SAU E3 2005 Thread (Possible 56k warning)

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I would have preferred the graphics like this artwork below than what it is above

Looks like only one player if thats the case capcom need a kick in the @SS

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Capcom announced Final Fight: Streetwise for PlayStation 2 and Xbox at its E3 press conference today. As the newest game in the venerable arcade beat-'em-up series, Streetwise will feature a fully 3D and explorable Metro City, which is a departure in style from the 2D side-scrolling style of the first iterations in the franchise. The gameplay will still offer a lot of hand-to-hand fighting, complete with combos that finish off with gritty street-fighting moves like haymakers to the nose, and knees to the groin. The fighting and overall gameplay will be deeper this time around, as you'll need to complete storyline missions and side missions, be able to interact with non-player characters, as well as gain new fighting skills and weapons as you earn respect throughout the course of the game.

You'll take the role of Kyle Travers, renowned pit fighter and the brother of Cody Travers, who was one of the original Final Fight characters. Cody gets kidnapped by an underground gang, while the whole of Metro City is in upheaval thanks to the rapid spread of a new designer drug. Kyle must deal not only with the forces who've kidnapped Cody, but also with the random violence that's erupted throughout the city. As you make your way through the campaign, expect to run into some familiar faces from previous Final Fight games.

The graphical style of Streetwise is gritty, with the city plunged in a perpetually grimy darkness. The character designs seem more conservative than in the original Final Fight, which offered '80s-style punks with colored mohawks, biker chicks in dominatrix-style clothes, and burly wrestlers who bore a suspicious resemblance to Andre the Giant. By contrast, the characters in the first screenshots of Streetwise are clad in typical urban gear, like gold chains, baggy cargo pants, and bucket hats. Parts of Metro City look much like a war zone, with collapsed buildings, fires, and debris to move in and around. Since the game is now fully 3D, you'll be able to explore the city in a somewhat open-ended nature, finding NPCs to interact with who'll give you missions to complete as you inch closer to rescuing Cody.

The new respect system is a method of scoring that dynamically updates based on your actions during the game. Respect is important because it affects the way that you interact with both neutral NPCs and enemies, and it also unlocks new moves and weapons. Beating down bad guys, winning pit fights, finishing side missions, and playing minigames are different ways you can earn respect and improve your character's fighting ability. Respect is split into two components: tension and money. You build tension based on the way you fight. Doing stylish combos in quick succession builds more tension than using weapons or defeating enemies with simpler attacks. The money you earn throughout the game can be used to buy weapons, information, and hire sidekicks to help you.

As mentioned, the fighting system in the game offers combos and supercombo moves when in hand-to-hand mode, but as in the original Final Fight games, Streetwise will also include limited use of weapons. These range from pool cues, lead pipes, and knives, to guns like shotguns and automatic weapons. You'll also be able to activate special modes while fighting, including an "instinct mode" that increases your attack speed and accuracy, and allows you to combine fighting moves with weapon use. The "countertime" mode is a system for defense that lets you slow down time by parrying and countering the attacks enemies use on you.

Final Fight: Streetwise is currently slated for release on the PS2 and Xbox this winter. Stay tuned to GameSpot for more details on the game as we get them.

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It's hard to argue with the notion that the Mortal Kombat series perhaps ought to just stick to its fighting roots, especially when the previous examples of the franchise's branching out, like Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat Special Forces, are all you have to reference. However, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks might just turn you around on the whole subject. Currently in development at Midway's most recently acquired studio, Paradox Development, Shaolin Monks looks to take the age-old concept of the arcade beat-'em-up and mix in a whole lot of Mortal Kombat nostalgia. You see, this game is based in the MK universe, and it takes place in the time period that MK fans remember most fondly, which is right around the same time period of Mortal Kombat II. At E3 2005, Midway will have Shaolin Monks on display for everyone to try, and we got an early look at the demo it will be showing off.

Whether you're fighting solo or with a friend, you can expect the attacks to come at you from all angles.

In Shaolin Monks, you'll have the option of playing as MK's legendary Shaolin warriors, Liu Kang and Kung Lao. You can opt to play as one, the other, or both, if a friend happens to be sitting right next to you. The basic gameplay doesn't fall too far from the typical designs of modern, side-scrolling beat-'em-ups. You'll have a few different attack buttons at your disposal, all of which can be modified and upgraded into more-powerful attacks, and both Liu Kang and Kung Lao will have all their classic maneuvers. However, you won't be executing the moves in the same way as you did in the fighting games of old. The moves are pulled off using regular attack buttons in conjunction with modifier buttons, rather than just the forward-forward-low-kick brand of play. The actual fighting felt fairly simplistic, though not unsatisfying, especially since you can actually fight multiple opponents coming from multiple directions.

When fighting solo, we didn't have much trouble dispatching the hordes of nasty bad guys that kept popping up. However, the game was definitely a lot more enjoyable when played cooperatively. During our two-player session, we found ourselves able to execute a lot of nifty back-and-forth juggle combos that seemed like they could go on for quite a while, if we were so inclined. These combos worked both aerially and on the ground, adding a fair amount of variety overall. You'll also be able to pick up weapons scattered about each level and execute fatalities by building up a meter near your health bar. Although, you won't just be able to automatically pull off a spectacular kill; you'll have to execute a combination of directional button and attack button presses first. The one fatality we were able to execute involved Liu Kang using an uppercut to chop an ogre's head off. Liu Kang then spin kicked the head back into its body, causing the whole thing to explode into a bloody mess. This is just one example of several fatalities each character will have in addition to their classic killers.

Shaolin Monks goes out of its way to create a vibe very much like that of MK II. The opening level has you battling ugly, ogre-looking creatures inside Goro's lair. As you progress, you'll eventually end up at the bottom of the classic pit stage, complete with plenty of corpses impaled on the spikes around you. In fact, once you climb out of the pit after a brief platforming sequence, you can uppercut enemies into the pit. À la MK II, the game even goes the extra mile of switching to a top-down camera view of the enemy shrieking as it falls to its doom. The graphics shown in the demo weren't exactly awe inspiring from a technical perspective, but aesthetically, they caught the feel of old-school Mortal Kombat very well.

Cameos from Mortal Kombat favorites, such as Reptile, look to be commonplace.

Of course, Liu Kang and Kung Lao aren't the only classic characters to make an appearance in Shaolin Monks. During the course of our play time, we counted no fewer than three brief cameos from characters like Raiden (who acts as your tutor during this first level,) Johnny Cage (who shows up just long enough to uppercut an ogre into the pit, as well as put on his trademark sunglasses,) and Reptile, (who disappears via his invisibility power before you get the chance to take him on). The demo was also bookended by a boss fight against everyone's favorite Outworldian ginsu knife, Baraka. The fight began simply enough, with us executing combos on the bladed one, while he did the same to us. After Baraka's health was depleted to a certain level, however, he jumped back across the stage to grab a couple of caged monks and then set them on fire. This made things a tad more difficult, as we now had to fight Baraka while a pair of flaming monks ran wild, constantly knocking into us and damaging us. It took a couple of well-placed fireballs to finally do away with the monks and resume the fight. The fight continued to build up to the big climax, and then right before we could actually vanquish Baraka, the game thanked us for trying the demo and ended. A painful, harsh tease, but effective, as we now can't wait to see what happens next.

All told, we came away from our time with Shaolin Monks pleasantly surprised. Given the previous pedigree of MK spin-off games, as well as the fact that Paradox's earlier games hadn't exactly wowed us up to this point, we weren't really expecting much when we got our hands on this one. However, the game's earnest desire to cater to classic Kombat fans, combined with its seemingly well-put-together brawling mechanics, might just make this the first good non-traditional fighting MK game. The same demo we played will be available at E3 on the show floor, presumably with the same abrupt ending and a versus mode, which regrettably we didn't get a chance to check out. Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks will hit the PlayStation 2 and Xbox this October. We'll bring you more coverage of the game as it becomes available.

