[E3 2006] Pandemic Plays With Fire
Trust us, you want to read on.
Published: May 11, 2006
The impact that Grand Theft Auto III had on games went well beyond a real free-roaming city and game design that taught you each part of the city before moving you on; it was arguably the first sandbox game -- an experience that was dictated not by what the developers forced you to do to progress, but what you the player did in the open-ended world. Missions by design had an obvious way of getting past them, but the physics and open-ended approach to the levels meant you could park cars strategically or snipe characters before they ever had a chance to make a move. Or, if you wanted, you didn't even have to do the missions at all, you could just play around with the world that was given to you.
From this design concept, seemingly endless games took a me-too approach and tried to duplicate what Rockstar North (nee DMA Design) had pulled off, but our minds, the only game that really did it all justice was the first Mercinaries, which could easily double the game length by virtue of all the screwing around you could do alone. It wasn't perfect (no sandbox game probably ever will be), but it was very, very fun, and once the admittedly short main experience was over, most who played the game started looking for more.
It'll take just under two years but the fruits of Pandemic's work will be well worth it; Mercinaries 2: World in Flames was developed from the very start to be a PlayStation 3 experience first and foremost, and the increased horsepower will allow players to do far, far more with the world this time around -- particularly in how they play around with fire.
“The combination of next generation hardware and this open-world setting was an invitation to set the world on fire and that’s exactly what we’re letting gamers do,” glowed Josh Resnick, president, Pandemic Studios. “The ‘play with fire’ feature means fire is no longer just an effect, but a whole new method of destruction - one of the mercenaries’ favorite new toys. Shoot holes in the sides of fuel trucks and watch the oil spill under the feet of unsuspecting enemies and light it on fire with a match. It’s only one of the infinite possibilities in a world where you make the rules because you are your own boss.”
As it would happen, "you" are once again mohawked merc Mattias Nilsson (voiced again by the brilliant Peter Stormare, who is finally getting some due respect in the latest round of Volkswagon GTI commercials), and plopped right into the middle of Venezuela as a power-mad despot has decided that he is the proper owner of the South American country's oil pipelines. Needless to say a country with small militia and lots and lots of guns and ammo isn't a good place to pick a fight, and an all-out country-wide firefight has broken out.
The difference this time, however, is that Pandemic is trying to bring together the guerilla firefights and the normal civilian lives. Open countryside gives way seamlessly to ramshackle villages held together with little more than corrugated siding and wooden planks. Depending on how friendly to or cavilier with the lives of these villagers, they can be a recruitable force or a armed thorn in your side. Of course, once we saw the demonstration of a stolen car tearing through the entire city in a straight line, leveling any houses along the way, the idea of being cordial all the time got a little hard to maintain.
The same take-anything approach to vehicles has been expanded. Missions now involve contacts, which can give you the ability to call in vehicles anywhere. Should you need to "borrow" one, though, you of course can -- and now flying vehicles are easily 'pooned with a grappling hook. This opens up a host of possibilities for water-based raids and indeed a major part of the game will take place offshore and the characters can swim ("no more toxic water" we were told).
Also added is co-op that allows for two players to team up, though they're not limited by distance. If one player wants to run to the complete other end of the miles-wide level, they're more than welcome to do that, but coordinated attacks will make the game a whole hell of a lot more fun. The level of destruction we saw in the game was stunning; an entire oil rig was blown up and sank piece by piece into the ocean after a last-second helicopter rescue.
There's still plenty we'll learn about the game as we get a little closer to the release, but if the obvious framerate issues can be ironed out as the developers learn to plumb around and explore the PS3's SPUs, we could be looking at the first example of a truly next-gen game, not just in terms of graphics, but in scope and interaction. Sandbox indeed.
From this design concept, seemingly endless games took a me-too approach and tried to duplicate what Rockstar North (nee DMA Design) had pulled off, but our minds, the only game that really did it all justice was the first Mercinaries, which could easily double the game length by virtue of all the screwing around you could do alone. It wasn't perfect (no sandbox game probably ever will be), but it was very, very fun, and once the admittedly short main experience was over, most who played the game started looking for more.
It'll take just under two years but the fruits of Pandemic's work will be well worth it; Mercinaries 2: World in Flames was developed from the very start to be a PlayStation 3 experience first and foremost, and the increased horsepower will allow players to do far, far more with the world this time around -- particularly in how they play around with fire.
“The combination of next generation hardware and this open-world setting was an invitation to set the world on fire and that’s exactly what we’re letting gamers do,” glowed Josh Resnick, president, Pandemic Studios. “The ‘play with fire’ feature means fire is no longer just an effect, but a whole new method of destruction - one of the mercenaries’ favorite new toys. Shoot holes in the sides of fuel trucks and watch the oil spill under the feet of unsuspecting enemies and light it on fire with a match. It’s only one of the infinite possibilities in a world where you make the rules because you are your own boss.”
As it would happen, "you" are once again mohawked merc Mattias Nilsson (voiced again by the brilliant Peter Stormare, who is finally getting some due respect in the latest round of Volkswagon GTI commercials), and plopped right into the middle of Venezuela as a power-mad despot has decided that he is the proper owner of the South American country's oil pipelines. Needless to say a country with small militia and lots and lots of guns and ammo isn't a good place to pick a fight, and an all-out country-wide firefight has broken out.
The difference this time, however, is that Pandemic is trying to bring together the guerilla firefights and the normal civilian lives. Open countryside gives way seamlessly to ramshackle villages held together with little more than corrugated siding and wooden planks. Depending on how friendly to or cavilier with the lives of these villagers, they can be a recruitable force or a armed thorn in your side. Of course, once we saw the demonstration of a stolen car tearing through the entire city in a straight line, leveling any houses along the way, the idea of being cordial all the time got a little hard to maintain.
The same take-anything approach to vehicles has been expanded. Missions now involve contacts, which can give you the ability to call in vehicles anywhere. Should you need to "borrow" one, though, you of course can -- and now flying vehicles are easily 'pooned with a grappling hook. This opens up a host of possibilities for water-based raids and indeed a major part of the game will take place offshore and the characters can swim ("no more toxic water" we were told).
Also added is co-op that allows for two players to team up, though they're not limited by distance. If one player wants to run to the complete other end of the miles-wide level, they're more than welcome to do that, but coordinated attacks will make the game a whole hell of a lot more fun. The level of destruction we saw in the game was stunning; an entire oil rig was blown up and sank piece by piece into the ocean after a last-second helicopter rescue.
There's still plenty we'll learn about the game as we get a little closer to the release, but if the obvious framerate issues can be ironed out as the developers learn to plumb around and explore the PS3's SPUs, we could be looking at the first example of a truly next-gen game, not just in terms of graphics, but in scope and interaction. Sandbox indeed.