SOUL CALIBUR
F. FANTASY 8
TOMB RAIDER III

Players will experience high-resolution, incredibly fluid graphics in a full-freedom 3D environment; dynamic gameplay mechanics such as gliding and soul-feeding to maintain life; unprecedented interactivity with objects within the game; an innovative hand-to-hand combat system; and Predator AI featuring intelligent non-player characters which remember and react to players' actions.

We recently received an playable preview copy of this stunning title and set about giving the disc a spin to see what all the fuss was about.
 

What's it all about..?
 
      Dark Gods:
A millennium has passed since Lord Kain set his capital in the ruins of the Pillars of Nosgoth and began his conquest of the world. His first act was to recruit a cadre. Dipping into the underworld, Kain snared six souls and thus birthed his lieutenants, of which I; Raziel was one. We, in turn prowled the twilight of purgatory building six legions of vampires to pillage Nosgoth.

The destruction of the major human Kingdoms was inevitable. Within a hundred years, humanity had been thoroughly domesticated. To be sure, there remained some feral humans scattered across the hinterlands, clinging to their hopeless holy war to rid Nosgoth of 'the vampire scourge'. They were tolerated. They made existence for the fledglings more challenging

After the taming of the humans, our real work began; shaping Nosgoth to our will. Slaves constructed about the Pillars a shrine worthy of our new age, worthy of our dark renaissance. Huge furnaces were constructed to belch smoke into the sky, shielding the land from the poisonous effects of the sun. Never had the world known such a time of beauty. However, we grew bored.

We allowed the lesser vampires, the remains of the legions, their intrigues. They provided amusement and spice to an increasingly uninspiring court. As faction fell against faction we betted upon the outcome. We helped and foiled plots at our whim. We were the Council and Lord Kain, our only master.

Raziel:
The humans think it is a poison of the blood that makes us what we are. Fools, the blood only feeds the bodies we live in. To create a vampire, one must steal a soul from the abyss to reanimate the corpse. It is the body that demands the blood sacrifice; our souls gain their advantage from the powers of the underworld. As we matured, our earthly bodies evolved into a higher form. We assumed the powers and nobility of the Dark Gods. With each change, the trivial affairs of vampire and man held less interest. Eventually, Lord Kain took us to a distant retreat and left the bickering of the court to the lesser tribes.

Always, it was Kain that would change first. After the master had experienced a new gift, one of us would follow in a decade or so. That is, until I had the 'audacity' to evolve before my master. I was gifted with wings. And for my impertinence I was damned.

The Elder:
To us the touch of water is agony; it burns our flesh like acid. My punishment was to be cast into the bottomless vortex. As my brethren heaved me into the air I could see the bemused expressions on their faces. The transitory thrill of something new. Then the pain began. Melting, twisting, burning, falling. A new experience indeed. Time. I have no concept of how long I fell. Only that there was an end to the fall and through the pain I heard the voice. At first I thought it merely the echoes of my own tortured mind, but I grew to understand that it was more. Something primal. Something angry. Something righteous. Something ancient.

The Elder explained much to me. It told me of creation, of death, of souls and of hunger. For eons the Elder fed upon the souls of Nosgoth. Then Kain's empire of vampires deprived the Elder of sustenance. For centuries his hunger grew and festered in this place.

Now, I serve a new master. A demanding master. A master that must be fed, with souls.
 

Our First Playtest...
 
      The original Legacy of Kain was one of the few games that held my interest for a considerable length in time. I can remember days becoming weeks as I became more and more absorbed with the gameplay. I was extremely excited to hear that there was to be a sequel and held high hopes for the new game. I have now had the opportunity to test out a playable preview of the radically different game, and here are my impressions on the new style.

The first thing that hits you when you begin playing the Soul Reaver is the environment. It has changed completely. Moving on from the graveyards, villages and dwellings of Nosgarth Kain now finds himself deep inside a cave where a series of crumbling ledges must be negotiated. The environment is now constructed entirely from polygons, while also gone is the isometric viewpoint to be replaced by a third person perspective. Beginning the level submerged underwater your first task is to swim to the surface. The water effects are mighty impressive as the drip, dripping from overhead stalactites leaves ever decreasing circles on the surface.

Controlling Kain is relatively simple with face buttons used to jump, glide, swim, action and of course... devour soul. By combining presses with the top shoulder buttons your character can increase his range of movements with actions such as crouching and walking. Of course this early version does have a few camera angle problems but the two lower shoulder buttons will quickly correct the viewing angle and allow Kain to scan a full 360° before deciding on his movements.

Overall, control of your character is very similar to a certain large breasted female game character. A few differences borne from the fact that our hero, Soul Reaver, is a supernatural being, having many superhuman abilities that Lara Croft would have great difficulty pulling off.

The controls took a little getting used to. In fact, the first time I played through the level I was so frustrated and annoyed that I didn't want to look at the game again. I eventually convinced myself to give it another go and upon subsequent plays the clumsy control soon became second nature. The only complaint I have is that the use of the analog controller gave no advantage therefore I ended up switching back to digital control to move my character around.

The only ability available to try out in the demo level is flying and once you get to grips with this power it's literally a breeze. Simply launch yourself into the air, and hold the X button to glide accurately to your destination. Pump the button a little to gain some air and you're flying like a bird. Fighting is relatively simple. A few giant darts are placed around the level which you can use to throw at your enemy. Just point in their general direction and let fly. Then sit back and watch as your enemy dies a gory death before absorbing their soul... like all good little vampires should.

Overall my impression is that the controls are a little awkward at first but persistence will pay off. I can see this game being highly addictive and rewarding for those who stick with it. My only other major complaint about the demo is that it is far too short, only two enemy encounters and less than ten minutes of play time really doesn't give that much impression of what the final code will eventually be like. Bring on the finished game!
 

What You Can Expect...
 
      Key Features:

•Real-time environment morphing as you shift between the material and spectral realms
•Uncover the mysteries of Nosgoth and your own twisted past as you explore a vast, dangerous world
•Solve devious puzzles as you plot the demise of 11 bosses and 20 different enemies, including 10 classes of vampires
•Engage in deadly hand-to-hand combat as you make full use of weapons, acquired spells and the surrounding environment
•Grim gothic story supported with full-motion animation, in-game cinematic events and compelling voice-over
•Continuous data-streaming from CD eliminates load time, providing seamless gameplay
•Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver will be available on the PlayStation game console in February 1999