|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Platform: TBA
Related Articles: Review: Savage: The Battle for Newerth (PC)
|
Project Offset(Working Title)
Early
Look
Big
guns. That’s what first
person shooters have been all about since their inception.
It doesn’t matter if the game is set 10,000 years into the
future, during World War II, or pits players as an anti-terrorist unit,
you’re guaranteed to find machine guns, rocket launchers, and plasma
cannons in some shape or form. While
blowing things up is all well and good, sometimes it just feels like
overkill after looking at the sheer number of FPS titles that have come
out. This is where Project Offset comes in, as the team behind it
are trying to breath new life into the genre by placing it in a fantasy
world.
By
taking place in a world of swords and sorcery, Project Offset can do
away with all of the firearms, bombed out buildings, and other elements
gamers have become accustomed to in a FPS, replacing it with crossbows,
dragons, and magic. From
what little we know about the project, it appears that the core of the
gameplay will be shooting stuff, so one could take an archer, run around
pegging off enemies with a bow and arrows, then come in close to
hack the thing down with a sword.
There will also be a variety of character classes to choose from in Project Offset, ranging from elves, to warriors, and also wizards. Looking at the concept art for the game, there are also hints of another class being referred to as “builders”. There are no pictures of this class yet, nor information about it, but if we were to speculate, we’d say this class is in charge of keeping the war machines of Project Offset up and running. Someone has to keep the |
|
|
siege engines
in good working order after all. Siege
engines won’t be the only vehicles to use in the game, as the
developers are looking at a number of options, like being able to ride
dragons, as well as other animals, as a means of getting around, and
adding firepower for players.
But not only is Project Offset’s approach to the FPS shaping up to be quite novel, the whole thing is looking absolutely amazing thanks to the team’s in-house engine, the Offset Engine. Most of what is available to look at thus far are the various models that the team are experimenting |
Advertisement
|
|
|
with for use in the game. Looking
at them in screenshots, or even in motion you couldn’t blame one for
mistaking the images for camera pans of real-life clay models.
The caliber of visuals that the Offset Engine is capable of
pulling off are as photo-realistic as they come so far.
Just look at some of the images peppered through this preview to
see just how good the visuals look for Project Offset using this engine.
The picture of the dwarf below is a new image the team was kind
enough to send over for this preview, and this is a real-time shot.
Very impressive.
Even
more amazing is the brief video teaser that the
Project Offset team has
released. Towards the end
of it there is some gameplay footage showing an archer running up the
stairs of a rampart to take out a guard stationed there.
After killing the man, the player looks down to the ground below, then
turns toward the sun. The
distance to which players will be able to see, the quality of the light,
and the details of the scenery are mind-blowing…and then a dragon
swoops in, passing overhead. It’s
images like this that really drive home that the next generation of
gaming graphics is almost here.
However,
while the visuals are looking spectacular, and the fusion of a FPS and a
fantasy world setting looks like something that could revitalize the
first person shooter, what is the most startling thing about Project
Offset is that everything that has been done on the game and its engine
up to this point came from three people working out of their apartment. That’s three people.
Three! Looking
at what the Offset Engine is capable, there’s little doubt that it
could give the much-hyped Unreal Engine 3 a very serious run for its
money, and the Offset Engine was made by only three people.
But
with Project Offset being handled by so few people, obviously there will
be budgetary concerns for keeping this project going, and as such the
team is shopping it around in search of publishers / investors / some
means of continuing funding. The
people behind this project were also responsible for Savage: The
Battle for Newerth, a game developed by a team of seven.
Savage received quite a bit of praise from the press when it was
released, and what is being shown so far for Project Offset and the
Offset Engine is looking amazing. Hopefully
it won’t be long before investors step forward to keep this project
rolling. If publishers
don't pick up Project Offset and its engine they would be
certifiably insane.
Mr.
Nash (June 9, 2005)
|
||
|
|
||
