E3 2002 Day 2

by Gail Helmer

Article Type: Field Report
Article Date: May 23, 2002

Click here for E3 2002 Day 3

Jim "Twitch" Tittle Reports

This year’s E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) in Los Angeles proved as tiring as always with the huge square footage involved. Not everything desired can be seen and demo'd simply due to time constraints but we made a dent in it yesterday.

I went by the JoWooD booth to see what was up with rumors of a possible incarnation of Panzer Elite and got a surprise. No, it doesn’t seem as though PE is to be reborn with a new engine and some updated graphics but an all-new RTS title holds promise.

New RTS to come

The Osprey delivers

Wings Simulations, who released the Panzer Elite: Special Edition has a title named Söldner: Secret Wars. The time is 2010 and beyond. The world’s powers have consolidated their military forces into special, elite units with the player controlling individual soldiers, armor, and rotary-wing craft involved in assorted missions in a 3-D environment that is well textured and nice to look at. The pictures here show snow and there will be seasons and weather of all kinds throughout the campaign along with day and night scenarios. You can build your own custom missions too. The terrain is to be extensive and varied with damage modeling to the extent of depicting the aftermath of a nuclear explosion.

Cold G.I.s

The weapons are generally today’s with some access to “prototype” stuff, though beam weapons are not planned. M-1s, Apaches, and the Osprey plus most of NATO countrys' armor and vehicles will be present, but there will be much more not yet decided. Single missions will hone your skills for the campaign or multiplayer with at least 32 players possible. The RTS title is geared for multiplay. Choices the player makes during a campaign will affect the outcome in a dynamic sense. If you don’t complete an objective fully when directed the bad guys left may cause problems in the future for you.

Combat at sunset

What I saw looked great. Armor was moving around a landscape with complete 3-D renderings of all the objects. Recommended systems will require Windows XP/2000 with 98/ME as minimums. P III or Athlon 1 gig CPUs will be able to run this baby with equivalent 733 MHz power at the low end. You’ll need DirectX 8.1 with 128 MB RAM and a GeForce2 with 64 MB RAM and a GeForce1 stated as minimums.

There is no estimate of a release date yet—next year some time. This is the first time it has been shown and it is not very far along but it looks good and I believe it may be a worthy RTS for our entertainment libraries.

P.S.
I saw Microsoft’s Combat Flight Simulator 3 and got chills. Thirty-four planes, including sub-models are flyable! There is a lot of the 1990 Lucasfilm Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe in its soul. I mean that in the very best way possible! More later.

G2 Interactive

Falcon: Operation Infinite Resolve

We have managed to snag these new, and slightly lame, screenshots from G2 Interactive's recently announced combat simulation, Falcon: Operation Infinite Resolve (just rolls of the tongue, doesn't it?). Falcon: Operation Infinite Resolve is not to be confused with highly anticipated, Falcon V, which is a completely seperate title from G2 Interactive.. (We have no details on Falcon V yet, but we will keep you posted).

In, Falcon: OIR, players will take control of F-16's and A-10's in a series of missions including a Korean theatre. The game features a mission and campaign editor to create your own scenarios, a pilot traing program and includes a single-player mode and multiplayer support for up to 12 players over LAN and internet. Release date: Fall 2002. We will keep you posted on any new developments from G2 Interactive.

G2's Falcon: Operation Infinite Resolve

G2's Falcon: Operation Infinite Resolve.

iEntertainment

WarBirds III Korean Conflict

From the same team that brought you the Warbirds III comes WarBirds KOREA. Set in Korea during the 1950s flying the Mig-15C, Mig-15G, F-80, and F-86 aircraft in the arenas.

iEntertainment's WarBirds III Korean Conflict

Click here for E3 screenshots.

Armored Assault

Armored Assault puts you in the driver’s seat of a powerful World War II tank ready to crush your opponents. Lead your forces into battle and destroy your enemy’s bases with a wide variety of weapons of mass destruction. Radio in on the battlefield supply drops via aircraft ready to equip you with additional ammo and supplies you will need to take down the enemy. Players can join in training arenas, team combat, or even participate in large-scale historical recreations of famous World War II events.

iEntertainment's Armored Assault

Click here for E3 screenshots.


Dawn of Aces III

Jump into the open cockpit of planes made of plywood, aluminum and fabric and pull down your goggles and fly as the legendary aces did over Europe. The Allies and the Central Powers battle it out in historically realistic arenas over European terrain in the war that was to end all wars. Earn promotions in rank and receive medals for your brave achievement in the air. Players can even man the rear gunner positions and keep the enemy off your six as you battle over the trench warfare below.

Ubi Soft

Rainbow Six: Raven Shield

Rainbow Six: Raven Shield features a brand new Tom Clancy storyline in which Team RAINBOW is led all over the world in a string of dramatic operations. Raven Shield will use the next-generation Unreal engine, and it will include 15 missions. Mission objectives will range from uncovering a cache of biological weapons to stopping an armed gang from terrorizing a London bank. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Raven Shield is in development at Ubi Soft's Montreal studio. Scheduled release Fall 2002.

Ubi Soft's Rainbow Six: Raven Shield

Click here for E3 screenshots.




Well, that is all we have for you this morning. Stay tuned, we will have more hot-of-the-press coverage of E3 2002 later today.


Click here for E3 2002 Day 3



 Printer Friendly