In a dimly-lit, private meeting room overlooking E3's infamous South Hall, Eidos showed us its goods. Among the crowded kiosks, we discovered a friendly-looking man sitting at a modest display. His name is Christofer Sundberg and he's the co-CEO and creative director at Avalanche Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. In a lilting Swedish accent, Mr. Sundberg welcomed us and began to tell us about a gem of a game called Just Cause.
The game takes place in the Caribbean nation of San Esperito. The hero, Rico Rodriguez, is a CIA Agent and a one-man revolution. His job is to bring about a regime change. Just how he goes about this daunting task is entirely up to the player. Incite a civil uprising or start a war between the corrupt police and drug cartels. Either way, the object is to gradually and stealthily undermine the authority of the dictator until his rule collapses and a democracy can be established.
Players will have access to a huge variety of vehicles from cars to boats to helicopters to fighter jets. The open-ended gameplay we saw was somewhat reminiscent of the Grand Theft Auto series, but taken to a whole new level. My favorite part of the demo was when agent Rodriguez leaped out of a helicopter, and used a parachute to land on top of a moving vehicle. He then promptly dragged the driver out and hopped behind the wheel. Carjacking by air! Vehicle physics looked impressive as did the damage models for each vehicle.
The island nation of San Esperito is huge. There's over 1200 square miles of open, explorable terrain and a vastly diverse array of environments, from the urban capitol city to run-down villages, from lush tropical jungles to sprawling shorelines. The Avalanche Engine handles this massive game wonderfully. Unlike many other game engines, this one lets you see for miles. If you're standing on a beach, you might see islands or the like far across the water. Steal a boat and head in that direction and you'll get there with no annoying loading screens.
Perhaps most startling visually are the skies. Crystal blue with puffy clouds (real 3d clouds, not just scrolling sky textures) or glowing with the innumerable hues of a sunset or dotted with sparkling stars at midnight. The game employs an active day/night cycle, creating a real sense of immersion. The game is flat out gorgeous as you can tell from the screenshots.
Just Cause is due to be this year for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PC. This is one I'll personally be looking forward to playing.
I'm a thirty-something computer programmer. I live in Delaware, but I grew up in Arkansas in a tiny town of 2500. We didn't have video arcades. Heck, it was nearly an hour's drive to anything as sophisticated as a Wal*Mart. Needless to say, my exposure to video games as a child was somewhat limited.
In the mid 80's, I cut my teeth on a used Atari 2600 bought at a flea market and a handful of games like Space Invaders and Pac Man. I was hooked in a blink. In the decades since, I've become a big fan of many genres of games. From first-person shooters to role-playing to strategy and everything in between. The only games that categorically don't interest me are sports games.
The easiest way for a game to win me over is to have a gripping story. I'll forgive a lot in a game that grabs me and keeps me interested. The inverse is true, too. If a game does not have a killer story, its gameplay had better be pretty darn compelling to make up for it. That doesn't happen very often
