PC Preview - 'The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'
by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2005
Genre: Role-Playing
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Release Date: Christmas 2005
The Elder Scrolls series is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Considering the fact that this latest installment took over three years to make, that's not all that surprising. Bethesda's design philosophy is to build each game from the ground up, and for this ten-year edition, they're pulling out all the stops.
The first thing everyone is going to notice is just how flat-out gorgeous this game looks. Seriously, this is some near virtual-reality stuff. The game starts you off in a prison, where everything looks amazingly solid; the solidity
Peter Molyneux has earned himself a curious reputation of making promises he can't keep in regards to his unreleased projects, but while the half-hearted backlash hasn't stopped the legendary developer from making prognostications, his most recent one leaves quite a bit of wiggle room.)
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First announced back in May, LucasArts'original IP Fracture has been gaining hype for its unique emphasis on nonstop terrain deformation, as each weapon and absurdly powerful grenade in the game can reshape the very ground upon which you stand. Fracture will pit the Atlantic Alliance and Pacificans against each other in a bleak, war-torn vision of America in the year 2161.
And lo, the seas did run red with blood, and the wolf did lie with the ewe, and the oceans did freeze. The seventh seal was undone, and an army of howling spirits was released upon the world entire, to destroy and undo all that man has built.
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FlatOut was at best a deeply flawed game, but remarkably, the original developer has come back with a second installment that shows staggering improvement over the original. This time, Bugbear is a bit more serious about trying to deliver an authentically enjoyable racing experience, while still retaining the demented ragdoll driver-flinging wrecks that put the original title on the map. With everything from the production values to the depth of the various mini-games, FlatOut 2 is simply shaping up to be a bigger and better