Blackstone: Magic and Steel
Blackstone, AKA Ex-Chaser (in Japan) has been extremely popular and has enjoyed many excellent reviews," says Bradley Flack, Director of Sales at Xicat Interactive. Xicat has renamed the Japanese game - Black Stone: Magic & Steel.
In the game, darkness has crept into the world of Zedan. Madul (the Dark Lord) has led his forces of the Underworld to victory over the White Wizards and the Forces of Light. Hope still remains as the White Wizards summon the bravest of the brave to battle Maduls army and find the sacred Black Stones needed to save the world of Zedan. This small band of heroes are assembled and tasked with traveling to distant parts of Zedan to recapture key strong holds, find the Black Stones and restore power to the White Wizards.
Black Stone: Magic & Steel, lets single players battle foes in real time as individual characters or as a team of 4 (toggling between characters). This combat/strategy RPG, allows up to 4 players in 'cooperative play', to attack the forces of evil simultaneously, slashing their way through 26 perilous levels of non-stop swordplay and blood letting. Players collect (or purchase) weapons, beastly companions, magic spells and various magical stones as players do away with a dark army who want to enslave all of Zedan.
The environments of Black Stone are brilliantly animated and fans of 'anime' should be pleasantly surprised with the individual character animation. Players choose their character (or characters): Warrior, warlock, archer, pirate or thief, each with varying melee skills, magical powers and long-range attack capabilities. After completing missions successfully the player can add to his pool of characters by finding hidden ones. Players should ready themselves to spill a river of blood using the proper techniques to dispose of foes in this non-stop, fast-paced slasher.
So raise your weapon, memorize your spells and begin your quest to find the stones and save the world of Zedan. Black Stone: Magic & Steel will be released for Xbox on 22nd November 2002, and has an ELSPA rating of 11 +.
Key Features
Find the Black Stones in nonstop four-player action.
Buy power-up items to increase your character's effect in combat.
Choose one of five character classes: Warrior, Archer, Pirate, Thief and Warlock.
Ride massive dinosaurs mounts and tear through your enemies.
26 huge levels to explore.
Cast magic, fight goblins, slay dragons, find the Black Stones and ultimately crush your foes
Metal Dungeon
In the distant future, man and machine are one. Twisted, robotic cyborgs walk the planet ravaging the land and destroying all that they find. Mankind retreats to metal fortresses, and holds out for the future. Underneath the scorched earth, evil awaits, magic returns to life, and terrible creatures of myth are revived. A group of battle cyborgs must now journey below the surface of the planet, to tame the Metal Dungeon.
"Metal Dungeon is an exciting RPG with a some cool twists. Players battle with cyborg monsters deep in a futuristic dungeon, while 'building' (enhancing) your ultimate cyborg warrior. It's exactly the kind of dungeon crawl/RPG that the Xbox needs and will futher expand the already-strong Xbox portfolio," says John Linn, Creative Director at Xicat Interactive.
Aransas is a war-torn world that has been in conflict for as long as history can recall. Humans "enhance" their warriors through cyborg technology and the ancient art of magic. Deep within a vast underground weapons complex known as Force Valley, one faction of humans tries to gain the upper hand by creating super-enhanced cyborgs. Something goes terribly wrong. One of their experimental cyborgs 'Magin', escapes and takes over the weapons laboratory/facility creating an army of enhanced weaponic monsters, turning Force Valley into a Metal Dungeon.
Teams of enhanced humans (cyborgs) are enlisted to take back the facility. Players assemble a team to plunge into the depths and root out the monsters. Players choose from 5 character types – fencer, striker, analyzer, caster and broader, in building their teams, and may be further enhanced by finding or buying chips and implanting them into their characters. Players can add to their team by finding, and re-animating the corpses of fallen warriors; transforming them into one of 5 unlockable character classes. Metal Dungeon can be played by a single player (who may control up to 6 characters) or by multiple players, each controlling their own character and their actions simultaneously.
Battles with cyborg monsters are ferocious within the Metal Dungeon, and will take all the skill, strategy and knowledge of your characters' talents and abilities. Experience is gained in battles with monsters within the 10 cavernous dungeon levels or by means of gladiatorial games in the "trial hall". Levels are never the same twice due to MD's succession of random dungeon layouts.
In the Metal Dungeon, enhanced humans of the future come face to face with the dark evils of the past. You never know when a pile of scrap metal, flesh and sinew might come bounding from a dark corner to feast on your robotic bones. Metal Dungeon will be released for Xbox on 22nd November 2002, and has an ELSPA rating of 15.
Features
Five character types to choose from: Fencer, Striker, Analyzer, Caster and Broader
Ten huge dungeon levels to explore and conquer
Randomly generating dungeons, so you never play the same level twice
Totally customizable advancement system lets you build characters any way you choose.
Use chips and implants to enhance your cyborgs by adding spells, abilities and equipment
Create and swap your powerful group of adventurers, and discover new bodies to revive in the grounds below.