Some upcoming titles

Posted by Scott A. Krotz <krotz@mussel.cig.mot.com> the 12 June 1994.

Howdy folks..

I just got a hold of a neat, colorful new 3DO brochure, "The 3DO Software Catalog." It contains information about a lot of current and upcoming 3DO titles, along with a screenshot for each. Here is the text from some of the titles that little is known about, or that contain previously unknown info.

Scott

ACTION:

Rise of the Robots (Absolute Entertainment):

Something has gone dangerously awry at Electrocorp's massive robotics production plant. The powerful Supervisor Droid has taken over and is constructing an army of robot minions to unleash upon mankind! As an experimental cyborg - half human, half machine - its up to you to put an end to this technological nightmare! Now the cutting edge 3D visual contouring and ray-traced animation of Europe's hottest PC/Amiga gaming experience are here on 3DO! Each robot enemy uses advanced artificial intelligence to learn from their own mistakes and exploit your every misstep! Rise of the Robots is destined to become the ultimate hand-to-hand combat game.

Note: cool looking screenshot.

Gex (Crystal Dynamics):

For those who are tired of the cute and cuddly 16-bit video game characters there is now an alternative: Gex, the original wise-cracking, tail-whipping 3D gecko with a slightly twisted sense of humor. He's edgy and cool, but you wouldn't want him to marry your sister. He's had too much exposure to bad 1970s television, and he knows it. If he's not humming the theme from S.W.A.T, he's reliving old Planet of the Apes episodes. Armed with a smart mouth that occasionally gets him in trouble, and a trashing tail that usually gets him out, this character is nobody's stuffed animal. Note: cool looking screenshot.

AD&D Slayer (Strategic Simulations, Inc.):

It's Time You Did Something About Those Monsters Under Your Bed! You're not a helpless kid anymore. You've grown up and you've got Slayer, the first Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game available for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer system. Now you're an AD&D game hero armed with weapons and magic, exploring dungeons filled with the deadly monsters of your nightmares. Hack and Slash away at these vile creatures, avoid treacherous traps, and solve mind-bending puzzles. In Slayer players explore massive and sinister dungeons and destroy evil overlords lurking in their depths. With the randomized dungeon generator, getting through the adventure and defeating the overlord changes every time. The randomized dungeon generator creates every game differently by randomly configuring mazes, monsters, and puzzles. Over 4 billion different dungeons can be created. No two need ever be the same. Because it's designed for play on the 3DO system.

Note: Gonna be cool

Soccer Kid (Studio 3DO):

Disaster! Seconds before the 1994 World Cup final was to begin an alien of the cup-collecting kind swoops down and steals the World Cup trophy. Double disaster! The careless alien collided with an orbiting asteroid and the trophy was smashed into five pieces which are now scattered around the globe. Join the football-crazy Soccer Kid in his quest to recover and reassemble the World Cup. His amazing soccer skills including dribbling, shooting, windmill kicks and headers are put to the test in more than 25 detailed levels in exotic locations like England, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the U.S.

Note: Decent looking side scroller.

Dragon Lore (The Software Toolworks):

A new plateau in fantasy role-playing games, Dragon Lore utilizes state of the art technology to bring you television quality graphics. Your trek takes you through a startlingly realistic, visually stunning world of treacherous enemy creatures and beautifully rendered scenery. First person animation puts you in the midst of the action, as you thread your way through the Plains of Pain and explore the vast reaches of a mighty mountain fortress. Unlock the dark castle's secrets, seek the guidance of a great magician, and wake the dragon from his sleep of decades to join you in your quest. Dragon Lore... available Winter 1994.

Note: Whoa! Nice screenshot.. this on looks very cool!

SHADOW:War of Succession (Tribeca Digital Studios):

The leader of S.H.A.D.O.W., the world's largest criminal organization has just been brutally murdered. From around his vast criminal empire they have come to do battle, seven of the Shadow King's best lieutenants. To the winner will go the ultimate prize: The right to be named the next Shadow King. To the losers, there is only DEATH. SHADOW: War of Succession is a fast paced fighting game which features live, full sized, digitized actors. The characters possess their own distinct special moves and weapons. This game uses photo- realistic and 3D rendered backgrounds. Full cinematic scenes and hundreds of digitized sound effects and real voices intensify the furious fighting action. Note: Screenshot looks great, but another digitized fighting game? (yawn)

INFORMATION

3D Atlas (Electronic Arts):

3D Atlas excites your imagination with revolutionary three-dimensional spinning views of Earth created with over 25,000 satellite images from sources like NASA, JPL and the BBC. Fly in and around the Alps to explore its structure, view amazing time-lapse footage of environmental phenomena like the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, or discover the state of the world's nations through the thousands of accurate, diverse statistics available for each country. 3D Atlas puts a world of information right at your fingertips! Note: Looks good. I believe this is a port of a PC/MAC CD-ROM program.

