TeAM YYePG

PHANTASY STAR ONLINE:
BLUE BURST
PUBLISHER: Sega DEVELOPER: Sonic Team
RELEASE DATE: 2005
What We Said: “Phantasy Star is coming to the
PC? It’s about phreakin’ time!”
What We Saw: Higher resolutions make Sonic
Team’s colorful worlds and characters look that
much prettier. PSO is as addictive as ever; while
it’s still most at home with a gamepad, it is surprisingly
playable with mouse and keyboard controls.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
ONLINE: SHADOWS
OF ANGMAR
PUBLISHER: Turbine DEVELOPER: Turbine
RELEASE DATE: January 2006
What We Said: “We have one burning question:
Does anyone really care?”
What We Saw: The game formerly known as
Middle-earth Online attempts to provide a fictionheavy
experience that LOTR-savvy MMO fans
should dig. But, as with all licensed MMOs, what
fun is it when you’re a nobody? We want to be
Gandalf or Aragorn, not John Wayne Hobbit.
DREAMFALL:
THE LONGEST JOURNEY
PUBLISHER: Funcom DEVELOPER: Funcom
RELEASE DATE: September 2005
What We Said: “We love The Longest Journey,
but the sequel has us worried.”
What We Saw: The three Lara Croft–esque
playable characters confirm the de-Myst-ification
we suspected, but all the grandeur of classic
adventures still seems to linger. We’re still not
sold on that combat stuff, though.
VANGUARD:
SAGA OF HEROES
PUBLISHER: Microsoft DEVELOPER: Sigil Games
RELEASE DATE: 2006
What We Said: “We need to see for ourselves
what makes Vanguard different from everything
else.”
What We Saw: We now know what makes it different—it’s
the most ambitious MMORPG ever,
which is its salvation or doom. Covering traditional
adventuring, crafting, diplomacy, exploration,
and so much more, Vanguard’s design doc must
be big enough to stun an ox. But is it too big?
AGE OF EMPIRES III
PUBLISHER: Microsoft DEVELOPER: Ensemble
Studios RELEASE DATE: November 2005
What We Said: “Rather than acting as yet
another carbon copy of its forebear, AOE3 introduces
some new gameplay elements.”
What We Saw: AOE3 is the series’ first 3D title,
and while that’s hardly a revolutionary element, its
impact on the game is undeniable. In general, it
seems Ensemble hasn’t tried to fix what wasn’t
broken—thankfully. (Check out our exclusive
hands-on preview of AOE3 page TK.)
CALL OF DUTY 2
PUBLISHER: Activision DEVELOPER: Infinity Ward
RELEASE DATE: Q3 2005
What We Said: “Why is it we are so excited
about COD2? The gameplay.”
What We Saw: Death porn. That sounds harsh,
but more than one of us was disturbed by the
COD2 D-Day demo shown at E3. We understand
the desire for authenticity, but this felt like it was
reveling in death and destruction. We’re hoping
the finished product makes us feel less icky than
the demo did, though the game looks great—for a
look at exclusive new screens, turn to page TK.
STAR WARS
EMPIRE AT WAR
PUBLISHER: LucasArts DEVELOPER: Petroglyph
RELEASE DATE: November 2005
What We Said: “Yeah, we know that previous
Star Wars RTS efforts have been mediocre, but
our hopes are still high.”
What We Saw: After getting a good look at
Empire at War, we were impressed by the ingame
battles, which seemed appropriately larger
than life and incredibly detailed. Well, either that
or we were still on a high from seeing Darth Vader
back in theaters, kicking ass old-school style.
AGE OF CONAN:
HYBORIAN ADVENTURES
PUBLISHER: Funcom DEVELOPER: Funcom
RELEASE DATE: 2006
What We Said: “Funcom hopes that by getting
players acclimated to the game offline, the MMO
experience will be less daunting and more dynamic.”
What We Saw: A single-player RPG that turns into
an MMO adventure after level 20? It sounds ingenious,
looks damn impressive, and is true to the
Conan lore—expect a full onscreen abattoir. Definitely
not just another MMO, Age of Conan is one to watch.
E3 2005 POST-MORTEM RADAR
CGW @ E3 2005
The editors sound off about this year’s show
JEFF GREEN
It was a great E3 for PC
gaming, and I’m not just
saying that because it’s
my job. Spore, AOE3,
Prey, and Enemy Territory:
Quake Wars were
amongst the best games of the show, on any
platform. I hate E3. E3 sucks. I wish it would
go away forever. But this year I loved it.
ROBERT COFFEY
While E3 was nasty—tons
of people with
questionable hygiene
made even more
questionable thanks to no
air conditioning—it was
great nonetheless. For me, this year was all
about games I hadn’t known much about
beforehand, like Prey and Spore. I also liked
Creative’s X-Fi technology (see page 82 for
more on X-Fi), which is going to make gamers
stop taking sound for granted.
KRISTEN
SALVATORE
This was by far the most
crowded E3 I’ve attended.
In terms of getting around
and finding food, and the
proximity of sweaty
bodies with which I am not interested in
becoming familiar, that was a bad, bad thing.
In terms of the health of our industry and the
wealth of great games to look forward to, it
was nothing short of kick-ass.
DARREN
GLADSTONE
This was a year of bona
fide surprises. Who
cares about the PS3 and
Xbox 360 when we’ve
got Spore, the most
revolutionary game I’ve seen since…well,
The Sims? Top that off with new games such
as UT 2007, Huxley, and Quake Wars, and
2006 is already looking hot.
RYAN SCOTT
One thing never
changes: E3 makes my
feet hurt. But even with
the legwork, the show
is always a blast. My
favorite game of E3 had
to be Titan Quest. I know everybody’s hot
and bothered for Diablo III, but, man, does
this game look awesome!
>> at it again, working on Dungeon Siege, the movie. Strangely, some big stars have signed on—including Burt Reynolds and Ron Perlman.. >>
CGW.1UP.COM < 39