September 14, 2005

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Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is a stealth game.  You creep around, hide in the dark, and sneak up and knife people.  And you know what? It's a lot of fun.   The gameplay is much more open ended than I expected.  You can take the obligatory sneaking around, never killing anyone approach, the hybrid "I'll knife people who look at me funny" approach, the "We are now playing Quake; you are all going down in a shower of gunfire" approach, or a combo of all three.  Being a stealth game, you're obviously rewarded for taking the stealth approach.  Knocking out enemies instead of gutting them like fish raises your rating at the end of the level.  Raise too many alarms and the guards bust out the body armor and start to fortify strategic positions.

June 15, 2005

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EA just formally announced that they are shipping Batman Begins, a stealth game based off of the movie by the same name.  Batman Begins, which is being released on the Xbox, Playstation 2, Game Cube, and GBA, allows players to act as Batman and ordinary Bruce Wayne.  As would be expected with EA titles, particulary games based off of movies, the game will feature the voices of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, and Morgan Freeman, all of whom play the actual characters in the WB movie.  The game will play as a typical sneaker, where lurking in the shadows and using stealth are vital to success.  According to descriptions released by EA, players will also get to use Batman's (in the words of the Joker) "fun toys."  However, to take a quote from the fact sheet and press releases, gamers will need to use "fear as their ultimate weapon."

June 1, 2005

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Amidst the extravagant set-ups and displays boasted by E3’s South Hall, Ubisoft’s King Kong was the biggest and brightest of the peacocks. In fact, it holds the record as being the company’s largest and most elaborate booth. King Kong will grace store shelves at the beginning of the holiday season, in conjunction with the December 2005 release of the film. Ubisoft anticipates King Kong to be their most successful game of the year. We were fortunate enough to nab a spot in the Ubisoft mini-theater, nestled in a theme park-reminiscent bamboo structure. Exhibitors were in top-secret mode, demanding that all recording devices (including cell phone cameras) be turned off and put away. After the small room went pitch black, the viewing began with commentary by top collaborators Peter Jackson and acclaimed Ubisoft game creator, Michel Ancel.