The Software Toolworks presents... SPACE SHUTTLE (Software Toolworks):

It's the adventure of a lifetime for anyone who has ever dreamed of being an astronaut. Join NASA's elite as you take part in a sensational multimedia experience covering every aspect of the most advanced space program. Train with the crew, then blast off on one of 53 authentic NASA missions. You might choose to monitor the delivery and maintenance of a satellite, try an untethered space walk, or keep an eye on a weightlessness experiment. You may never want to come back to earth!

Note: Looks promising, might be good.

INTERACTIVE MOVIE

Star Control II (Crystal Dynamics):

Plunge into an epic adventure that spans the depths of space. Gather resources, build fleets, forge alliances, and fight brutal space battles on your quest to free the Earth from extraterrestrial enslavement. Experience the rich universe of Star Control II as you explore over 3,000 planets and encounter 18 alien races, each with a unique voice over. CD quality sound compliments 8 hours of voice and 15 minutes of full motion Silicon Graphics 3D computer animation. Slug it out head-to-head with a buddy in Super Melee, a bonus game that pits your space combat skills against a friend or the computer. Fight 14 different types of ships.

The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes (Electronic Arts):

In this interactive mystery movie, you become Sherlock Holmes, world famous detective. A young actress has been brutally murdered: Could it be the Ripper? As you investigate, you'll interact with over 60 characters (played by professional actors), and explore dozens of detailed Victorian London locations, all the while listening to a suspense-building original musical score. With more than three hours of video and speech, it's a rich and detailed experience. Note: This looks to be a fairly straight-forward port of the PC adventure game of the same title from EA. Looks like a box about 1/5th of the size of the screen pops up showing the character speaking rather than printed text from the PC game. The PC version got good reviews, so this should be good also!

Plumbers Don't Wear Ties (JC Research Inc.):

A new type of game for a new multimedia system. It is unique, funny, and humorous. Plumbers has everything! Greed, sex, white-knuckle chases, shameless propositions, a nun, humor, true love, jaded love, jealousy, taut action, comedy, a bad guy, romance, spine-tingling suspense, a here, spirituality, brazen bravado, damsels in distress, martial arts fighting, and a Hollywood ending! Experience a new fantasy by yourself! "I couldn't stop laughing!," "It made me cry.. my score was so low!," "A major contribution to the decline of Western." Kirin Entertainment, a division of JC Research Inc., ported and enhanced a PC CD-ROM game created by United Pixure under a license agreement.

Note: Umm.. weird.

Duelin' Firemen! (Runandgun! Movin' Pictures):

Grab yer banjo, ole Chicago is ABLAZE AGAIN and yer ITCHIN' ta DANCE!! Choose yer Fire Chief 'cause the city's heatin' up! Dance yer guts out in some of the Windy City's most famous locales! DUELIN' FIREMENT! is a folk tapestry of skilled filmmaking woven into explosive computer animation on CD ROM. RUNANDGUN! Movin' Pictures has crammed as much emotional impact, HI-RES eye candy and HOT NAME-TALENT onto yer 3DO player as 32-BITS will allow! This is the KILLER TITLE y'all have hungered fer: DUELIN' FIREMEN! on your 3DO! It's the BAR*B*Q'ed flavor of the future y'all want so bad, y'all can almost taste it!

Note: Umm.. very, VERY weird.

B.I.O.S. Fear - Biological Inorganic Operating System Failure (SENSE-NET Corp.):

Mega-corporations have cauterized what was left of Earth's environment. Earth is dying because these corporate monoliths have stripped the forests, plains, and oceans in their battles of greed. As a result, the Earth's ecosystem disastrously malfunctioned, and Biosystem Domes were constructed to provide humanity a safe environment to inhabit. The goal of the domes was to preserve the remaining scraps of viable material in the hope that this world could be reclaimed. Flourishing within the domes, humanity forgot and repeated its crimes. Cost overruns, ignorance and malicious greed lead to unpredicted demise. Domes began to fall into disrepair. The populace crowded the reamining habitable areas, squeezing out the animal and vegetable life until little was left. The cry went out. "Biological Inorganic Operating System Failure on Earth." Is this failure caused by natural catastrophe or gross human error? Dome existence is threatened. The future is now all up to you. You must save what is left of life in the Biosystem Dome on Earth, as well as protect its future existence. Your B.I.O.S.Fear awaits. HURRY! B.I.O.S.Fear is a futuristic adventure game that is being developed with very high-end graphic engines. It should appeal to all audiences, although older age groups should find the game particularly appealing. B.I.O.S.Fear utilizes a first person engine with extraordinary unique play-ability. B.I.O.S.Fear is being developed in part by one of ASG's affiliate partners, Zinc Studios.

