NonBorn
28-06-2007, 05:42
Θυμάστε τον Ιάσωνα, την αργοναυτική εκστρατεία και το χρυσόμαλλο δέρας της ελληνικής μυθολογίας που μας μαθαίνανε όταν είμασταν μικρά?Ε μετά το God of War ήρθε η ώρα για τον Ιάσωνα να γίνει video game!! Και από ότι φαίνεται και πολύ καλό... Καιρός να μάθουμε λίγο καλύτερα τη μυθολογία μας. :giggle:
Το review που ακολουθεί είναι από το ign.com
Pre-E3 2007: Rise of the Argonauts
"I really want to play this game." That's the phrase that kept popping into my head during our recent non-playable demo of Codemasters' original PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 IP, Rise of the Argonauts (http://ps3.ign.com/objects/901/901023.html). Developed by the Dragonshard guys at Liquid Entertainment, the scheduled-for-2008 RPG looks like it has a lot of promise -- even if it is only running on PC dev stations right now.
Loosely based on the Greek mythological hero, Jason of Iolcus, Rise of the Argonauts resurrects one of the world's most famous parables. Rather than following the popular myth beat for beat, however, the creative team has taken several liberties to tell the story they want to tell. Instead of Jason pursuing the Golden Fleece because of a plot to kill him by his evil uncle Pelias, for example, Jason now seeks the Fleece to restore the life of his dead bride who was murdered on their wedding day (no word yet as to who the bride is; be it Jay's first spouse Medea, his second wife Glauce [who we suspect it is], or a completely fictional woman created for the videogame).
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799820/rise-of-the-argonauts-20070627011255949.jpg
Jason and his Argonauts is a legend older than some religons.
Once the journey's underway, though, there are plenty of familiar sides to the story. Take Jason's magnificent galley, the Argos, for instance. It's a central part of the plotline and acts as a means of travel between the game's 15 different islands and as a "floating trophy case." But the prizes that beautify the Argos aren't just in the visual categories (which represent specific accomplishments unlocked in each land), but also of the practical type. In other words, the boat is completely customizable to reflect the player's progress and it can inherit priests, blacksmiths and other NPCs that provide upgrades and other special needs. Think of it as a buoyant Suikoden fortress and you'll get the general idea.
Of course, with an "Argos" there are "Argonauts" (After all, they are in the title) and selecting the proper companions for each task is all part of the game's strategy. In our demonstration, we were introduced to two of them, Hercules and Atalanta, but learned that Achilles and Odysseus (Ulysses) will be selectable as well. We're assuming that we'll see Philoctetes, Orpheus and Euphemus too, but until Codemasters confirms anything, that's just conjecture on our part.
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799820/rise-of-the-argonauts-20070627011254387.jpg
Artemis always was a snappy dresser.
One thing we know for sure, though, is that in battle Hercules and Atalanta are invaluable teammates. Combat happens entirely in real time with moves taken right out of competitors like God of War and The Mark of Kri. Hercules, for example, is a giant mountain of muscle that's capable of ripping his enemy's arms off (with appropriate blood fountain in tow) or deracinating half-ton objects to use as weapons. Atalanta is the exact opposite -- opting for a speedy long-range bow attack that keeps her pretty face from getting too close to the action. In total, players will be able to select up to two support buddies for Jason at a time and we're told that each and every one of them will be "totally badass."
To prove it, Codemasters fired up a sequence that showed what a typical quest in Rise of the Argonauts is like. After getting through a lengthy cutscene that sees our heroes conversing with the goddess Artemis (who boasts a sweet "Horse-meets-plant" character design), the crew is tasked with hunting down the newly transformed huntsman, Adonis. But in another reinterpretation of popular mythology, you needn't kill Orion's former apprentice with the tusks of a boar -- as he has in fact become a giant boar himself. Why? It's Artemis' punishment for deflowering and killing a virtuous dryad, and should the trio defeat him, they'll earn Orion's magical belt as a reward. It sounded like a pretty good excuse to see the team in action to us, and with that the three were on their way.
Rather than trekking through the forest, fighting baddies and saving the woods' hunters from precarious situations, our demo leads went straight to the big boss himself instead. Had the team decided to explore the island and rescue those who were in trouble, however, they would have paid back that favor by surrounding the impressively huge pig that used to be Adonis to pepper him with projectiles. But as it turned out having Hercules as a backup was more than enough for this scrap...