By Alex Navarro, GameSpot

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XBOX 360 Need for Speed Most Wanted

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During the MTV premiere event for the Xbox 360, one of the games shown was the next installment in Electronic Arts' Need for Speed franchise, titled Need for Speed Most Wanted. As the name vaguely implies, the game will feature some high-speed police chases, in addition to the series' now-signature street racing antics. Though we got to see less than 30 seconds of the game in action, what we saw revealed a bit about the cars, the theme, and the gameplay, not to mention the impressive graphics the Xbox 360 is apparently capable of.

The demo clip showed a tricked-out BMW trading paint with a rival vehicle...in dusty, broad daylight. The recent Need for Speed Underground titles have featured nighttime racing, so Most Wanted immediately looks different. There's sort of a grainy, cinematic look to the action, and the level of details in the cars and urban environments is quite striking--seems like you can see every crack in the pavement.

The action picks up as the Beamer slips right underneath a big rig passing in perpendicular traffic...a dramatic near-miss. Apparently stunned by this show of skill, the red rival car spins out. The coast is clear for the heroic BMW--until a couple of cop cars show up and cut it off, sirens wailing. End of story.

The Need for Speed titles are known for featuring tons of licensed cars and modes of play, and the more-recent entries have been chock-full of multiplayer offerings as well. Need for Speed Most Wanted will certainly follow suit. We're excited by this entry's new look and are eager to see how the rest of it shapes up. We'll have more information on it for you just as soon as we dig it up.

By Greg Kasavin, GameSpot

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XBOX 360 Project Gotham Racing 3 (working title)

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Though Microsoft had officially confirmed that Project Gotham Racing 3 was in development for the Xbox 360, we finally got a first glimpse at the game during the MTV unveiling of the next-generation console. The original Project Gotham Racing and its sequel delivered some great racing experiences for the Xbox, so the stakes will surely be high for this next installment. Sure enough, our admittedly-brief look at the game made us very excited to see more.

The most striking aspect of the visuals we saw had to be the realistic in-****pit camera angles that occasionally flashed onscreen. Most racing games offer a static in-****pit camera, usually with a totally transparent heads-up display--so it's like you're disembodied, rather than at the wheel of a high-performance sports car. Well, PGR3 seems to offer that high-speed you-are-there feel that most racing games lack. We could see the driver of the car shuddering from all the G forces, even as the car itself shook as it roared across the pavement. Whether the game will really be playable from these angles remains to be seen, but it's a cool effect.

The exterior shots of high-performance concept cars and at least one nice Lamborghini looked great...though, not necessarily so jaw-droppingly great as to be suggestive of a massive technological leap, especially in the wake of the outstanding, recently-released Forza Motorsport for the Xbox. We never got to see more than a couple of cars onscreen at a time, either, and the action all took place on what appeared to be a single track, set within an urban environment that could have been Los Angeles or something similarly filled with high-rises and spectators. Still, it was a satisfying first look at the game.

Previous Project Gotham Racing titles have flaunted massive amounts of content--near-countless unlockable cars and tracks, plus tons of music. We'd expect nothing less from PGR3, in addition to some fancy Xbox Live support. We'll bring you more information on this one as soon as possible.

By Greg Kasavin, GameSpot

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It's not every day you walk into a darkened conference room about to see your first Xbox 360 game, so we tried to keep our cool when Sega recently invited us to look at Full Auto, a new car combat game in development at Toronto-based Pseudo Interactive. The easiest way to describe Full Auto is with a phrase like "Burnout meets Twisted Metal," and while it looks like there will be a lot more going on in the game than such a simplification would imply, that analogy is a good place to start. Even in its extremely early state, Full Auto was already showing off more stuff blowing up than we've seen in just about any action game in memory. And that's saying a lot.

We didn't manage to get many story details for Full Auto out of Pseudo's reps. We're not even sure this game needs a storyline. The premise is simple enough: Choose a tricked-out street car, outfit your ride with an array of high-powered weaponry, and race at breakneck speed through the city streets, outrunning or blowing away your competitors and destroying as much public and private property as you can. You'll apparently be cast as a retired driver being pushed back into racing by the Shepherds, a gang that has taken hold of the city of Staunton. Pseudo is still playing with many aspects of the game's design, though we were told the game will have a cohesive career mode, as well as other modes like pursuit, arena, and tag. Eight-player online support will round out the package, presumably taking place on the Xbox 360's as-yet-unnamed online service.

Pseudo reps stressed that Full Auto is a racing game first and a combat game second, though it looks like you'll get in plenty of shooting action as you speed through Staunton's five districts. Your primary objective in any race is to navigate the winding streets and cross the finish line before any of your seven competitors. How you get those competitors out of the way is up to you--you can blow them away with grenade launchers, side-mounted shotguns, and smokescreens, or maybe you'd like to bring a massive elevated train track (complete with train, natch) crashing down on top of them. The game will tally the dollar amount of your destruction as you race, and this value will be used like a score at the end of each run. As you play through the game, you'll pick up new weapons and upgrades, some of which can even be mounted on the rear of the car.

Time controls have been big in game design for several years now, with everybody from Max Payne to Microsoft's own ill-fated Blinx earning his or her temporal chops. So why has it taken this long for time manipulation to work its way into racing games? Full Auto's most interesting feature is the "unwreck" ability, which will let you rewind the action every time you crash, miss a jump, or just want to replay the last few seconds of the race. You'll have only limited access to this feature, since unwreck will deplete a finite meter rapidly as you use it. From what we could see in the two demo tracks on offer, there will be plenty of secret jumps, shortcuts, and opportunities for excessive destruction, so you'll want to save your unwreck for the places you really need it. Pseudo says its aim with Full Auto's time control is to never make you restart a race again just because you messed up a turn in the first five seconds, and it looks like unwreck will go a long way toward achieving that goal.

It's a safe bet that you've never seen this much raw activity in a racing game before. Every explosion is accompanied by pieces of, well, everything flying all over the place. Take out a phone booth, and you're going to see glass flying in all directions. Blow out the side of a building, and you've got debris everywhere. Cars spit sparks and belch smoke when they fly through tight turns and rub against each other. Even the aforementioned train spewed seats and other sundry objects when it ate the pavement. You'll be able to target just about any object in the environment and trash it--either by running into it or blowing it away--and watch it be reduced to its component parts, the flights of which will be fully governed by the game's encompassing physics system.

Full Auto uses a comprehensive physics system to govern everything from the way cars smash and crumple to the destruction of environmental elements.

This kind of destructive freedom owes to the fact that nearly every element of Full Auto's scenes is physically modeled, especially the cars you'll drive. Have you ever seen the Microsoft XNA video where a car crashes realistically into a wall? The cars in Full Auto wreck a lot like that, in that the damage they take corresponds directly to where and how hard they were hit by another car or flying object. The artists are doing a "physics pass" on each of the cars in the game to model the way their pieces are put together, so the physics system can realistically bash them, dent them, and take them apart when they're involved in wrecks of varying intensity. A brief slow-motion demonstration of this system revealed smashed-in fenders, dented side panels, and other damage. Based on this demo, we'd say it's a safe bet that none of the cars will be showroom-ready at the end of a race--the damage is extreme, to say the least.

