A quick report of this years E3 highlights
Devin Cambridge, 2004-05-14

The effects of the Hollywood system on E3 show as one walks into the south hall at the Los Angeles convention center. Most of the titles in the "expensive" section of the expo either trail a number after the game's name or mimic the movie marques scattered across the Los Angeles landscape. The deals with the demon bitch goddesses of fame and money flash across the large 10 foot tall screens towering above the masses of an estimated 62,000 industry professionals. Developers are now treated like rock stars creating inflated egos and inflated pay. Some of them have yet to succumb to the dazzle; you can still say hello while walking the halls (Hello Bill Roper, Hello Ray Muzyka), while others seem to be enjoying the golden calf experience of being cut off by outsourced PR representatives (Peter Molyneux). Moreover, the major game news media upped the stakes with live news broadcasts from the floor shouting MTV style hype. From amoungst the hype and the glitz, several people I talked to wondered "where are the new innovative games this year?"

A lot of the games look like kit cars, cars with fancy exotic body styles built on top of common stock frames and engines. Sure it looks like a Ferrari Spider, but underneath the panels lies a Toyota frame with a Chevy engine. I don't care how often I hear, "But our game isn't the same as the other guys." If it looks like Diablo/Quake/Dungeon Siege/Everquest/Warcraft and it plays like Diablo/Quake/Dungeon Diege/Everquest/Warcraft is those games. So, you had better do a damn fine implementation with a polished story and game play, or come up with something truly innovative.

Walking around the halls, I did find what I think are a few gems (besides the standard Prince of Persia 2, Half Life 2, and Splinter Cell 3 sequels that we all know we will grudgingly buy) and will make a statement on what I think will be either the best or hidden gems of E3.

RPG - Dungeon Lords

While it will probably never win game of the year, Dungeon Lords, designed by D.W. Bradley of Wizardry fame, is a real gem in the RPG arena. If you look at the screen shots floating around the internet, you will might not be impressed. The graphics are good with nice particle effects and very good textures for clothing, buildings and other features, but the genre looks like an old hat dungeon crawl. However, the screen shots and description don't convey the interface. The interface really separates the game from the rest of the genre. Very simple key strokes (Q,E,C) open and close menus. The four main right hand keys (W,S,A,D) move the character forward and back, and strafe right and left. Really take a look at the keys. You will see that they center on a very small cluster. Your right hand supplies the further range of movements with either the mouse or arrow keys. D.W. and his team have taken the blizzard approach to game design by designing simple and intuitive controls and menus, and appling them to an adventure game look. RPG aficionados will be very pleased. The class system supplies the players with multiclass options which enable the player to choose skill trees related to the player's choice. An old fashioned peer to peer game network will allow up to eight players to dungeon crawl together. Straight forward and fun should be the motto of Dungeon Lords. Unfortunately, a quick assessment will not yield story content. However, keep an eye out for Dungeon Lords. If they story possesses the same quality of polish as the interface, this game may be the surprise of this year.

MMORPG - Star Wars Galaxies: Lightspeed Expansion

A lot of money rides on this years MMORPGs. Expect a few of the titles to fall by the wayside. While World of Warcraft (WOW) sits on everyone's radar, I have to credit Star Wars Galaxies (SWG) with a very innovative MMORPG element, ship to ship combat. I saw the live demo at the ATI booth and I am impressed. I am crediting Lucas Arts and Sony Online for executing what could be the next big thing since instancing. In game fighter combat may be the creative technology and game play that MMORPGs need. Despite the long and sometimes frustrating experiences we have all endured over the past 9 months since the launch, the SWG teams seem to be refining the game play. I will make a guess that by winter SWG and WOW will be the top two MMORPG titles. However, don't expect those with heavy time investments to leave Everquest, but I suspect that the strength of the Intellectual Property of SWG and WOW will set industry numbers in the near future. In addition, I also would keep an eye on City of Heroes and Ryzom. City of Heroes gives players a very nice world to explore with a unique genre that proves very accessible to casual gamers. On the other side, Ryzom's massive combat engine really should be seen. A new release of the graphics engine really speeds up the on screen action. If you happen to speak mandarin, one title to watch is Sui Tang Online, a MMORPG set in Tang Dynasty China and based on a popular Chinese cartoon. Because they expect such high volume (13 million people in China play online games), Shanghai Cartoon, the developer of Sui Tang, choose the Wish engine to power the game.

FPS - Half Life 2

OK, you are thinking "RPGdot network reviews RPG's, MMORPG's and Adventure games. Why are they reviewing FPS's and RTS's?" I said I would give my picks of the best games and hidden gems. Some of these reside outside the realm of our core competency. Consider the recommendations extra icing on the cake. As many of you who play games outside of these genres know, Half Life 2 still sits as the most anticipated release in the First Person Shooter category. However, they better get off their buts and get the title into player's hands. The much publicized code leak means that they will loose ground despite developers promise that they would never integrate any code into their games. If Valve believes that developers would never take coding hints from stolen code, then I have a great game I would like to pitch them. My idea involves virtual bridge sales in MMORPGs. All they have to do is give me two million dollars.

RTS - Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

Warhammer 40K:DW gives an example of what can sometimes happen when a popular intellectual property meets the right type of execution. Yes, it's Warcraft with Eldar, Orcs, Space Marines, and Chaos Space Marines. Relic Entertainment however executed the graphics and the animation beautifully. Players of the popular miniatures games, which actually set the standards for the RTS genre, will be pleasantly surprised. Industry insiders should note that taking an existing game IP from traditional game genres such as board games or pen-and-paper titles is not the same as glossing a game engine with a movie or television IP. Warhammer 40K interchanges with Warcraft because Warcraft borrowed from the game concepts originally created by Warhammer 40K. For those who have not seen the game, take a look at the website, www.dawnofwargame.com.

Innovative Game Play - SuperPower2

Hey, SuperPower was new to me, but SuperPower2 definitely peaked my interest. This strategy game with a twist sports a 3D globe as the game board. You choose your starting country with which to build your empire. The strategy element employs political twists that hinge on things like "will banning the Spanish language from North America affect my popularity?" and "should I switch from a multiparty democracy to a communist dictatorship?" With a database of current facts gleaned from sources such as the CIA fact book, SuperPower2 plays like a politico version of Risk. Have fun watching your nuclear missiles fly across the globe to eradicate your opposition. Watch as your enemies swat them from the sky with ballistic countermeasures.

Look for some in depth coverage of the companies, the games and players at this year's E3 in features across the RPGdot network.