E3 Impressions: Best of Show by Bubba "Masterfung" Wolford
	Best of Show: WWII Simulation This year and the latter part of last year we were bombarded by prop driven WWII simulations. It was a grand year for lovers of the 1940's era and this year there are even more WWII simulations coming to grab your attention (not to mention your $$$)! We could review which simulation represented the best flight model or mission structure, or we could talk about which planes you can fly, but these topics are getting old. This year I was dazzled by innovation. The Microprose division of Hasbro is offering a new experience for sim gurus: the chance to man the .50 caliber machine guns in the B-17 Flying Fortress! The B-17's lower dual .50 guns firing in full fury. Watching the simulation on screen was outstanding! Each crew member is individually modeled and can move and take command of different gun emplacements on the plane if another member of the crew is incapacitated. Of course for the best accuracy, the player will be forced to take control of the guns. Each gun placement is modeled just as in the real aircraft. Viewing the outside of the plane while the guns were lighting up sent chills down my spine. In addition to being able to control the guns, drop the bombs, or fly the B-17 Microprose gives you the ability to take command of fighters that are also in the game. Three American and four German fighters are modeled: the P-38 Lightning, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-51 Mustang, Bf-109, FW-190, Me-163 Comet and Me-262 Schwalbe. The Nordon bombsight as seen from the bombadiers station. Multiplayer is very well represented in B-17 II as dynamic re-entry of players is represented in either cooperative or adversarial mode. Overall, I found B-17 II to be a real breath of fresh air. Graphics are outstanding and will support most if not all 3D cards. Guns blazing at a German Me-262. My E3 pick for Best of Show WWII Simulation: Microprose B-17 II Flying Fortress Best of Show: Strategy Game Microsoft entered the gaming scene with a roar years ago, introducing many new games. One of these was anticipated as a successor to Civilization. When it appeared, Age of Empires (AoE) was very much like a mixture of Warcraft from Blizzard and Civilization from Microprose. However, gamers praised the game as setting forth a new modus operandi on how real-time strategy games operate. It had a plethora of strategy options and was designed from the ground up for multiplayer. Ensemble Studios made the game for Microsoft and immediately put themselves on the map. This year I got a good look at Age of Empires II: Age of Kings (AoK) and what enhancements were new. First off, the team has designed the structures and equipment to be "scaled" to their correct sizes. Thus buildings look enormous and troops look highly detailed. Click to continue		Castles are new in AoK. Notice the cavalry formation. Diplomatic options and trade have been totally redesigned for more player options. Diplomacy in the first AoE was virtually non-existent. It was a case of developing your teams as quickly as possible and being the first to make the strongest troops and immediately attack. Economies are also new to AoK. Being able to sell and buy on local markets or through trading routes is outstanding. Economic warfare has always been considered a highly desirable asset in gaming. Age of Kings looks to be one of the first games that could allow you to almost defeat your opponent without ever fighting him which I consider a novel idea of strategy. Also new to AoK is the formation option. This should make a huge difference to players of the game. No more trying to get those pesky horse archers and cavaliers to stay slow enough to keep that new catapult from being devastated by a quick attack. From what I saw there was about 6 formation options. Excellent idea! There are also new civilizations in AoK, which now total 13. Each has it's own unique attributes, unit, buildings and technologies. The AI has been redesigned and allows players to give soldiers new orders such as Follow, Guard, and Patrol. In addition new aggression levels are implemented for soldiers. This should allow each player to totally customize his individual soldiers in different areas of the map based on the aggressiveness of his neighbors. Even ships are to scale now in AoK. Campaigns are focused on historical characters like Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan and William Wallace, which allow you to feel closer to the game play. It should be cool to fight along the lines of such great historical figures! Maps are now larger and are randomized for increased play value especially in multiplayer. In addition there is a new game mode where players have to protect some strategic assets, Royalty, while simultaneously trying to kill the royalty of your enemies. This should make multiplayer games especially interesting! Look for Age of Empires II: Age of Kings to be released in October of 1999. Microsoft's Age of Kings looks like a very worthy successor to Age of Empires and should be a classic! Resolutions in AoK can go up to 1280x1024! Color depth is in 32 bit! Beautiful! My pick for Best of Show Strategy Game: Microsoft's Age of Empires II: Age of Kings
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