Though Staunton has been designed as a full, cohesive city, Full Auto won't be a free-roaming game--you'll play through specific levels like you would in an arcade racer. But the continuous layout of the city means the designers can place start and end points just about anywhere they want to, and furthermore, the tightly constrained courses let them make veritable Rube Goldberg machines out of the levels. One level we saw had a large gas tank positioned strategically near a tight turn. The Pseudo rep playing the demo took the game into a slow-motion, free-camera mode to show us the intricate layout of the upcoming explosion, which involved the gas tank being propelled through an 18-wheeler and setting off a number of other gas tanks that had been placed for the express purpose of blowing up real big. Pseudo says the levels will be packed with many such carefully laid traps that will let you easily level Staunton as you race through it.

As an Xbox 360 game, it goes without saying that Full Auto looks better than just about any game we've seen (but you'd expect that with a new console). The cars and environments are made up of far more geometry than what you see in current-gen games, and advanced effects like real-time reflections were evident all over the place. There's just a startling amount of debris flying every which way when things are destroyed, too, which lends a frenetic quality to the action that should prove essential to sealing the combat-racing experience. The amount of environment interactivity is as impressive as the visual fidelity. For instance, we saw how telephone poles were connected by a physically modeled cabling system that caused them to pull each other over when one was blown away.

We got a good look at only one area of Staunton during our demo--a grungy, dilapidated warehouse district--but the city will be split into five distinct districts in the final game, each of which will offer widely varying scenery (and hopefully equally varied opportunities for destruction). Another area, for instance, will be a neon nightlife spot that sounded not entirely unlike the Las Vegas strip, though perhaps not quite as flamboyant. Even though multiple tracks will be set in each district, the level designers have powerful tools at their disposal to make sure the tracks all look different. They'll be able to match up different building foundation types with different upper floor types, slap on a different set of textures, and make a huge number of buildings that all look different from one other. Further, the levels will make use of gameworld materials like concrete, glass, aluminum, and so on to govern the appropriate looks, behaviors, and sounds of these surfaces when they're destroyed.

Every car in the game will have its own customized damage model.

Our look at Full Auto came at a relatively early point in the game's development--doubly so considering that the next Xbox's hardware hadn't even been finalized at the time. According to Pseudo, we were looking at an alpha build of the game running on alpha-level Xbox 360 hardware. With presumably two hardware revisions to go and months more work left on the game, reps said we'd see a threefold leap in performance and fidelity when all is said and done. Given how busy and varied the game's massive environments already are, we're looking forward to great things on the visual front when the final game rolls around. At this early stage, the audio and music in the game were mostly placeholder, but Pseudo says that certain noted electronic artists are very interested in providing tracks for the game, which will use an adaptive system to vary the music based on the action currently taking place in the race.

Pseudo stressed during our demo that Full Auto is in no way a tuning game--you won't be swapping out exhaust manifolds or throwing your car on the dyno machine just to squeeze out a few extra horsepower. Although the roughly 20 cars will have individualized handling characteristics, we were told that each one would be pick-up-and-play accessible in the tradition of the greatest arcade racers. The heavy degree of combat in the game mixed with this accessibility should make Full Auto a game that any action fan can get into, and we're looking forward to finding out how it handles (hopefully at E3). Stay tuned for more on what looks like quite a promising addition to the Xbox 360's launch lineup.

By Brad Shoemaker, GameSpot

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Ubisoft has been working steadily to mature its reinvention of the Prince of Persia series into a solid franchise ever since the first Prince of Persia debuted in 2003. The third-person platformer offered a fresh take on the old 2D rotoscoped adventure game that challenged you to navigate all manner of hazards on your way to rescue a fair maiden. The latest 3D update of the classic series has sprung from Ubisoft's Montreal studio, which has reenvisioned the prince as a swashbuckling action hero with mystic-fueled time powers. To date, there have been two entries starring this new prince--The Sands of Time and Warrior Within--that have made strides to establish and evolve the budding action hero. While The Sands of Time was universally embraced, Warrior Within actually polarized fans, who either loved or hated the new game's direction. For the prince's third outing, tentatively called Prince of Persia 3, Ubisoft is aiming to blend elements from both games into a new adventure (set to release this fall) that continues the tale of the agile hero. We got an early look at the game at a pre-E3 press event, wherein Ubisoft walked us through a work-in-progress version of the upcoming platformer.

Welcome home to Babylon. But before you get too relaxed, you've just got to save the city.

Like its predecessors, Prince of Persia 3 continues the narrative that began in The Sands of Time by once again messing with your head through the employment of time travel. It seems our boy still isn't out of the woods yet, even after having altered time and space to set things right. The game opens up shortly after the finale of Warrior Within, where it finds the prince returning home abuzz from his victory. For about half a second, it appears as if Prince of Persia 3 may end up focusing on the prince's happy home life with his main squeeze Kaileena. However, upon arriving home to the magnificent city of Babylon, the prince finds all-new trouble. The once grand kingdom is ravaged by war, and for some odd reason, all his people have turned against him. With the prince captured, Kaileena does the only thing she can do to help: She unleashes the sands of time to save the prince by sacrificing herself. (D'oh!) The good news is that Kaileena's sacrifice does the trick, and the prince escapes his captors. The bad news is that the prince discovers he has a dark twin who's been created because of all his mucking about with time. Unsurprisingly, the pair doesn't get along. But like any good buddy movie starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, the two have no choice but to work together to stay alive.

The rich story helps set up the new gameplay mechanics in Prince of Persia 3 that let you play as the prince (whom we all know and love) and his grumpier twin. Though the core elements that have made the series popular are all here (you'll still solve puzzles, control time, perform all manner of athletic feats, and battle many foes), they're being given a new twist courtesy of the two playable characters. Each incarnation of the prince will now have his own specialty gameplay you'll have to use to make it through the game alive. The prince we all know handles almost exactly as he previously has, although his balance has been changed up. In Prince of Persia 3, you'll rely on him more for his acrobatics than for his combat skills, although he can still hold his own in a fight. The dark prince, on the other hand, is your go-to guy for murdering, especially when performing the stealthy kind. The shadowy avatar comes packing a wicked hook blade, called a "daggertail," that offers some stealth options that are key to getting around Babylon.

However, don't think Ubi has stapled Splinter Cell gameplay onto the standard Prince of Persia formula. The dark prince still has an action feel to him. You'll still have to slow down a bit when lining up a kill, such as when you're balanced on a chain directly above your prey and are about to drop on him. However, combat still has a good feel to it that improves on the direction Warrior Within started heading in. Your time powers have been tweaked some--allowing for some new surprises that Ubi will reveal later on--which will also complement the new gameplay mechanics. As far as structure goes, Prince of Persia 3 will feature more of a free-roaming mechanic than the previous games in the series. You'll be able to explore the streets of Babylon or run across rooftops, depending on the situation and who you're playing as. From the sounds of it, the normal prince is tailor-made for roof hopping, while the dark prince is the guy you want on the streets. To switch between the two, you'll have to walk in fire to get your dark side on, and you'll have to take a dip in some life-restoring water to lighten up.

Chariot races are just one of the many new features in the game, apparently.

The game's presentation, while still being pieced together, is coming along well. The visuals are sticking to the ambitious precedent set by the previous entries in the series, presenting the keen eye for scale that has always been a high point of the franchise. We were only able to see a bit of the war-ravaged Babylon, but, as a once-epic kingdom that was brought down by war, it was looking good. The rooftops let you see far off into the distance, where fires and smoke are visible. The streets were in ruin, but they were the perfect places to sneak around for killing. The audio in the work in progress was still coming together, but Ubi reps on hand noted that in keeping with the goal of melding the best aspects of the previous games, Prince of Persia 3 will attempt to walk the delicate line between Warrior Within's Hoobastank-fueled rock and The Sands of Time's more ethereal soundtrack.

