Bloody marvelous day, this was — once again we were on game maneuvers, so much so that I departed our bivouac without an early morning cup of Earl Gray tea or my scones. I found myself en route to Electronic Arts to view their "latest and greatest" (terms we have all heard afore). At least the day was somewhat clear, the freeway seemingly unemcumbered with commuters, meaning the 45 mile drive from our Game Corps. barracks only required one–and–a–half hours of travel!

Upon arrival at the Electronic Arts building, we found the main lobby area filled with youngish editors, journalists and writers from a number of print and digital publications, all wearing faces that seemed, sadly enough, void of smiles. Being somewhat older, and certainly a game combatant with numerous years of experience, such a visit was, indeed, a joy! This "event" would be best described as a "free–for–all", with one being able to wander through the console displays and into the PC rooms without the constant buzz of PR handlers. A rather enjoyable change!

Our squad’s initial encounter was with upcoming Electronic Arts titles for console units. Several struck a chord of interest with us . . .the first being 007 Racing. Electronic Arts has done a bang up job in the past with their Bond offerings, so we were rather drawn to this title. As you might rightly assume, being a James Bond game vehicle, you are Agent 007 and drive many of the cars you have drooled over in the Bond feature films, all equipped with various and sundry niceties supplied by the Q–Branch. And, as is customary for James Bond autos, all are equipped with various offensive and defensive weaponry, nifty gadgets and the like. Each weapon should assist you in moving through the 15 game missions. There’s also multi–player support built into the game. The game was developed by Eutechnyx and will release later this fall for PlayStation gamers. What was rather impressive to us was the fact that Electronic Arts certainly intends to maintain their impact in today’s generation of console units by bringing to the PSX a state–of–the–art game for what will, soon, be yesterday’s technology.

Continuing within the James Bond theme was the upcoming Nintendo 64 game entitled The World Is Not Enough. This is a first–person perspective action title that employs a variety of actions as you oppose villains in some 30 levels of game play. Using 40 weapons created in the Q lab, 10 of these offensive and powerful products happen to be rather unique to this game. This title is the official sequel to Bond N64 and brings into play a brand new graphics engine as well as spoken dialogue — viva la difference! And, four gamers and four bots will be able to play simultaneously, with built–in, split–screen support. You’ll play as James Bond, seeing the world and the action through his eyes as you encounter not only allies familiar to all Bond fans (such as M and Renard), but also adversaries that were created solely for this game. Avail yourself of the 20 gadgets in the game to ensure your win. The game is being developed by Eurocom and you can also use the N64 expansion pack for enhanced graphics and deeper visualfx. Expect the title to bloom at retailers late this year.

A third game for the PlayStation2 truly caught our attention...Kessen, a superb RTS. Developed by Koei, here you will find yourself commanding some 100,000 various troops during the era of the warlords in 17th century Japan. The graphics were stunning — aye, some of the credit has to go to the PS2 machine itself. However, the coders have done a magnificent job of ensuring that they leveraged the machine’s hardware capabilities in order to present such an appealing title. You become Ieyasa as he battles to become the shogun who can most effectively rule Japan. You command hundreds upon hundreds of your troops, all as groups, and in full 3D with real–time combat occurring in various terrains. However, ’tis the number of characters you command that is the full measure of this title. You decide the strategies as battles unfold, as well as give orders to your officers as you see fit — your ability to decide the most effective tactics at the appropriate moment will either ensure your success or defeat. I say, I almost forgot — this title’s media is DVD and will be the first such offering for the PS2 in this disc format. The game is loosely based on historical occurrences within feudal Japan. The game’s characters all possess separate animation routines to stunning effect. The detail is truly astounding! Already released in Japan, the title has been selling consistently within the top five and you shall have your opportunity to play this fall. We fully expect like success within the United States as well, for quality will out.

Also en route for the PS2 is X Squad, developed by EA Square Japan. Set in the future of 2037, you must command your X Squad team to determine why personnel at a secret military base have been acting rather suspiciously. Terrorists may have stolen sensitive, secret material — you must take your hand–selected squad into danger and fight powerful terrorists. The offering uses a unique, new, game system wherein the AI enables computer–controlled team members to think on their own and act freely. Should you tell your compatriots to attack, if such is not a wise or safe move, expect them to talk back to you and even take actions upon themselves that they feel are more suited to the occasion. Weapons galore are yours to use and you’ll readily note the power of the PS2 as you experience the more than 2,500 motion captured animations used in the game. My word, more than 5,000 polygons are utilized to detail each character alone! This is going to be the very first squad–based 3D action game for the PS2 and, from what we observed at EA, this should be a huge success. What is now considered unique, such as the fog and smoke and other special effects that are driven by the PS2’s processors, will, eventually become pass´. Fortunately, that time is not immediate! Your personnel all possess their own special skills and personalities and you can upgrade your character as you move through the game, producing even more effective attacks. And you should rightly expect fully synchronized facial animations to support the more than 800, in–game speech segments, which is due in the fall. Our experience with the preview version of the game was a title that shall offer a plethora of action and should appeal to any gamer that enjoys high–end, console–based shooters.

