12 UPCOMING GAMES WITH ‘NEW’ ENVIRONMENTS

Will they make – or break new games ?

by dkpatriarch:

©2008 David Hilton

“`Hands up all those who are sick of games constantly using the following game environments and locations: spaceships, science labs, bunkers, subway/train stations, office buildings, warehouses, sewers, prisons, jungles, or de-populated war torn towns in Normandy, Middle East, or South America?

Me too. I decided to see if I could find some upcoming games that seem to offer some new gaming environments, or twists on existing ones, that might help make for more interesting gameplay. I know there is much more to gaming than gameplay environment, but it is what sets the scene and keeps the visual interest of the gamer.

Some of these are well known big budget and much anticipated games, while others are mostly unknown by smaller game studios that I hope do a good job and get noticed. Here are twelve I found that are promising, but feel free to comment below on the ones you think should be on this list and why. Not in any particular order:

1. Alone in the Dark: Central Park

Click on any pic for Full View option:

Okay so this game is actually set in the most used video game location ever (see this link), New York, but the twist is that it all takes place inside Central Park, a gaming setting not much used at all. Inside this massive park are so many different locations and environments it actually does make for a great place to set a survival horror game like this one. Add oodles of atmosphere and use fire as a gameplay mechanic, and this should make the park really special. I have high hopes for this title, and we don’t have long to wait to see if it makes the grade.

2. Highlander: Ancient Pompeii

The premise of a 2000 year old immortal warrior makes for a perfect time-travelling video game with a great variety of game settings in different time periods. Again this game ends up in New York (I told you it was the most used location!) but on the way you visit a variety of environments including feudal Japan in the shadow of Mount Fuji and what promises to be a very interesting new game environment, Roman Pompeii during the eruption. So even though ‘there can be only one’, the game will have much more than a usual cliché game environment and that can only be a good thing.

3. Resident Evil 5 and Far Cry 2: Africa

After combining some of the best video game environments in Resident Evil 4, the next installment is looking for something new. It will be interesting to see if Africa provides enough diversity of environments for both Resident Evil 5 and Far Cary 2, which has also decided to use the ‘heart of darkness’ as the setting for its second game. I think they should be able to do so, but I found Far Cry’s lush jungle, though fantastic, got repetitive very quickly (as it did in the recent Turok game). Africa has dry areas, townships, plains, jungles, and mountainous terrain, so hopefully we aren’t going to be limited to one environment the whole game.

4. Alan Wake: Pacific Northwest

This game has been a long time coming but hopefully it will be released this year. The Pacific Northwest, with its logging towns, great massive treed forests, and tiny fishing villages should provide a variety of excellent environments for a game about a man who has trouble sleeping and is experiencing a lot of fear. Anyone who has visited (or in my case lived) there can attest to the setting being good for some spooky moments and places.

5. Too Human: Sci Fi Meets Norse

This game is one that has me both slightly confused and intrigued. It definitely is new. Silicon Knights have decided to make an action RPG game that incorporates ideas like cyberspace vs. reality and man vs. machine, all within the umbrella of a Norse-like mythology. The environments are equally strange with Sci Fi but ruin-like architecture.

6. Theseis: Modern Meets Ancient Greece

This 3rd person puzzle game by Track 7 Games looks like something different and largely missing from the 360. From modern Athens the characters explore more ancient mysteries with environments that are both modern and ancient. I like to cheer for the little guys of the game-development world, so let’s hope they pull both the gameplay and promising locations off.

7. Crusaders: Invasion of Constantinople: Medieval Constantinople

Not much is known about this action game set in 12th century Constantinople (present day Istanbul) by French game studio Kylotonn. However, if they can make the game’s primary location, Constantinople, medieval Europe’s bridge between West and East, come alive, then I’m sold. Another little guy who has to struggle to be competitive against the big studios who largely remake similar games, I hope to hear more about this game in the near future.

8. Lego Indiana Jones: So Many Places

This is my fun pick. The sheer number of locations and environments on offer by the Indiana Jones franchise should make this game one to watch for some great game environments. Sure, games like Tomb Raider and Uncharted have taken their cue from Indiana, but the number of locations, even if not totally original, are this time done up in Lego, which is new. If done well the Lego-look will make a fun game environment to explore (and smash?).

9. HYDROPHOBIA: City-Sized Cruise Ship

Hydrophobia is set onboard the Queen of the World (no doubt a homage to the movie Titanic and the over-used quote ‘I’m the King of the world!’). It is the largest cruise ship ever constructed. The area between the hulls resembles a city – it has schools, universities, even a football stadium. You can live there if you are super rich, which sounds good to me: visit exotic ports by day and return to a city every night. It’s virtually a mini country, like a floating Vatican City- but its religion is money. No taxes and no prying Big Government here. And lots of water. Sounds like a winner…a city that turns into a waterpark when terrorists show up to spoil the party.

10. The Crossing: Alternate France

What happens if the Renaissance never occurs and medieval monk-knights the Templars never get killed off? Well Arkane studios thinks they would seize control of France and you would have a Paris that advances with medieval influences in both architecture and ideas. So you have two settings; normal modern Paris and an alternate reality Paris where things are very different. I think it’s a great concept with lots of interesting environmental possibilities. I look forward to seeing their alternate vision of the future.

11. Edge of Twilight: Steampunk

Australia-based Fuzzyeyes Studio are hard at work on what they call ‘a stylized, postapocalyptic third-person action adventure’ where night and day actually affect your character’s abilities as well as the look of the game. The atmosphere is described as ’steampunk’, whatever that is. The player, as bounty hunter Lex, will navigate a ‘mechanized fantasy world’ in which society is divvied up into separate dimensions of night and day. There are two environmental styles that go with the two main groups in the game too; the industrialized Atherns and the spiritual Lithern. Sounds like environmental detail is extremely important to the game.

12. The Outsider: Washington D.C.

Much as I am sick of so many games set in the United States, this one looks interesting. Washington D.C. has not as often been the focal point of gaming (unless you count the assault on the White House in Turning Point: Fall of Liberty) and it provides a great backdrop to political intrigue. This game promises to allow more freedom of choice and difference in storyline depending on your actions too.

Game studio Frontier are going for a unique experience with a dynamic world and story. You are John Jameson, ex-CIA officer framed in the assassination of the President of the United States. So all very Jack Bauer-ish. Apparently there will be alot of NPCs running around too, making the environment more realistic and interesting. Hopefully this game will combine a replayable game with multiple possibilities in an environment that is fresh and alive. So maybe a more interesting sandbox-like game with actual stories instead of ‘fetch this, protect that, find, chase and kill this and that’?

©2008 David Hilton