Based on our early look, Prince of Persia 3 seems to be aiming for a middle ground that should appeal to fans of both games. The new gameplay options open to both princes, as well as their unique feels, should provide good amounts of depth to mine while playing. The story is, once again, a powerful draw that will no doubt suck you in as you try to unravel what the heck went wrong this time. The visuals that are currently being cooked up to frame both the narrative and varied action are looking epic, thus wrapping the whole package up nicely. Prince of Persia 3 is slated to ship this fall for the GameCube, PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox , so look for more on the game from the E3 show floor and in the coming months.

By Ricardo Torres, GameSpot

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PS3 Devil May Cry 4

During Sony's press conference before the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo, the company revealed a cavalcade of new titles for its newly-announced PlayStation 3 console. Among the lineup was Devil May Cry 4, the next installment in Capcom's influential action adventure series, whose main character, Dante, is a half-demon swordmaster/gunslinger. The mere fact that a new DMC sequel was announced for next-generation platforms is exciting news in itself for fans of this popular series. And that's good, because the brief video shown at the otherwise-mind-bogglingly-insane Sony press conference was both brief and not all that special.

The DMC 4 trailer basically looked like...DMC 3, the recently released latest title in the series. Quick black-and-white clips of characters and action sequences are interspersed with some Gothic-sounding melodrama:

"We are born... The innocent suffer... Legends are made... Evil is punished..."

Yeah, OK, but how about some gameplay footage or something? Anyway, the trailer shows Dante, as well as DMC3's Lady (a female demon hunter) and Virgil (Dante's stern and sinister twin brother). Finally, the footage goes to color and basically just shows an eerie-looking castle and then Dante performing a quick sashay, twirling his sword and guns. The Devil May Cry 4 title screen is shown. We want to see more. We'll bring you more information as soon as we do.

By Greg Kasavin, GameSpot

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U gotta click this and watch the trailor, this is a true Final Fantasy movie not that dud thing they released a few years back that had nothing in common with the FF universe.

It’s been a lengthy wait, but Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is at last poised to arrive for the legions of hungry fans. While Japan will be seeing the movie on September 14th, and those of us in the United States will be getting it not long afterwards, a new trailer of the film was shown at Square Enix’s press conference earlier today. We've secured much of that trailer for viewing at your leisure, and it contains a few new story tidbits as well as truly gorgeous animation.

Some of the characters in the movie, including Cloud, were known to be infected with geostigma, a fatal disease resulting from exposure to the planet's lifestream energy. There appears to be more to it than a simple malaise, however. Vincent tells Cloud that his body is reacting to an "unwanted visitor", while the villainous Kadaj tells a group of children that "the planet doesn't like our powers". He then tells the kids that the planet is the source of the pain that they're experiencing, and that to end their suffering, they need to "strike back at the planet". Kadaj is revealed to have a connection to Jenova, meaning that the world is once again imperiled by the calamity from the skies. At the very end of the trailer we saw, Sephiroth was revealed by a slow camera panning up the length of his slender frame, so he definitely has his part in the story, though his origins aren't made clear. Vincent does tell Cloud that it was possible for another Sephiroth to be created, so it's within the realm of possibility that we're dealing with a clone.

The trailer features plenty of eye-candy, including a scene with Kadaj summoning Bahamut from the skies, and the Final Fantasy VII gang fighting him in spectacular fashion. Barrett hangs from the edge of a building and fires rapid rounds from his gun arm, as Vincent takes to the air via some sort of jetpack and brings battle to his foes that way. Yuffie acrobatically twists and flips through the skies to attack the summoned monster, while Cid brings his spear down and rains death from above. Everything is intricately detailed, from the kinetic motorcycle battle sequences with their raised dust and gunplay, to the rust that’s invading the simple designs across the surface of Cloud’s buster sword.

While the end of the trailer displays a date for the North American release, we’ve been told by Square Enix that they’re still in talks with Sony Pictures Entertainment in regards to a release date outside of Japan. However, the release should be close to Japan’s September date, so fans in the United States shouldn’t have to endure for too much longer to get their Final Fantasy goodness. If there are any new developments on the film, we’ll be sure to report it, so stay tuned to this gamespace.

By Bethany Massimilla, GameSpot

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Just because a sequel has an air of finality to it doesn't necessarily mean it's really the end. As is the case with Capcom's Onimusha franchise, which seemed all but concluded by the end of the last game in the series, Onimusha 3. But that's the benefit of creating a universe like that of the Onimusha series--you can just jump ahead 15 years in the future and you can start the whole thing anew. Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams for the PlayStation 2 will do just that, revolving around a new hero, a new threat, and a new dual-character play mechanic. Dawn of Dreams was available at Capcom's pre-E3 press conference, and we got to sit down and play it for a little while.

The main hero of Dawn of Dreams is Soki, a mystically powered warrior who is on a mission to stop the newest villian of the Onimusha series, a man called Hideyoshi Toyotomi, from taking over the Genma, the demonic group previously headed by the evil Nobunaga. You'll be able to control five different characters in the game, though they'll always come in pairs (with Soki always being one of them.) As you play, you'll be able to switch between Soki and his chosen partner on the fly by pressing the "select" button. As you would imagine, each character moves differently and features unique abilities. In the demo levels we played, we switched off between the decidedly more sword-heavy Soki and a female companion, who moved and attacked in a more ninjalike way. You'll be able to use combination attacks that both characters execute in a special cutscene when both of you fill up your magic meter.

We got to try out a couple of demo levels at the event. One such level was something of a time trial. The battle took place on a thoroughly rain-soaked field, and we initially started battling it out with what looked like skeletal zombies, which were relatively easy to dispatch. However, after slicing through a few of them, much larger, much more bladed enemies began appearing. These creatures could literally jump up and hang in thin air when in trouble, making it more difficult to attack them. The catch here was the five-minute time limit that counted down as we played. In that time, we were required to kill 15 of those hover-happy foes. The folks at Capcom referred to this type of mission as a test of valor, and noted that we'd find several of them scattered throughout the game.

Apart from this level, we also got to check out a couple of boss fights. One such fight involved a large, four-legged spiderlike creature, which, despite its relative size, actually seemed pretty easy to beat up on--save, of course, for its tendency to hurl large flaming objects at us (possibly boulders.) A number of zombified soldiers would also appear from time to time to hassle us, making things a tad more difficult. Significantly more impressive was another fight against a giant, mechanized samurai warrior, who literally towered over an entire city, crashing through buildings as it came after us. Finally we settled on a platform, where we found ourselves running back and forth as it swiped at us with its large blades and shot at us from gigantic chest cannons. Periodically, when it would miss with a strike, its sword would become embedded in the ground, at which point we would attack it. We had our ass handed to us before we could finish the fight, but the fight itself was pretty epic and thoroughly enjoyable.

The visuals in the game seemed to be in good shape in the demo we played. The main characters all had a distinctively colorful look, with a sort of ancient Japanese/fantasy hybrid design, and the demonic monsters looked appropriately deformed and horrific. The environments all looked impressive, especially the first, rain-soaked area we encountered. The impressive weather effects didn't seem to have any negative impact on the frame rate, which was certainly a plus. The game will also feature a new, dynamic camera system that you can adjust as you please with the right analog stick. Admittedly, during our play time, we did run into some issues with camera angles that weren't terribly conducive to a productive combat experience, so hopefully those issues will be ironed out before the game's release.

Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams seems to be coming together pretty well, and it appears like it will be a nice treat for those who were saddened by Onimusha 3's evident finality. Capcom will have a playable demo of the game available on the E3 2005 show floor. The game will hit stores exclusively for the PlayStation 2 in 2006.