The final console title we had time to view was Medal of Honor Underground for the PSX, from the folk at DreamWorks Interactive. Although we were only able to spend but a few minutes with this upcoming title, we were suitably impressed with its presence, especially when this game was running in the same room with the PS2. The advanced capabilities of the PS2 certainly do become more evident as you view games running on Sony’s side by side. The graphics and the depth of color certainly are far less evident on today’s PSX, however, DreamWorks Interactive has done a ruddy fine job in squeezing all of the capabilities from the original machine for their title. In the original Medal of Honor game, the game’s lead character, Manon, was introduced as the "control" — this new title precedes the original game. There are new weapons to use as well as additional secret locations to locate and utilize as you send Manon out to various locations. But care is required, for the enemy AI is much improved, as well. Manon has missions in France, Germany, Greece, Italy and North Africa, with his final task being to return to Paris and assist in her city’s liberation from the Germans. There are seven, specific–objective missions, a disguise mode that can assist you in maneuvering through enemy strongholds, destructible environments (ahhhh, the absolute joys of physical wreckage), and an original orchestral score by Michael Giaccino and soundfx by Erik Kraber, both of whom worked with exceptional results on the original title in identical roles. There’s also a two–player, split–screen mode as well. Again, this fall is the expected debut date.

Within the realm of PC gaming, Electronic Arts was previewing three titles, all generating a great deal of excitement for those present. Our favorite, given my history in the game wars, was Command & Conquer Red Alert 2, developed by Westwood Studios. Tracking into the environs of true RTS play, this offering from Westwood reduces the need for resource management to a bearable level and enables gamers to quickly enter the frenetic world of combat quite quickly. America is under attack by the Soviet Union, and the enemy has already overwhelmed the burgs of Washington D.C. and New York City. The Allied Forces, caught completely by surprise (a result of a draconian defense budget a la Clinton???), are totally unprepared. Playing either the Soviet or American forces, you shall either continue the oppressive invasion or defend and fight to save liberty! There happens to be so much experimental and advanced technology employed within the game that you should ne’er run out of viable options, regardless of the side you decide to play. Aye, there are conventional forces as well, and as many as eight gamers’ll be able to play via LAN, the Internet, or at Westwood Online’s game website. As such, this new title actually continues the story you relished in the original C&C Red Alert, but I can be tellin’ you that the new weapons and technologies bring more excitement into the game play. You’ll find yourself in battles not only in the "colonies", but throughout Europe as well as you attempt to win all. Expect this new Westwood offering to debut this fall.

The Sims: Livin’ Large was also on display. Of course, this Maxis–developed "life" game has now released to retail, but we were quite impressed with the variety of features this add–on disc brings to the original The Sims game. In addition to new elements are various social interactions you can undertake to improve your characters. You may now create a variety of homes, ranging from some of the most Vegas–like dens of passion to futuristic homes that make The Jetsons look medieval. Through the use of various and creative skins, you can truly create your own game look and feel. Several new "friends" are also available that you may interact with and new tracks for your career include such job opportunities as journalist or even slacker. Additionally, included on The Sims: Livin’ Large disc are all of the files you can find at The Sims website as well as a massive number of skins created by game players. Yet again, Electronic Arts reveals how they can manage to create franchise titles — by simply continuing to add functionality to existing titles, extending a game’s playability for many more years than might normally be possible.

Electronic Arts has taken the true, original story of Alice — and what a nightmare that is — and brought that fantasy tale to a dark fruition with their American McGee’s Alice offering. Being developed by Rogue Entertainment, this grand game’ll bring gamers 15 levels and more’n 30, active characters. The 3D environs were marvelously rendered, although some areas remained incomplete due to the unfinished stage of development. Most impressive was the particle system employed to produce such sfx as fog and explosions, smoke and fire, and whatnot. This third–person, action adventure game offers some of the strangest weaponry we have had the pleasure to observe — in any game — items such as Jack–in–the–Box bombs, a Jabberwocky Eye Staff and other lethal contraptions. How about playing cards with razor–sharp edges, eh? In this adaptation of the original and classic Lewis Carroll fantasy, you become Alice, only this time she is far wiser and much more resourceful than the Alice in the original tale. Your goal is to ensure that the Queen of Hearts (and what a deranged delight she is) shall no longer rule Wonderland. But you must keep on the alert for the likes of toys that are more deadly than you can believe and deadly puzzles galore. Check the game’s website each week for new content.

With a rather tasty noon repast comprising of a surprisingly tasty sandwhich, we left with good feelings for the majority of titles Electronic Arts will offer this fall. Unfortunately, the title for which we had most anxiously prepared to view was not in evidence, due to alleged disc burn problems and late shipping from the U.K. Aye, that would be Black & White. We shall surely follow–up on this title later, a title that, we might add, appears to be of a calibre that should ensure Electronic Arts’ continued dominance in the digital entertainment industry for some time to come as far as computer games are concerned. And, as was my good fortune, I was able to locate a tea stand and managed to grab my morning Earl Gray, albeit seven hours late. Certainly the pause that refreshed and just as tasty as the previews we had enjoyed.

I say — GAME ON!

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