, but your voyage ends up short.

Like a movie once is enough for a few months. You can go back and unlock things.

]]> Mon, 05 Dec 2005 11:23:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/ubisoft_announces_ds_titles http://www.gamebump.com/go/ubisoft_announces_ds_titles http://www.gamebump.com/go/ubisoft_announces_ds_titles# Ubisoft has announced more titles they will be bringing to the Nintendo DS, they include Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, King Kong, Bomberman and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.

Star Wars and Splinter Cell are expected to release this spring followed by Bomberman this summer and King Kong around Christmas 2005. Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft said, "We are proud to offer one of the most diverse line-ups of any major editor. Racing, platform, stealth, or action - there is truly something for all tastes."

This follows Ubisoft's previous release of Rayman DS, Sprung and Asphault: Urban GT.

Stay tuned for more as we get closer to these Ubisoft releases.

On the third and final day of E3, Gaming Horizon finally got a chance to check out a much anticipated title from Ubisoft: Peter Jackson’s King Kong, and we were very impressed with it, to say the least.

After waiting in line for about twenty minutes outside a giant compound made to look like something straight out of the upcoming film, we were ushered into a small theatre inside. The presentation began with a behind-the-scenes look at the game featuring interviews with Peter Jackson, the director of the new Kong film, and Michel Ansel, producer for the King Kong game, as well as the critically acclaimed title Beyond Good and Evil.

After the short behind-the-scenes featurette, representatives from Ubisoft treated the audience to a look at the gameplay elements of King Kong by playing through a few parts of some levels from the PS2 version of the title.

The game looked simply amazing. Despite the fact that the game is still a “work in progress”, the visuals were astounding. The jungle environment was modeled beautifully and the character animations were smooth and believable. Small details, like the fog rolling throughout parts of the game, looked great and added an ambience to the jungle. Even in an incomplete version, the graphics were some of the best we have ever seen on a current-generation systems.

Reminiscent of the ability to play as both Alan Grant and a Velociraptor in Jurassic Park for the Sega Genesis, one of the more interesting gameplay features in King Kong is the ability to play as both Jack Driscoll, the hero in the film, as well as Kong himself. The game differs from Jurassic Park however in the fact that it appeared from the demo as though you couldn’t play the whole game through as just one of the characters. It seemed as though at various points in the game, the narrative would change from Jack’s story to Kong’s, and you would play as the other character for that part of the game, much like the way you play as both Master Chief and the covenant Arbitor in Halo 2. As well, your camera perspective changes, and with it your gameplay, depending on which character you are in the game, as Jack Driscoll’s character has a first-person view and Kong has a third-person camera.

The demo began in first-person, with Jack awaking tied up as a sacrifice to Kong, looking out at Ann Darrow tied up as well. There was no FMV sequence as Kong approached from the jungle; the player was able to control Jack as he watched Kong carry Ann back into the jungle with him.

Following this sequence, two of Jack’s comrades (one convincingly modeled after actor Jack Black) untied Driscoll, and three went off running into the jungle after Ann. As Jack and his comrades started running, flaming spears began to land in front of him, thrown by an unseen source. The fire on the spears looked excellent, and an interesting addition to the gameplay was the player’s ability to pick up the spears that had landed in the ground, and launch them back from where they had come.

This interactivity with the environment extended to the next part of the demo, in which Jack and his friends battled a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a giant centipede looking creature. Random branches and pieces of brush lying across the area could be picked up and used by Jack to defend himself against the creatures.

The giant T-Rex chasing Jack was wonderfully modeled and animated, and when he roared, a motion blur filled the screen, reminiscent of the look of GTA San Andreas when you are speeding in a car, and gave a visual representation of the power of his cry.

The next part of the demo featured Jack and pals on a raft going down a river in the middle of the jungle. This time Jack was equipped with a gun, however two T-Rexes and a Pterodactyl were now chasing him.

As the T-Rexes chased Jack, they knocked over everything in their way, sometimes causing large branches and parts of trees to come crashing into the water right in front of Jack’s eyes. When something fell into the water, it would splash onto the raft and give the feeling that the environment was really interacting with the player. As well, as you passed by a waterfall, a mist would arise in front of the raft, drawing you in to the environment.

The final part of the demo began with what looked like a cut-scene, as Kong jumped out from the jungle to fight the two T-Rexes that had been pursuing him in the previous scene. It was only after a moment or two that it became obvious that the perspective of the game had changed and that now the player was controlling Kong. Whether this had been the case the entire time or there had indeed been a small cut-scene to segway between Jack and Kong’s narratives was unclear from the demo, but either way, the action never slowed down, and the switch between perspectives was seamless.

Playing as Kong, the interactivity between the player and environment was increased ten-fold, as Kong was able to interact with and destroy any object in the environment that was standing in his way in his search for Ann Darrow, who had escaped from him in the previous scene. The graphics still looked amazing in the new perspective as the camera pulled back a bit to be able to fit Kong on screen, and the gameplay still looked to play just as smoothly in the third-person perspective.

With an extensive demonstration of the gameplay and graphics of Peter Jackson’s King Kong, Ubisoft gave us more than enough to be thoroughly excited for this title. The gameplay looked smooth and exciting, and the graphics were nothing short of astounding, especially for a game that is a “work in progress”. We are expecting that this is going to be a solid game when it ships this Holiday Season 2005 for PS2, Xbox, GameCube, Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo DS, and Game Boy Advance.

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