By Alex Navarro, GameSpot

[ABuSD]

Ubisoft will be showing off its upcoming Xbox shooter, Far Cry Instincts, at E3 2005. Though the shooter bears the same name as the acclaimed 2004 PC game, lead designer Jean-Francois Dugas explained that some of the game's environments may resemble some areas from the previous game, but all of the content will be brand-new. The single-player game will be a retelling of the single-player game from the PC version--you play as Jack Carver, a retired soldier whose reporter friend Valerie has disappeared after your boat has been blown up (and you yourself have been left for dead). The single-player game will include both stealth and action elements as Carver makes his way across a tropical island crawling with enemy soldiers. The developer says that while the core storyline will be the same as the PC version, Instincts will further flesh out some of its characters and will contain a few small twists to keep things interesting for returning players.

You've never battled in such a lush and tropical environment. Too bad there's no time to work on that tan.

The game will let you simultaneously carry up to three firearms (a pistol, a medium weapon such as an assault rifle or submachine gun, and a "special" weapon, such as a sniper rifle or rocket launcher), and it will also let you make silent kills by attacking enemies from behind with a knife. In fact, Instincts will give you a number of abilities that weren't included in the PC version, most of which will allow you to take out enemies without raising any alarms. You'll be able to throw rocks to attract an enemy's attention and then sneak up behind them, for instance, or set up a tree-branch whip trap that triggers when an enemy crosses its tripwire, sending them flying.

Later on in the game, Carver will be injected with some kind of experimental serum that gives him superhuman sensory abilities, which will include a special type of vision, the ability to detect the scents of enemies (which are represented by visible clouds hanging in the air), and the ability to perform a lunging "predator attack." Eventually you'll even get an ability being referred to as force, which will give you massive strength that will let you pick up and carry stationary weapons like a mounted machine gun as if they were handheld weapons. However, the new game will share at least a few things with the original PC version, such as the "sandbox" layout of its levels, which let you approach groups of enemies using stealth, a frontal assault, or the game's drivable vehicles. Variants on all of the PC game's vehicles will be in the Xbox game, though the Xbox game will actually let you aim, shoot, and fight while driving a vehicle, which you'll need to be able to do if an opposing player jumps into the passenger seat in multiplayer.

Far Cry Instincts will feature five different competitive multiplayer modes that will work with a four-player split-screen setup or with 16 players on Xbox Live. These will include chaos (a free-for-all deathmatch), team chaos (team deathmatch), and steal the sample, essentially a capture-the-flag mode in which your team must recover a lab sample--however, you'll be able to fire your weapon while carrying the sample, and you'll also be able to pass the sample off to a teammate if you're under heavy fire. The game will also feature a seek-and-secure mode in which a helicopter will drop supplies onto a map, and the first team to get to the item will be required to defend the supplies from the opposing team. Finally, the game will offer a predator multiplayer mode, in which one player will play as a superhuman predators, whose low-light vision and lethal bare-handed attacks will make him or her extremely dangerous in dark areas of the map. Meanwhile, all the other players will attempt to take down the predator, who won't be visible on your radar but will cause your controller to shake when he or she is close by.

We had a chance to try out some free-for-all chaos gameplay, which seems to be fast-paced and intuitive for a console shooter. The Halo-like control scheme uses the two analog sticks to move and shoot, and you can jump, crouch, zoom in using your current weapon, and throw grenades without having to swap weapons. The map we played on was a waterlogged jungle temple surrounded at the top level by dense foliage, similar to something you might have seen in the PC version of Far Cry. This particular level was fairly snug but had a generous weapon, health, and armor layout and seemed to promote continuous movement rather than hiding in one spot.

We also got a look at Far Cry Instincts' map editor. Developer Ubisoft Montreal has apparently decided to make the editor resemble the powerful Far Cry PC editor as much as possible. Specifically, the editor will let you paint different kinds of terrain with a paintbrush, lower and raise terrain, choose different environments and times of day, drop in items and vehicles, and even jump into the maps from a first-person view instantaneously to see how a map is working out. Like the editor in Digital Extremes' Pariah, Far Cry Instincts' editor will have a meter at the bottom-right corner of the screen that fills up as you add more objects (trees, bases, vehicles, and so on). This meter will limit the amount of geometry you can place in a map to keep it running at a smooth frame rate. The developer hopes to keep most maps at about 500KB in size, so they should be easy to trade with your friends or pick up online.

Get ready to unload a whole lot of ammo.

From what we saw, Instincts' editor will be extremely user-friendly. You'll be able to start off with one of a number of templates that will provide a base to build a map on, or you can start with a clean slate and control everything from the map's topography to the time of day. The editor will even notify you when you've met the requirements for a given game type, such as team chaos or predator. Once you're done, you'll be able to send out new maps by hosting a game with them; any new players that join in should automatically download your custom maps to their hard drive. Ubi is considering different methods of hosting the best maps on its own site after the game has been on the market for a few weeks, so aspiring mappers can look forward to their work being put on display for everyone to play.

Far Cry Instincts looks very solid, and its powerful editor and fast-paced multiplayer bode well for fans of online console shooters. The game is scheduled for release in September.

By Andrew Park, Brad Shoemaker, GameSpot

[ABuSD]

Square Enix showed off an all-new trailer of Kingdom Hearts II at its pre-E3 press conference, while promising that the game would feature two and a half times the content of its predecessor. The short snippets of footage revealed a whole bunch of keyblade combat, some new features, and an appearance by Captain Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribbean fame. You read that correctly--this installment of Kingdom Hearts won't just pull from Disney's breadth of animated features this time, though those favorites are still here.

The initial part of the trailer featured the threatening visage of Anselm, the ultimate foe of the first Kingdom Hearts, followed by a scene with a young boy and girl seated at opposite ends of a long table. The girl, named Namine, starts to talk about how she is a witch who has been placed in charge of governing Sora's memories. Though she is blonde, she bears more than a passing resemblance to Sora's friend Kairi from the first game (she appeared in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for the Game Boy Advance, as well), and the boy she is speaking to is the spitting image of Sora himself. It looks as though the realm of Sora's memories will continue to be an integral part of the storyline of the series, much like it was in the GBA prequel.

The trailer featured a montage of characters of both Final Fantasy and Disney origin that will be making an appearance, and as we mentioned before, the world of Pirates of the Caribbean will be part of the adventure. A scene in the video placed Sora, Donald, and Goofy with Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow (the first sighting of which elicited cheers from the crowd), with the former characters keeping the cartoonish look of the normal Kingdom Hearts world, while Sparrow was rendered in a realistic style. He fought with the group against a mob of undead pirates in a cavern taken straight from the movie, and the look was definitely surreal but also quintessential Kingdom Hearts crossover craziness. Mulan and her dragon pal, Mushu, from the animated film Mulan also join the Disney lineup, with returning characters like Belle and Beast from Beauty and the Beast and Jack Skellington of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The combat in some cases showed Sora and his friends going up against very large numbers of foes--great milling masses of Heartless that the group scattered into the air with keyblade swings and other attacks. Sora appears to have gained some new abilities. In his fight against a three-headed Cerberus, Sora leaped at the beast and balanced himself between the left and right heads with a foot on each, before jumping again in the air to strike at the middle head. Linked attacks with special characters seem to have returned as well, as the trailer showed Sora teaming up with Final Fantasy X's Auron and Beast (not at the same time) to go against bosses and other enemies.

The gummi ship is also back, but the gummi ship combat seems much more involved this time around, showing the little blocky vessel in lots of active shootouts with obstacles and opponents. The ship was able to move rapidly and showed off a good amount of firepower, though we weren't able to tell if the sequences were still on rails. Still, it seems that this part of the game has been punched up a bit, which is good news, since those sequences in the original were a little out of whack.

