Take Two Gives Us a Look At Two New Titles
Take 2 Games was nice enough to get us in to two of their newest games. The first game was recently announced and it was the first time it was being demoed. That game would be Civilization: Revolutions for the 360. We sat down for the demo and the first thing we were told that the idea to bring Civ to the console world started with Sid Meier and his son.
His son was just about to hit his teen years and he wanted to play Civilization, but would get lost in all the mechanics of the game. So Meier started to come about with designing a Civ game that could be accessible to all players regardless of skill, and Civilization: Revolutions was born.
The game is built on a smaller scale where the emphasis is on quicker resolutions of the game. Normally, you will never build more than five cities for your civilization. Animations are being created on a dynamic level and will use rag doll effects, as you can zoom right up to the battlefield to watch the battle as it takes place. When you win, you earn elite points. Get to a certain level and you gain a new skill, that changes the abilities and look of your troops.
The Tech tree in the game has been simplified, so there are no dead end technologies. No mention of whether there are World Wonders, but I would have to think that there are. Also when you select a new tech, it actually gives you a heads up graphically of what will come of it, ie. new buildings or soldier advances.
Victory is based on winning the game either militarily, politically, popularity or by getting into space first. They told us that this game was almost like a return to Civilization 2. No release date was given, but it looks like early to mid 2008. One word to Sid: Please work on an Alpha Centauri 2 game soon. It needs a sequel.
The other game that we were shown was not new, but is coming out next month, and that would be Bioshock. Right now, the hype meter is huge on this game, and so far it looks great. They have finalized most of the code and they are just putting a lot of spit and polish on the game. We got to play through the first level of the game and so far it is putting off a creepy vibe similar to Undying from a few years ago.
The art direction in the game is the star of the show so far. I was amazed at how stunning the game backgrounds look. Imagine a streetscape from New York in the 1930′s and you have the visuals of Rapture. As you start the game, you are riding a plane near the location of Rapture when you have difficulties and crash. You wake up underwater and slowly drowning. You see someone’s purse float up beside you (possibly your wife’s?). You fight violently to come to the surface. You see a huge citadel in the distance and swim to it. Why is this thing conveniently where you crashed? Curiosity gets the best of you as you decide to go in. You are whisked away through a bathosphere to Rapture, an intellectual’s paradise under the water.
Gameplay kicks in as someone is outside the bathosphere is trying to get in. She speaks in a cryptic voice as she kills someone begging for mercy. She then jumps upon the bathosphere frantically trying to get in. Frustrated she runs off as you are told to pick up a radio. You meet your first contact in the game, Atlus. He will become your guide in the game, but you know nothing of his motives at this time.
As you get in, you find a wrench and a Plasmids station. Plasmids give you all the powers that you see in the game. This one granted us electricity. As we were attacked by a splicer (aka badguy), you can lure him into the puddles of water that are around and hit him with some electricity. Being in the water, he is instantly cooked.
With that our demo came to a close. You did see a glimpse of a Big Daddy in the distance, but did not fight him. The game looks and sounds amazing. It is also a Games for Windows game, as well as on the 360 and will be out on August 21, unless you preorder at Gamestop which has an exclusive launch and limited edition that goes on sale August 17th.
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