The key was the big man's strength. As Adonis charged the entire party, Herc stood right in front of him like a half-human roadblock and grabbed the swine by its tusks. This is exactly the opportunity that Jason was waiting for, as he proceeded to hack and slash at Adonis' exposed side before the boar wrestled free to regroup. At the same time, Atalanta hung back and sprayed the pig with her own arrows as a supplement to the archers already present. Eventually, Adonis falls, the day is saved, and the belt is theirs.
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799820/rise-of-the-argonauts-20070627011251246.jpg
What's particularly cool about this boss sequence is the highly cinematic way in which it played out. Liquid wants weapons to affect enemies just as they do in real life, and therefore, hacks and slashes of Jason's sword cut and tear Adonis' flesh in real time. Every stroke and stab made left a mark on the boar's increasingly bloody body, but don't think that's a special exception -- every last enemy in Rise of the Argonauts (http://ps3.ign.com/objects/901/901023.html) will sport a highly-advanced procedural animation routine with accompanying textures so that they can react as convincingly as possible. If you smack some dude in the belly with a blunt object, he's going to topple over and respond to it. Every major limb on the body, from the head and torso to the arms and legs, will move independently of each other. It makes for a very realistic effect even at this very early stage.
Making the combat even more interesting is the fact that Codemasters and Liquid want to keep menus and other interface conventions to a minimum. Weapon selection, hit point restoration, and other familiar RPG minutia is supposed to happen onscreen and in-game with little need to break away from the primary view. It's a cool concept for sure, and it will be interesting to see how well the developers can pull it off by ship time.
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799820/rise-of-the-argonauts-20070627011243902.jpg
Other intriguing concepts being thrown around? How about a character development system that's tied to how well you interact with the Gods? Apollo, Ares, Athena, and Hermes are Jason's four main benefactors in Rise of the Argonauts and successfully completing deeds that please those gods increase your skills in various categories. Of course, you can piss a God off just as easily as you can please one, so finding the right balance and skill tree for you is all part of the fun. Also fun should be the inclusion of offline and online co-op multiplayer modes, but no other details in that area have been mentioned. Still, we like the sound of that already.
Then again, that last sentence sums up how we feel about Rise of the Argonauts quite well. With so many similar action games and RPGs out there, it's refreshing to see one with a couple of new ideas on an old concept. We were especially impressed by the visual strides that Liquid is already making (character faces that are used now were shown side-by-side with the eventual facades, and let me tell you -- the difference in detail was fantastic). In short, pay attention to where this one goes as it has some truly great potential.
Εδώ θα βρείτε και το video με έναν από τους δημιουργούς να δίνει πληροφορίες και να παρουσιάζει το παιχνίδι: http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/901/901023/vids_1.html
Το review που ακολουθεί είναι από το ign.com
Pre-E3 2007: Rise of the Argonauts
"I really want to play this game." That's the phrase that kept popping into my head during our recent non-playable demo of Codemasters' original PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 IP, Rise of the Argonauts (http://ps3.ign.com/objects/901/901023.html). Developed by the Dragonshard guys at Liquid Entertainment, the scheduled-for-2008 RPG looks like it has a lot of promise -- even if it is only running on PC dev stations right now.
Loosely based on the Greek mythological hero, Jason of Iolcus, Rise of the Argonauts resurrects one of the world's most famous parables. Rather than following the popular myth beat for beat, however, the creative team has taken several liberties to tell the story they want to tell. Instead of Jason pursuing the Golden Fleece because of a plot to kill him by his evil uncle Pelias, for example, Jason now seeks the Fleece to restore the life of his dead bride who was murdered on their wedding day (no word yet as to who the bride is; be it Jay's first spouse Medea, his second wife Glauce [who we suspect it is], or a completely fictional woman created for the videogame).
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799820/rise-of-the-argonauts-20070627011255949.jpg
Jason and his Argonauts is a legend older than some religons.
Once the journey's underway, though, there are plenty of familiar sides to the story. Take Jason's magnificent galley, the Argos, for instance. It's a central part of the plotline and acts as a means of travel between the game's 15 different islands and as a "floating trophy case." But the prizes that beautify the Argos aren't just in the visual categories (which represent specific accomplishments unlocked in each land), but also of the practical type. In other words, the boat is completely customizable to reflect the player's progress and it can inherit priests, blacksmiths and other NPCs that provide upgrades and other special needs. Think of it as a buoyant Suikoden fortress and you'll get the general idea.
Of course, with an "Argos" there are "Argonauts" (After all, they are in the title) and selecting the proper companions for each task is all part of the game's strategy. In our demonstration, we were introduced to two of them, Hercules and Atalanta, but learned that Achilles and Odysseus (Ulysses) will be selectable as well. We're assuming that we'll see Philoctetes, Orpheus and Euphemus too, but until Codemasters confirms anything, that's just conjecture on our part.