The trailer definitely left us wanting to get our hands on the game to see what other surprises could turn up. The addition of Disney's live-action property is a new element that looks like it absolutely works in Kingdom Heart's unique and wacky universe. We'll bring you as much detail on Kingdom Hearts II as we can from the show floor and beyond, so keep your eyes on this gamespace, you savvy?

By Bethany Massimilla, GameSpot

[ABuSD]

Capcom has officially announced Viewtiful Joe VFX Battle for the GameCube and PSP systems. VFX Battle will be the first game in the series to introduce competitive gameplay into the cel-shaded beat-'em-up franchise. The game will retain its 2D, side-scrolling look, but it will also include interactive environments, where players will be able to use enemies and background elements to attack. Characters from the previous games in the series, as well as some from the anime, will make appearances in VFX Battle. These include Sylvia, Alastor, Captain Blue Junior, and Sprocket, who has an icy stare that can halt opponents in their tracks.

The storyline of VFX Battle involves production on Captain Blue's newest movie. He's having a tough time deciding on the star of the show, so the various characters will fight one another for the honors. As far as gameplay modes, the campaign can be played with just one player, or two players can work together cooperatively. There will also be a head-to-head versus mode, which implies the game will be limited to two-player fights. The PSP version will also include some additional content, but as of press time, no details were available.

Viewtiful Joe VFX Battle is currently scheduled to ship in North America this winter for both the GameCube and PSP. Keep your eye on GameSpot for further details as they develop.

By Bob Colayco, GameSpot

[ABuSD]

Square Enix showed off some footage from Front Mission Online, the newest game in its giant-robot combat series. The game takes the series online for the first time as a real-time combat game, as opposed to a turn-based affair like the previous games in the franchise. Presumably this should make the game play similarly to other robot combat action games like Mechwarrior and Mechassault. Square Enix is also billing the game as a "massively multiplayer tactical action role-playing game." However, it's worth noting that actual battles in the game will be restricted to 10 players per team. The massively multiplayer aspect of the game will primarily come from massive graphical lobbies, reminiscent of Phantasy Star Online. You'll walk around with a graphical avatar who will talk battle strategy with other players, and you'll perform other tasks prior to the next combat mission.

The storyline pits the Oceania Cooperative Union against the Unified Continental States, who are warring for control of a global hot spot called Huffman Island. You can choose to go off and battle as a lone wolf in your own combat robot (or "wanzer"), or set out with teammates from your nation to take on opposing teams in larger battles. Like Square Enix's other MMO game, players on the PlayStation 2 version will be able to play with those who are on the PC version. Voice chat will be implemented to streamline communication among teammates.

Those just starting out in the game must first hone their combat skills against non-player character enemies in training grounds. Once you feel like you're up for the challenge, you can then graduate to fighting for your nation against other players. As you make your way up the ranks of your respective nation, you'll be able to receive missions from your country's central command, and then issue orders to other players. The missions sent from central command will have a tangible effect on which nation controls Huffman Island.

Front Mission Online has already been released on the PlayStation 2 in Japan. A PC version is coming to Japan at a later date, while the ship dates for other regions of the world have not yet been determined. We'll have more information on the game as it becomes available.

By Bob Colayco, GameSpot

[ABuSD]

FOR NINTENDO DS

Konami is throwing its support behind the Nintendo DS with a number of games due out this year, chief among them a new Castlevania from series maestro Koji Igarashi and his crew. We got to take an exclusive early look at the game recently, in the form of its playable E3 demo, which let us experience most of the first half hour of the game. Castlevania DS serves as a continuation of the last Castlevania effort on the GBA, Aria of Sorrow, so the storyline picks up some time after the end of that game. You'll again take control of slightly effete hero Soma Cruz, who was revealed to be the reborn figure of Dracula in the previous game. Soma's one of the good guys, though, so he's resisted the devilish urgings that go along with being the reincarnation of evil.

The problem is, as long as Soma's around and not turning to the dark side, nobody else can be Dracula either. There's a maniacal group of cultists, led by the priestess Celia Fortner, that isn't too happy about this fact, so it's bent on both taking Soma out and finding a new host for Dracula's return. Luckily, Soma finds that in this time of peril, he's regained his dark powers from the original game. As a result, he sets off to yet another sprawling castle to battle a malevolent host, stop the cultists, and save his own neck.

Castlevania on the DS seems like it'll be pretty heavy on storyline, if the first 30 minutes of the game are any indication. The opening cutscene was set in a city street, and it featured Soma speaking with Mina Hakuba, the Hakuba Shrine keeper's daughter who appeared in Aria of Sorrow. Other returning characters during the demo included enigmatic figure Genya Arikado, the salesman Hammer, Julius, and Yoko Belnades. The cutscenes featured large, nicely rendered character portraits, and they appeared pretty frequently during our short demo. It's nice to see Konami continuing the storyline and revisiting the characters from the last game, especially since the exploration-based Castlevania games have traditionally been entirely self-contained.

The game's enemy and environmental designs are just as creepy as in past Castlevanias.

In fact, if you've played any of the recent games, starting with Symphony of the Night and moving on through Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow (whew), you'll be quite familiar with the basic gameplay mechanics in Castlevania DS. You'll explore the disparate sections of the labyrinthine castle, all while fighting increasingly powerful and grotesque monsters, collecting new weapons and armor, and generally becoming more of a badass as you raise your level and find new special abilities. Just during the first few minutes of the game, we picked up a short sword, claymore, large mace, and some better armor by killing random enemies. Meanwhile, the game maintains the previous entries' role-playing-game trappings by assigning numerical values to all your stats and equipment.

As important as it is to keep yourself outfitted with the best equipment, it seems like the multitude of special abilities you'll collect will often be your most important offensive and defensive elements. The abilities were referred to in the demo as tactical souls, and they fall into three categories: bullet, guard, and enchant. Bullet abilities are similar to the traditional special weapons from past Castlevania games, such as the holy water, boomerang, and axe, in that they generally involve a projectile of some type. Guard abilities seem to impart defensive or noncombat abilities. In fact, one ability, armor knight, let us spin a large spear around in a circle so we could hit any nearby enemies, while another, called flying armor, let us glide down slowly when we jumped. Both bullet and guard abilities consume mana when you use them, which is a resource that recharges slowly on its own and can be replenished more quickly when you pick up hearts. Finally, enchant abilities seem to be entirely passive. The only one we found, called golem, upped our strength stat. Most of the regular enemies we fought in the demo dropped tactical souls at one point or another, so it seems like it'll simply be a matter of killing enough of each type of enemy before one randomly drops its unique skill.

Castlevania's second-screen display comes in handy, providing map and enemy information without taking you away from the action.

So how does Castlevania take advantage of the DS's unique properties? The action takes place on the lower touch screen, while the top screen shows a map of the castle by default. This might seem like an obvious use of the DS's second screen, but having the map visible while you're actually moving around in the castle is invaluable at times. You can also hit select to switch to a status view that shows you all of Soma's current stats (as seen in the new screenshots). This view also features a nice info display on the enemy you're currently fighting. Furthermore, throughout the game you'll collect seals that require you to draw various cryptic shapes on the touch screen to defeat bosses, open sealed doors, and so on. Finally, you'll be able to teleport between certain hot spots on the map by tapping those spots with the stylus when you find an appropriate teleporter. We barely got into the game by the time the demo ended, so we're curious to see what other unique uses Konami's dreamed up for the touch screen.

The DS has respectable 3D capabilities, so maybe you were disappointed to find out that Castlevania DS will be 2D in the style of its recent predecessors. Once we got our hands on the game, though, we decided we were perfectly fine with the game's unapologetic adherence to tradition. While the presentation is fundamentally the same, the graphics have improved in subtle ways. Soma and many other sprites feature much smoother animation than we've seen in the GBA games, and some of the enemies we saw in the demo were downright huge. There's also an impressive degree of parallax scrolling at work in the background, and the game generally feels more animated and alive for all these minor improvements. We even noticed the game has a full-motion video intro if you let it idle at the title screen long enough.