Note: sounds neat. Screenshot is hard to decipher, though.

Demolition Man (Virgin Games):

Two men have just entered the future, bringing with them the values of a brutal past. One cop. One criminal. Both with one goal: destroy the other man first. In a world where all the rules have changed. In a city where violence doesn't exist. Yet. Actually control cinematic quality live action footage of Stallone as Demolition Man in a game that merges the Warner Bros. hit movie and video footage so smoothly you'll feel plunged into the film itself. Contains never-before-seen footage of Stallone and Snipes filmed especially for this interactive adventure. More genres of game play than our competition has - 5 different types of gameplay including shooting galleries, car chases, tunnel hunts and hand-to-hand combat.

Note: looks absolutely fantastic.. hope they can get the gameplay to measure up.

The 11th Hour: The Sequel to The 7th Guest (Virgin Games):

Picking up the trail of intrigue where the original mystery leaves off, the 11th Hour: The Sequel to The 7th Guest returns players to Henry Stauf's haunted estate seventy years after the conclusion of The 7th Guest. This sequel to one of the best-selling and acclaimed PC CD-ROM games ever takes the revolution of state-of-the-art multimedia entertainment one step further, besting any interactive game on the market and taking the player on an all new trail of sophisticated, psychological terror. Utilizing acclaimed developer Trilobyte's proprietary tools, players will fully explore over twenty-two beautifully rendered rooms with faster, smoother and more realistic 3D graphics than ever before. Over one hour of live-action full motion video played without any additional hardware required. Two CDs worth of gameplay, including a wide variety of perilous quests and diverse puzzles.

Note: Screenshot shows a guy about to have his head split in half by a meat cleaver.. yikes!

SIMULATION:

Off-World Interceptor (Crystal Dynamics):

Buckle up for the roughest 4x4 ride of your life. As a bounty hunter, it's your job to nail the nastiest criminals in the off-world colonies. Race through the toughest terrain the galaxy has to offer as you bash your way thorough a life or death demolition derby against the universes most wanted. Spend your bounty money to upgrade your cannons and missiles or buy a new, faster 4x4. Play alone or face off with a buddy on the only split screen two player game for 3DO. Full motion video brings the story to life and the pounding CD quality soundtrack will keep your trigger finger twitching.

Flying Nightmares (Domark):

Based on the elite harrier jump jet squadron in Yuma, Arizona, Flying Nightmares by Domark is the first flight simulator to combine a full-featured flight model within a complete war game. As commander of the U.S. Marine assault on East Timor - an island just off the coast of Indonesia - you must fly harrier strikes against targets in support of the ground forces you control. Flying Nightmares runs four aircraft simultaneously while updating the war game in real time. Flying Nightmares features an award-winning flight model with fast and fluid texture-mapped graphics.

Note: screenshot is a title screen, so I don't know what the flight graphics are like.

VR Stalker (Morpheus Interactive):

You are the member of an elite group of pilots responsible for recapturing a fallen United States. Fly a variety of aircraft from your own Virtual Reality Simulator pod. Experience incredibly realistic air combat as you explore a fully mapped 3D environment. Hear the roar of twenty thousand pounds of thrust from your afterburners, one of many 3D stereo sound effects found in VR Stalker. Real voice overs accompany briefings for over thirty levels of difficulty. More than twenty minutes of incredible 3D animations and an original soundtrack let you live the 3DO experience of this full combat flight simulator.

Note: Great looking screenshot!

STRATEGY

Theme Park (Electronic Arts):

Theme Park is the biggest, wildest, most hair-raising amusement park in the world, and you build it yourself! Select a site, then lay out the rides and attractions (over 20 to choose from, including 5 you design yourself). You control every aspect of running a profitable amusement park - from hiring employees to R&D. (How many corkscrews can be safely crammed into a roller coaster anyway?) Theme Park is the most fun you can have on a roller coaster without losing your lunch.

Gridders (Tetragon):

Join Zack and his cybernetic dog Fidex, an experimental half dog/half robot, as they outsmart the automated Gridders in order to learn the terrible secret hidden in the depths of the factory. Use your creativity to help Zack manipulate the Gridders to get the pyramid key to the next level, but beware of the killers Gridders and the hunter. Your goal is to reach the basement of the factory and discover the secret technology used to power the Gridders. On each level, you are faced with puzzles and interactions that become more complex as you progress down the levels of the factory to the basement.