Described as "Two Worlds 2.5," this expansion pack sees the development team let loose to be as creative as they like without the restrictions of having to work on their proprietary engine at the same time as the game content. Rather than attempting to squeeze in content that didn't really fit in the original release, most of the cut material has ended up in this expansion.
It's not just new story and quests, though -- the graphical fidelity of the game has been beefed up through some new textures on both the scenery and characters. 3D details have been added to armor and clothing, too, making them seem less like skins and more like real clothes.
The expansion was designed with the philosophy that "in order for a game to be fun for a player, it must be fun to develop." This is evident in a variety of additions to the game -- a quest which sees you end up in a nightclub full of zombies lit up by dragon skulls that emit neon lights; the existing music minigame used in a sequence to awaken a golem for a boss fight; and the addition of new item the Oculus.
The Oculus is a free-floating camera that can also be detonated and used as an offensive weapon. The example we were given came in a conflict with a basilisk -- which turns the player to stone if it manages to make eye contact. Using the Oculus, however, the player can blind the beast from afar before moving in for the kill.
The expansion also branches out into different environments -- besides the open sandbox world of the main game, certain parts of Pirates of the Flying Fortress take place inside the dreams of an NPC. Here, vast expanses of nothingness stretch off into the distance, everything is tinted sepia and the camera takes on a fisheye lens appearance. The action still remains open and non-linear, however, but the setting is markedly different from the high fantasy backdrop of most of the rest of the game.
Pirates of the Flying Fortress looks set to build on the things that Two Worlds II did well. It's probably not going to convince you if you're not already a fan, but if you did enjoy the curious, polarizing adventure, there's plenty to like here.
So early in development over at Octane Games there's no gameplay to show yet, Raven's Cry is a pirate game. But before you get an image of Johnny Depp in your head, that's not the case -- this is a game about real pirates. The ones who were, I quote, "dicks."
When he was a child, the ship that Christopher Raven was sailing on was boarded. His family and friends were butchered, and his hand was cut off. To add insult to injury, he was thrown overboard. Fast forward a few years and add a traditional hook-hand, and we have one seriously pissed off pirate looking for revenge. The game will see Raven hunting down those responsible for his past tragedy and exacting bloody, unpleasant vengeance upon them. Sounds like fun.
Scivelation is only 4 months into production but spent a year and a half in pre-production prior to that -- and it shows. The dystopian, Orwellian future presented in the game is exquisitely detailed and laced with Judeo-Christian mythology, and that dark screenshot above really doesn't do it justice.
Set in a world where the mysterious "Church as State" organization The Regime have taken control following a "power vacuum" (not of the kind that probably immediately popped into your head upon reading that phrase), it's up to the player as sexy leather-clad Elisha and shooty soldier man Mikhail (whom we didn't get to see today) to take on a variety of missions and make the world a better place.
The game's described as a "cinematic narrative experience" and compared to Uncharted in terms of how it plays -- namely it's linear, story-heavy and not open world. The story unfolds through a series of missions in cities around the world, including Vienna, Moscow and Tokyo. To create the game's distinctive look, the real architectural features of the cities were observed and recreated, then a layer of futuristic cyberpunk technology was added over the top. The result is striking.
Missions fall into three categories -- stealthy espionage missions where Elisha takes the leading role, all guns blazing action fests where Mikhail takes point, and missions where you get the choice. This option is designed to encourage replayability by allowing players to see different angles to the same part of the story.
Scivelation may be very early in development but it's looking potentially very good indeed. Great care has been taken in planning out a convincing game world -- and the final game will include an extensive codex function featuring all of the extended writing used during pre-production. TopWare believes that it's included a level of depth to the story on a par with a typical RPG rather than a mission-based action game -- and just from the short look we had, it shows. This could be one to watch.