Look for a mix of old and new faces when Castlevania hits the DS this fall.

So far, we're quite impressed with Castlevania on the Nintendo DS, not least of all because it will obviously reprise the successful formula that's been at work since the resplendent Symphony of the Night. While it's obviously similar to its forebears, the game's noticeably superior presentation and unique use of the DS's capabilities should help to provide some newness if your interest in the series has waned. The game is currently scheduled for release this fall, so we'll bring you more in the intervening months.

By Brad Shoemaker, GameSpot

[ABuSD]

Start out with a few dashes of Soul Calibur developers and add a sprinkle of Kill Bill Vol. 1 animators. Sounds like the recipe for a new hack-and-slash beat-'em-up, right? Not exactly. Instead, these are just two examples of the kinds of talent that are going into the development of the upcoming PlayStation 2 role-playing game Tales of Legendia. The game, the latest in Namco's long-running Tales franchise, will feature development talent culled from Namco's Soul Calibur line and character designs from artist Kazuto Nazakawa, who is best known in America for his animated sequences in Quentin Tarantino's grindhouse revenge opus.[QUERY: does that make sense to you?]

Namco's latest Tales RPG will boast some impressive talent.

The story in Tales of Legendia will revolve around Senel Coolidge, a young master of skills known as "eres," and his sister Shirley. Caught in the middle of an ocean on a small boat, they happen upon an island, just as their food is about to run out. Before long they realize the island is not an island at all, but rather a gigantic ship known as Legacy. Where did the massive ship come from and what secrets are hidden away on its decks, awaiting discovery? These are the mysteries you will explore in Tales of Legendia.

The game's 3D graphics feature traditional-looking anime-inspired characters, complete with the requisite spiky-haired protagonists. From the screenshots we've seen, the rich gameworld will feature ornately designed buildings and brightly colored environments to explore. Of course, the bread and butter of most RPGs are the combat system, and Tales of Legendia's so-called custom linear motion battle system should feel more akin to a fighting game than a traditional RPG battle system. Of course, it helps that the battles will be in real time, a decisive change from the "wait your turn"-style combat of most RPGs.

Hearkening back to classics such as Grandia in both the looks and combat departments, Tales of Legendia looks to bring a few new twists to a traditional genre. We'll have more on the game as details become available.

By Brian Ekberg, GameSpot

[ABuSD]

We've been anxious to get our hands on Soul Calibur III since the game was announced just a few weeks ago. The third entry in Namco's acclaimed weapon-based fighting series boasts new characters, new modes, and refined combat. So, naturally, we've been anxious to see just what's going on with the game. Rather than wait until E3 next week, we managed to get our hands on the first playable demo of the game to see how it's shaping up. The limited demo offered just a modest sampling of what the final game will feature, but it did reveal to us that the game is headed in a promising direction.

Meet Zasalamel, an Egyptian warrior who is faster than he looks.

The demo featured a selection of modes that were basically laid out the way they've always been in the series. You'll see three basic main modes--single, versus, and shop--that offer different variations for you to explore. While most everything was locked out, we were able to have a peek at what will eventually be available. Single-player featured the most options at the moment, as it had several different submodes listed. "Tale of souls" is the single-player story mode that, while pretty standard for just about any fighting game, has undergone a tweak to offer a slightly different experience. You'll start out by selecting a character as you always have, and then you'll head out to engage in some beatings. The demo offered Soul Calibur poster boy Misturugi and one of the new faces to the roster, the spiky hoop-wielding Tira, as your fighter options. You'll then go to a story screen that offers context on what's going on before hopping into a traditional one-on-one fight. Following your fight, you'll be sent to an overworld map, similar in form and function to what we've seen in the weapon master mode in the previous games, where you'll get to choose where to go next. You'll get a bit of text that continues the story laid out in the setup for your fight, which offers you two options on where to go next. This new branching path system will affect where you go and who you fight with your chosen character. From the sound of it, you'll need to play through at least twice with each character to see and fight everyone. To offer a taste of how this will play out, the demo pitted us against different fighters. After playing through it twice, we were able to meet and fight Kilik, newcomer Zasalamel, and a variant of Berserker who was included to show off the kinds of characters you can make in Soul Calibur III's character creation mode.

Besides the tale of souls mode, your single-player options will include "chronicle of the sword," world competition, soul arena, museum, and character creation. Character creation is the mode we're most excited for, because it lets you create an original fighter you can then take to the chronicle of the sword mode to see how he or she fares. While Namco representatives still weren't giving up much information on exactly how the mode will play out, it sounds as though you might be taking more of a "coaching" role in that you let your virtual self do its thing in battle. The other mode reps were coy about is the museum mode, as it sounds like it's going to come packed with content, such as artwork and other renders that should please fans of the series.

You'll be able to customize your fighters with new weapons and accessories.

Outside of the single-player options, the demo also listed a versus mode, which we expect will have a solid array of submodes to choose from (just as single-player does), and a shop. The shop will function as it always has in the series, offering you a plethora of goods to buy with currency earned in battle. You'll find everything from content you'll actively use in your game, such as new weapons and accessories for your fighter, to artwork and cinematics you can check out in the museum mode.

Let Battle Commence

So, with this overview out of the way, we'll hop to the fighting, since one of the burning questions on our collective mind has been how the game is going to handle. At this point, Soul Calibur III appears as though it's going to continue the modest forward steps the series' core gameplay made in Soul Calibur II. The core four-button fighting mechanic, which is made up of horizontal and vertical strikes, as well as a kick and a guard, remains the same. Returning characters will have their existing move sets freshened with new attacks and combos, however. This means veteran players should be able to hop in and pick up where they left off, though the additions to the returning fighters may require some minor adjustments to some learned fighting strategies. At the same time, the three new characters represent new challenges for fans to master.

Like Voldo, Tira employs a very deliberate and unusual fighting style.

During our time with the demo, we had the opportunity to play as both Mitsurugi and Tira. While Mitsurugi had the familiar, and extremely powerful, feel he's always had, Tira was an interesting change of pace. Although her barbed chakram clearly sets the poor girl up for ridicule, it also proves to be an effective weapon. At first blush, you might assume she falls into the standard stereotype associated with female characters in a fighting game--fast but not really powerful--but that doesn't appear to be the case. Tira's attacks lend themselves to a more deliberate style of fighting (possibly along the lines of how you'd play Voldo) that require you to be methodical. Although she can attack at a good clip, she's not in the same speed class as Taki. Once you get her timing right, you should be able to pull off some wicked and painful-looking combos that should silence any hoop-heckling you might receive for picking her.

Though we weren't able to play him, Zasalamel proved to be a formidable opponent. Whereas as Tira was slower than she looked, Zasalamel was faster. Don't be fooled by the enormous scythe, because the Egyptian warrior hits hard and has a painfully effective mix of close and ranged attacks that appear to come out quicker than you'd expect. Meanwhile, Kilik was as frustratingly quick as ever.

The solid gameplay is complemented by sharp visuals that, while still being worked on, already look outstanding. The game's graphics engine has been refined since Soul Calibur II, achieving some very positive results. Though the upgrades don't yield too dramatic an upgrade on the character models at the moment (the models do look a bit sharper), the environments certainly do. We had the opportunity to battle in several different arenas, all of which featured higher levels of detail and animation. One of the stages was set in a windy area--complete with moving gears--that reminded us of the windmill arena in Soul Calibur II, though it looked markedly improved. Another stage, set on a moving raft, was impressive due to the sheer speed at which it moved during battle. The special effects, such as weapons trails and particle effects, are still being added, though a new screen-blur effect during blocks represents a nice addition.

