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March Releases and Lifeline
The tentative release schedule for March is surprisingly varied. Apart from the obvious titles like Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, the PS2 HDD with Final Fantasy XII, Ninja Gaiden, and Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (the latter two of which don't interest me much, though I'm curious about SC's online modes), there's a number of curious low-key games.
There's the soon-to-be-published Worms 3D; the wonderful (about time) Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life; there's the absurd, giant controller powered Steel Battalion: Line of Contact; the must-have at a budget price ($20USD!) Colin McRae Rally 4; the sequel to one of my favourite early PS1 releases, Destruction Derby Arenas ! (I don't expect much, though; it won't be the same without the Psygnosis logo); and some other games that are garnering some interest (Drakengard; Mafia for XBox; PSO Ep.3; Samurai Warriors; Bomberman Jetters; The Suffering; etc...).
Then there's Lifeline (gamespot preview).
The Lifeline Corporate Line is:
In this first-ever voice activated action adventure, players must work together with the main character Rio by verbally directing her through numerous obstacles and challenges including deadly duels with horrifying creatures.
How sweet is that? I'm sure there's some kind of underlying sexual appeal that comes with vocally commanding a perky blonde, and maybe that's part of fun (though it's sort of been done in Japan), but this does seem like a natural progression for the adventure genre. Far more so than "point and click".
I've always found text adventures to be too obtuse and uninteresting, and point-and-click adventures to be too easy and random. The hope is that Lifeline brings something new to the table. Depending on how it functions, it could be a great "middle-ground" sort of adventure. Of course, it could also suck. Irregardless of that, it's a unique title that, in this time of sequels and remakes, deserves to be supported. The publishers need to know that there's still a market for originality and innovation. To that I say: "do your part!"
I will. Which is why Lifeline is my most anticipated title of March.
February 24, 2004. Gaming.Related:
Think You Know Game Music? < Previous Entry. Most Recent Entries. Next Entry > 1-player-2-player Ikaruga.Comments (4)
Language evolves.
Bitch [smiley goes here]
(Mr. I-use-"intention-"-7-times-in-a-paragraph!)
Snatcher was, in some regards, an "action adventure". Sure, some of the action elements felt forced (as part of the limitation of the interface), but there were "action" elements.
In this case though, it seems like it could work (hopefully well) with the interface. So while the vocabulary might be the same as a text adventure, the immediate visual feedback and the quick oral responses might allow a certain element of speed or "action".
Real-time text adventure just wouldn't work.
- The ogre starts to swing his axe.
> jump to t
- He hits you and you die
So, my point was, you might be able to get the large vocabulary of text mixed with the more immediate responses of a point-and-click adventure. While not revolutionary on its own, I think it has a chance on being a good evolution of the two.
Of course, I use a lot of "could"s and "might"s here, so we'll have to see come the release day.
February 25, 2004 09:47 AM. Posted by: nowak.Dingit, that's a DEvolution if I ever saw one! It's inherently contradictory! Using it will create a temporal anomaly causing Captain Gene Luck Pickard to have to jump around in time, almost like Scott Bakula's quantum leaping, in order to save humanity!
How's the job going, btw? When do we get to see your work?
February 25, 2004 09:28 PM. Posted by: Walter.Just read the reflections on Wolfram's book. Nice article.
February 27, 2004 07:43 PM. Posted by: Walter.
Stop using 'irregardless' as a synonym for 'regardless'/'irrespective'!
I'm pretty uninterested in everything coming out this month, although I'll pick up Lifeline if its 'innovation' doesn't merely turn out to be a cheap gimmick. There'll have to be something substantive there aside from the interesting interface.
Also, with Lifeline being billed as an 'action adventure', that already breaks it from much critical comparison with text and point-and-click adventures, imo. I'm also not really sure how this interface could bring something fundamentall new to the adventure game aside from simply being able to voice commands: any vocabulary for a voice-command game can be implemented in a text or point-and-click game. Not to mention, the suturing in Lifeline is completely different.
February 25, 2004 03:38 AM. Posted by: Walter.