New Indiana Jones is smartest yet
May 11, 2006
Okay, so the game is 18 months away. And the guy running through its features for me yesterday was laying on the hype - thick. But I can't help being excited about the next "Indiana Jones" adventure coming from LucasArts next year for next-generation consoles.
The simple reason: it's the first true example I've seen of a game that really does take advantage of the consoles' ability to change the way games actually play, rather than just upgrading the graphics or the number of things that can be thrown on screen.
While what I saw was more or less a glorified technology demo, it was amazing to watch. It showed off two new systems that LucasArts is using. One, called "Euphoria" (I told you the hype is thick over there), causes characters on screen to react realistically to objects and each other. If you throw a bad guy off a moving cable car, for example, he'll try to grab the railing, will struggle to stay on top, and if he falls off, his buddies driving the truck next to the car will swerve to avoid him.
It's the most realistic artificial intelligence I've ever seen in a console game, and it means that all the animations - when you throw someone against a car, or blow up a barrel of fireworks, or do just about anything else - are created and rendered on the fly. Indy will never throw the same two punches twice, and that's downright refreshing.
Also built into the game is a realistic render of what objects are made of, which affects how they act when they get pummeled. Throw someone against a door and it cracks and splinters like real wood - something that was so amazing to see that I realized I'd never actually seen that happen in a video game.
The level of realism, and immersion, that the two technologies put together create was frankly stunning, even on a short demo. Now it just remains to be seen whether LucasArts can put the story and the controls together to make the game itself a winner.
Cheers!
Comment by k2 | May 12, 2006 5:02:48 PM
Yeah well I hope as well. And for that matter, i hope they follow the footsteps of Laura Croft Tomb Raider:Legend.
That game is one of the best, most playable games I have ever played. I'm a 360 owner and have pretty much owned every game system all the way back to Pong and Atari 2600. (Cept for any Playstations...have played them much, never wanted to own one though)
Laura's controls are dynamic and each button does what it should. The action is swift, graphics sharp. The puzzles are fun and interesting. Some were hard and I had to read the help docs out there at Gamefaqs.com, but I loved that game and I feel so empty now that it is over.
I also own 26 of the current 360 games, so I have much to compare it to. I bought Oblivion the day it came out, but have not opened it yet. Im tryin to finish Fight Night3.
Anyway, hope Indianna has the same type presentation as Larua does now...for sure I'll be in line if so.
Comment by A Hitler | Sep 27, 2006 2:49:23 PM
I hate niggers and dirty jews so this should be pretty cool I guess.
Oh, and I like to rub poop all over my face!
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