The arenas you'll be fighting in are much more detailed than those in previous Soul Calibur games.

The sights of battle are accompanied by an appropriate assortment of audio. The tunes you'll hear suit the action and are in line with the quality we've heard in the previous entries in the series. Weapon clashes are, as always, sharp and satisfying. Meanwhile, the fighters fire off a convincing array of grunts and battle cries that sound good and clear as well.

Based on this early demo, Soul Calibur III is shaping up to be another solid entry in the fighting series. Although you could ding it for not doing too much to move the series forward in terms of gameplay or online play, there are certainly some interesting ideas to be appreciated in the single-player experience. We've been left jonesing to see more of the various game modes, especially character creation. In a year when it seems as though the fighting genre won't get much representation on the PlayStation 2, Soul Calibur III should offer fighting fans something to get excited about. Soul Calibur III is currently slated to ship this fall exclusively for the PS2. Look for more on the game next week from E3 and in the coming months.

By Ricardo Torres, GameSpot

[ABuSD]

It was confirmed at Square Enix's E3 2005 press conference today that Final Fantasy XII would not make a playable appearance at this year's show. That made us a little sad. Our spirits were emboldened, thankfully, when the company showed off a new trailer of its latest role-playing opus, which we tried to watch entirely without blinking to extract as much information as possible. After all, fans of the seminal RPG series (there are a few of you, we figure) are going to have to wait a good long while to get their hands on it, as Square Enix revealed today a 2005 release for Japan, with a 2006 release to follow in the West.

Final Fantasy XII is confirmed for a 2006 release in America. Dammit!

The new trailer was composed entirely of cinematic computer-generated sequences from FFXII, which, from a technical standpoint, are easily the most lavishly produced yet in the series, with exceptionally lifelike characters, filmlike depth of field effects, and so on. But you knew it was going to look good. As has been widely reported, Final Fantasy XII takes place in the Final Fantasy Tactics world of Ivalice, and the new trailer focused on the story's overarching political and military conflict, which revolves around the aggressive Archadian Empire and its invasion of the presumably benign kingdom of Dalmasca. We saw scenes of a bustling medieval metropolis full of busy markets and trafficked city streets. It wasn't long before the city was obscured by images of armored airships that seemed to be moving into attack position.

We also got a new look at some of Final Fantasy XII's key players, including Ashe, the deposed princess of Dalmasca who's fallen in with a resistance movement against the Archadians; Penelo, an orphan of the war making her living by dancing and singing in the streets of Dalmasca; and Balthier and Fran, a pair of scrappy air pirates getting by however they can. Oddly, the trailer didn't focus much attention on the game's lithe hero Vaan, who's been the target of some derision in the past for his foppish look and devil-may-care demeanor. Has the focus of the story changed, or is Square Enix merely showing us a different angle on the story? Just release the damn game already so we can answer that question!

The trailer also showed a new character that we haven't seen before, an enigmatic dark-haired man who seems to be positioning himself as a freedom fighter, a hero for the beleaguered people of Dalmasca. We saw a scene depicting this character giving a fairly rousing speech to the citizenry, swearing he would protect the land. We're certainly interested to find out the identity and purpose of this guy, who's referred to as "unknown character" in Square Enix's press materials. This latter part of the trailer also showed off a massive battle between what looked like thousands of soldiers. As is faithful to the setting of Ivalice, it looks like Final Fantasy XII will feature conflict on a truly epic scale.

Who is this freedom fighter? Only time will tell.

It's certainly a shame that we won't get to play FFXII at this year's E3, but if that means the team was able to hunker down and keep working on the actual game rather than a shiny new demo, all the better. For a hands-on report covering Final Fantasy XII's interesting gameplay mechanics, which include a shift to MMO-style real-time field battles, check out last year's E3 hands-on of the game. At least Square Enix confirmed it will hold an event in Japan at the end of July showing off a new playable version of the game. We'll bring you more on it as soon as humanly possible, so stay tuned.

By Brad Shoemaker, GameSpot

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And u thought the custom panels on the XBOX 360 was cool!

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With the Mega Man series continually growing, Capcom will release the Mega Man X Collection to let both new and old fans of the series experience some of the earliest Mega Man games, dating back to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the first PlayStation. But perhaps the hallmark of this collection is Mega Man Battle and Chase, a PlayStation game that was never released in the United States.

As a piece of video game history, the Mega Man X collection traces the franchise's evolution from the 16-bit days to 32-bit systems. As always, you'll have the fun of playing Mega Man and partners Zero and Dr. Light as they thwart the evil Sigma and his army of renegade reploids. To give you a bit of incentive beyond that of saving the world, you can also unlock bonus features and artwork.

Mega Man X Collection will ship for the GameCube and PlayStation this fall.

By Jason Ocampo, GameSpot

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Xbox 360 picks up Final Fantasy XI, will be backwards compatible

Square Enix, EA announce strong 360 support; more than 160 games in development, up to 40 available at launch; Microsoft says console will play "top-selling" Xbox games.

LOS ANGELES--Microsoft opened the next-generation floodgates last week when it publicly unveiled the Xbox 360 on an MTV special, firing the first shots at its rivals in what is sure to be an all-out war for consumers. The Xbox 360 will be released this holiday season, and Microsoft held its annual E3 press conference today to tout the system's features and show off its planned lineup of games. The event took place shortly after Sony wowed the crowd at its own conference by unveiling the PlayStation 3.

The biggest story of the press conference surprised many attendees at the Shrine Auditorium. Microsoft announced that Square Enix, a longtime partner with Microsoft rivals Nintendo and Sony, will be bringing Final Fantasy XI to the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.

This will be the first Square Enix game for a Microsoft console, and the third platform for FFXI, which previously appeared on the PC in 2003 and PlayStation 2 in 2004. Final Fantasy XI was the first game in the popular role-playing series to go online, and the Xbox version will sport new high-definition graphics and make use of all of Xbox Live's features.

Along with a firm release date and price point, the other big question surrounding the 360 was backward compatibility. However, Microsoft would only say that the console will be "backward-compatible with top-selling Xbox games." This ambiguous wording could mean that Microsoft will select which titles will run on the next-gen console. However, it could also simply mean that Microsoft is merely being prudent in case some original Xbox titles don't work on the 360, as was the case with some older PlayStation 1 games and the PlayStation 2.

Although future Xbox 360 owners will be able to play the more than 200 Xbox titles expected this year, it's the 360 games that they'll really want. Microsoft expects 25 to 40 Xbox 360 titles to be available during the console's launch window (defined as within three months of the system's release), and developers currently have more than 160 games in the works.

Among the games Microsoft announced for the console were Tecmo's previously unrevealed fighter Dead or Alive 4 and Capcom's zombie-slayer Dead Rising, which is being developed by legendary game designer Keiji Inafune.

Publisher Electronic Arts announced that its lineup of 360 games, which includes Madden NFL 06, Need for Speed Most Wanted, and The Godfather, signifies its largest commitment to any next-generation console's launch.

As detailed last week, Xbox Live will come in two different packages. Xbox Live Silver, which allows gamers to send voice and text messages and participate in other basic features, and the premium subscription-based Xbox Live Gold package, which includes spectator mode and multiplayer gaming privileges. It turns out anyone with an Xbox 360 will get a taste of the good life. Microsoft today announced that all 360 owners will be treated to a free month of the Gold service when they first jack into Xbox Live.

GameSpot will be updating this story and will have more details on Microsoft's E3 press conference, including video and photos, very soon.

By Tim Surette -- GameSpot