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799820/rise-of-the-argonauts-20070627011254387.jpg
Artemis always was a snappy dresser.
One thing we know for sure, though, is that in battle Hercules and Atalanta are invaluable teammates. Combat happens entirely in real time with moves taken right out of competitors like God of War and The Mark of Kri. Hercules, for example, is a giant mountain of muscle that's capable of ripping his enemy's arms off (with appropriate blood fountain in tow) or deracinating half-ton objects to use as weapons. Atalanta is the exact opposite -- opting for a speedy long-range bow attack that keeps her pretty face from getting too close to the action. In total, players will be able to select up to two support buddies for Jason at a time and we're told that each and every one of them will be "totally badass."
To prove it, Codemasters fired up a sequence that showed what a typical quest in Rise of the Argonauts is like. After getting through a lengthy cutscene that sees our heroes conversing with the goddess Artemis (who boasts a sweet "Horse-meets-plant" character design), the crew is tasked with hunting down the newly transformed huntsman, Adonis. But in another reinterpretation of popular mythology, you needn't kill Orion's former apprentice with the tusks of a boar -- as he has in fact become a giant boar himself. Why? It's Artemis' punishment for deflowering and killing a virtuous dryad, and should the trio defeat him, they'll earn Orion's magical belt as a reward. It sounded like a pretty good excuse to see the team in action to us, and with that the three were on their way.
Rather than trekking through the forest, fighting baddies and saving the woods' hunters from precarious situations, our demo leads went straight to the big boss himself instead. Had the team decided to explore the island and rescue those who were in trouble, however, they would have paid back that favor by surrounding the impressively huge pig that used to be Adonis to pepper him with projectiles. But as it turned out having Hercules as a backup was more than enough for this scrap...
The key was the big man's strength. As Adonis charged the entire party, Herc stood right in front of him like a half-human roadblock and grabbed the swine by its tusks. This is exactly the opportunity that Jason was waiting for, as he proceeded to hack and slash at Adonis' exposed side before the boar wrestled free to regroup. At the same time, Atalanta hung back and sprayed the pig with her own arrows as a supplement to the archers already present. Eventually, Adonis falls, the day is saved, and the belt is theirs.
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799820/rise-of-the-argonauts-20070627011251246.jpg
What's particularly cool about this boss sequence is the highly cinematic way in which it played out. Liquid wants weapons to affect enemies just as they do in real life, and therefore, hacks and slashes of Jason's sword cut and tear Adonis' flesh in real time. Every stroke and stab made left a mark on the boar's increasingly bloody body, but don't think that's a special exception -- every last enemy in Rise of the Argonauts (http://ps3.ign.com/objects/901/901023.html) will sport a highly-advanced procedural animation routine with accompanying textures so that they can react as convincingly as possible. If you smack some dude in the belly with a blunt object, he's going to topple over and respond to it. Every major limb on the body, from the head and torso to the arms and legs, will move independently of each other. It makes for a very realistic effect even at this very early stage.
Making the combat even more interesting is the fact that Codemasters and Liquid want to keep menus and other interface conventions to a minimum. Weapon selection, hit point restoration, and other familiar RPG minutia is supposed to happen onscreen and in-game with little need to break away from the primary view. It's a cool concept for sure, and it will be interesting to see how well the developers can pull it off by ship time.
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799820/rise-of-the-argonauts-20070627011243902.jpg
Other intriguing concepts being thrown around? How about a character development system that's tied to how well you interact with the Gods? Apollo, Ares, Athena, and Hermes are Jason's four main benefactors in Rise of the Argonauts and successfully completing deeds that please those gods increase your skills in various categories. Of course, you can piss a God off just as easily as you can please one, so finding the right balance and skill tree for you is all part of the fun. Also fun should be the inclusion of offline and online co-op multiplayer modes, but no other details in that area have been mentioned. Still, we like the sound of that already.
Then again, that last sentence sums up how we feel about Rise of the Argonauts quite well. With so many similar action games and RPGs out there, it's refreshing to see one with a couple of new ideas on an old concept. We were especially impressed by the visual strides that Liquid is already making (character faces that are used now were shown side-by-side with the eventual facades, and let me tell you -- the difference in detail was fantastic). In short, pay attention to where this one goes as it has some truly great potential.
Εδώ θα βρείτε και το video με έναν από τους δημιουργούς να δίνει πληροφορίες και να παρουσιάζει το παιχνίδι: http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/901/901023/vids_1.html