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Codemasters showed off two games at their PAX booth this year, they were Damnation and Rise of the Argonauts, both very different games, but both look like they will be a lot of fun when they do come out.
Damnation is a shooter that puts you in an alternate reality that has seen a much rougher time than ours. In this steam-punk world, technology is obviously much cruder, and over the past years, the U.S. Government has become more and more reliant on a weapons manufacturing company called Prescott Industries. Before the start of the game, Prescott has decided to turn its weapons against the population, and it has essentially taken over the nation.
You play as Roruke, a leader of a rebellious group bent on taking down the industry and returning balance to the nation. In order to keep the game from being seen as just another shooter, the level designers have made the game much more vertical. Instead of rushing your way through corridors and forests, most of your time will be spent climbing up buildings and jumping across roofs. Damnation will also feature a co-op mode, but other multiplayer features are still being decided on.
The other game at Codemaster's booth, Rise of the Argonauts, looks like it will be a pretty solid blend of hack and slash combat and role-playing. The game will have you controlling Jason himself as he first hunts down the assassin who has just killed his wife, and then looks for a means to bring her back to life (which he believes can be done with The Golden Fleece).
While Jason will be picking up various weapons along the way (in my brief demo, I had a spear, sword and mace on-hand), simply plowing through enemies isn't the entirety of the game. There are many plot points where you will have to go into conversation trees and make decisions. Now what's really interesting is that each choice you make in these RPG elements is aligned to a particular god (Aries, Hermes, Athena and Apollo). The more favor you gain for a god, the more abilities you will gain from that particular deity.
For instance, focusing heavy on Aries' decisions will grant you powers that will cause you to go into rages, while Athena's powers might cause you to have to use some strategy. The example given for Athena was forcing enemies to walk over symbols that get projected on the ground. When an enemy crosses these symbols, lightning will strike them. Meanwhile, a power from Hermes will open a gateway to Hades and pull the souls out of enemies (Hermes being the god that carries people to the afterlife).
Jason's journey will take him all across the ancient world, and the Argo itself will act as a hub world where you will be able to go into a trophy room and see the various weapons and armors that you have collected across your voyage. You will also get to see the other Argonauts like Hercules both on the Argo and on the battlefield, and while players could focus on the main story and just rush through the game, it will have quite a few side missions, but even on the rushed path, gameplay is expected to last at least 10 hours.
Screenshots for Rise of the Argonauts can be seen in this Flickr collection, while Damnation's are avaliable on this one. |
