Kinetica
The same development house that birthed Twisted Metal Black takes to racing. The result? Well, see for yourself.
Published: May 21, 2001
Kinetica did something that I didn't think a game at E3 was going to do: it tapped into that little part of my brain that gets me excited about weird, cyberpunk-ish Blade Runner-esque games, but what's truly odd is that other than the setting for the game, there's little here that resembles anything Dick or Scott conceived. One of the first games out of SCEA's Santa Monica studios, Kinetica has the blessing of being helmed by Dave Jaffe, one of the guiding forces behind Twisted Metal Black, and all around cool guy. A whole 5 kiosks at Sony's booth offered gamers a chance to take control of (or more often watch) one of two different racers that have been outfitted with Kinetic Skins (hence the title), a suit that basically turns the players into living motorcycles The man-machine amalgamations are then turned loose on some of the most wildly imaginative race tracks we've ever seen.
I may be getting ahead of myself here. See, what's really cool about Kinetica's tracks is that they take place in futuristic locals that are bursting with activity. Ships whiz by over head, and at one point in the tracks we raced on, you actually have to navigate through a maze of constantly moving trams. See, that's one of the really cool things about the tracks; they're very rarely horizontal for any extended amount of time. The Kinetic Suits offer an amazing stickiness that allows the racers to zoom up the sides of walls, or even race across the "ceiling." This likens the races to more of a roller coaster ride than a traditional flat battle for the lead. What's more, deviation from the beaten path is encouraged, and often leads to a gain in position.
While the game is still rather early, Jaffe was eager to point out that the game will only get better. Already, though, the game moves at a silky 60 fps, and controls perfectly. Borrowing heavily from games like SSX, the emphasis is on pulling off tricks to keep the turbo meter up, so while you're screaming along the track, you're constantly trying to strike a balance between pulling of some admittedly cool looking stunts, and finding alternate routes to cut down on lap times. We were able to easily pull off barrel rolls, spins, and a really cool move where the racer disconnects from one of the "wheels" on her arms and does a little breakdance around it. The animations were fluid, and (luckily for me with the way I raced) could be cancelled at any time in order to save yourself from slamming into a wall. The only real issue was difficulty, since you need to almost contantly be pulling off tricks to keep your turbo meter (and subsequent extra doses of speed) as high as possible, so I often found myself rolling across the finish line in last place or very near it.
Kinetica is just an awesome concept, and even the early execution left me wondering when I'd be able to spend a little more time with the game away from a crowded convention center booth. It's fast, gorgeous, and looks like it should be able to blend cool looking tricks with original character designs and lots of personality.
I may be getting ahead of myself here. See, what's really cool about Kinetica's tracks is that they take place in futuristic locals that are bursting with activity. Ships whiz by over head, and at one point in the tracks we raced on, you actually have to navigate through a maze of constantly moving trams. See, that's one of the really cool things about the tracks; they're very rarely horizontal for any extended amount of time. The Kinetic Suits offer an amazing stickiness that allows the racers to zoom up the sides of walls, or even race across the "ceiling." This likens the races to more of a roller coaster ride than a traditional flat battle for the lead. What's more, deviation from the beaten path is encouraged, and often leads to a gain in position.
While the game is still rather early, Jaffe was eager to point out that the game will only get better. Already, though, the game moves at a silky 60 fps, and controls perfectly. Borrowing heavily from games like SSX, the emphasis is on pulling off tricks to keep the turbo meter up, so while you're screaming along the track, you're constantly trying to strike a balance between pulling of some admittedly cool looking stunts, and finding alternate routes to cut down on lap times. We were able to easily pull off barrel rolls, spins, and a really cool move where the racer disconnects from one of the "wheels" on her arms and does a little breakdance around it. The animations were fluid, and (luckily for me with the way I raced) could be cancelled at any time in order to save yourself from slamming into a wall. The only real issue was difficulty, since you need to almost contantly be pulling off tricks to keep your turbo meter (and subsequent extra doses of speed) as high as possible, so I often found myself rolling across the finish line in last place or very near it.
Kinetica is just an awesome concept, and even the early execution left me wondering when I'd be able to spend a little more time with the game away from a crowded convention center booth. It's fast, gorgeous, and looks like it should be able to blend cool looking tricks with original character designs and lots of personality.
