Games

[icycalm]

http://www.damnationthegame.com/

Evolving the shooter genre with its unique and exhilarating combination of fluid action and combat, Damnation will feature huge, open environments, frenetic combat, daredevil acrobatics and high-octane vehicle-based stunts. Presenting players with an intense test of reflexes, quick thinking and rapid-fire conflict, Damnation will feature vast, breathtaking landscapes, each covering miles of distance and thousands of vertical feet.

Billed as a ‘shooter gone vertical’ and visually inspired by iconic elements of American history, these massive streaming landscapes will form the battlegrounds for a post-industrial conflict between humanity and an unstoppable arms dealer hell-bent on total world domination.

Players will be able to choose their own paths and navigate the world by performing daredevil feats on the edge of human ability. However, players aren’t the only ones with mind-blowing acrobatic skills; intelligent enemies will give chase and engage players in frantic gun fights and attacks that can come from any direction – in Damnation’s world there’s no safe place to hide.

With up to three hours of actual gameplay stretching out in front of them per level, players will need more than just muscle power to get across each level safely. Damnation will offer players a selection of awe-inspiring vehicles, from motorbikes capable of launching across seemingly infinite chasms, to huge, armour-piercing marvels that will induce mayhem with every huge shell.

The high action will be supported with an epic and in-depth story which, while focusing on the exploits of the hero character Rourke, is truly an ensemble piece. Players will meet and become involved in intricate story plots that reveal much more than the obvious.

In addition to the single player experience, Damnation comes complete with a unique set of multiplayer options that take full advantage of the game’s expansive levels.

Available Winter 2008

http://www.codemasters.co.uk/games/inde ... ameid=2651

Watched the videos on the official site. Visually it's passable and art-wise it's a bit meh, but otherwise cool stuff. Like adding Crackdown-style platforming elements to a third-person shooter.

I also like how you can see the exact weapons the protagonist is carrying on his back, as in Ninja Blade. Even the more modern games like DMC4 and Ninja Gaiden 2 don't do this, but it seems we're getting to a point where it will be standard for everything except the Serious Sam-style games.

[icycalm]

More here: http://videogamerx.gamedonga.co.kr/zbxe/1015891

[Cpt. Coin-op]

Looks entertaining from the videos, but on the other hand, I know Codemasters has a reputation for churning out shovelware. If the main character can really do as much as the developers claim he can, then hopefully the game won't involve a horribly clunky, convoluted control scheme (I'm looking at you, Tomb Raider).

On another note, I'm curious as to exactly what part the "American history" will play in a British-developed steampunk game.

[icycalm]

Looks entertaining from the videos, but on the other hand, I know Codemasters has a reputation for churning out shovelware.

It's clear from the videos that whatever this is, it's not going to be shovelware. I think they want this to be their "Gears of War" -- just like Epic used to do only the boring Unreal Tournament games before taking a serious step forward with Gears, Codemasters has been doing the boring Operation Flashpoint games before (hopefully) taking a serious step forward with this.

On another note, I'm curious as to exactly what part the "American history" will play in a British-developed steampunk game.

The same part that European or Japanese history plays in many American-developed games: The flavor part. (Look at the shitty motorcycle design and think Harley Davidson; or the way the protagonist is dressed -- I think we'll also see the Grand Canyon, etc.)

[Morzas]

It's clear from the videos that whatever this is, it's not going to be shovelware. I think they want this to be their "Gears of War" -- just like Epic used to do only the boring Unreal Tournament games before taking a serious step forward with Gears, Codemasters has been doing the boring Operation Flashpoint games before (hopefully) taking a serious step forward with this.

What did you find boring in UT?

[Jedah]

Same question here: why do you think UT games are boring? I'd say they lack some of the charisma/recognition Quake had but they are still solid games with tons of features and some of the most strategic approaches found in FPS multiplayer.

[zinger]

I've been playing the original UT for the past few weeks. Assault mode is a bit flawed (still fun though), but other than that it's a great game.

[icycalm]

What I mean by boring, in this context, is not the game while you are playing it, but the idea of the game. I was going to talk about this in my Gears review, but since you guys asked me...

You see, this is all Epic did in the decade before Gears:

Unreal (1998)
Return to Na Pali (1999)
Unreal Tournament (1999)
Unreal Tournament 2003 (2002)
Unreal Championship (2002)
Unreal II: The Awakening (2003)
Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004)
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict (2005)

I mean does that list look boring or what. Can you guys tell me that Gears of War was NOT an exciting new direction for Epic, regardless of the quality of the UT games themselves? Would you have preferred another UT installment instead? (Which we did indeed eventually get, but that's beside the point.)

And the same thing applies with Codemasters' Operation Flashpoint games. Say what you will about them, but Damnation is a lot more exciting prospect to me than Operation Flashpoint 3 would have been. Could Gears' third-person cover mechanics and Damnation's Grand Canyon-like stages have been incorporated in UT3 and the hypothetical Operation Flashpoint 3? Perhaps, but in the real world radical innovation often doesn't happen in sequels. Direct sequels are more for smaller, incremental updates, and that's why they are not so exciting to anyone but the most rabid fans of a series. And I sure as hell am not a rabid fan of UT or Operation Flashpoint.

And I mean, at the end of the day, I like deathmatch-style games as much as anyone, but I much prefer it when they come in packaged with a brand-new kick-ass single/co-op campaign, all set in an interesting setting and depicted with all the latest visual and mechanics tricks -- and again, in all the above points Gears and Damnation are much more exciting than further updates to tried and proven formulas.

So this is where the 'boring' comment came from. You can all stop throwing tomatoes at me now :)

[Morzas]

I understand why these companies have to create single player campaigns. Many PC gamers buy a game, play it for a month or two then go on to the next new thing, so the campaign is there to give these people a reason to buy it. The sad thing is that most single player campaigns teach new players bad habits which will get them killed when they play against humans, which is how these games are supposed to be played. I like how Blizzard is going to make SCII's single player different from the multiplayer as well as include a multiplayer primer which will actually teach people how to play the game (if they actually go through with it anyway) the way it should be played. Maybe I'll see fewer new players with bad habits when SCII's online scene starts emerging, such as building excessive static defenses and only expanding when your main runs out of resources. I'm glad that gaming companies are finally figuring out that their traditional single player modes are not a good teaching tool for people who want to play multiplayer, and I hope more of them catch on to what Blizzard is doing.

Edit: Wow, that had nothing to do with the topic at hand at all.