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Home > Archive > Xbox forum > May 2005 > SEGA shows Next-Gen X360 demos: VIRTUA FIGHTER, SONIC, HOUSE OF THE DEAD, more
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SEGA shows Next-Gen X360 demos: VIRTUA FIGHTER, SONIC, HOUSE OF THE DEAD, more
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| http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3140760
Sega Teases Big Next-Gen Games
Virtua Fighter, Afterburner, House of the Dead, Sonic.
by Jeremy Parish, 05/19/2005
8 of 9 users recommended this story.
While Sega is one of the few publishers showing Xbox 360 titles on the show
floor (in the form of Condemned and Full Auto), behind the scenes the
company is offering even more tantalizing hints of the future. A
fifteen-minute video shown only in a private theatre demonstrates a first
taste of the company's third 360 title -- and more intriguingly depicts the
next-gen incarnations of some of the company's most popular franchises.
Every portion of the video looked impressive, but Sega representatives were
adamant that none of the visuals were pre-rendered (possibly in response to
the controversy over Sony's PS3 demos).
The third game is tentatively entitled Chrome Hounds, a From
Software-developed mech battle simulator populated with slow-moving
Battletech style bipedal war machines. Looking impressively filmic with its
dusty atmosphere, concussive explosions and billowing smoke, Chrome Hounds
will be a squad-based tactical action game. The trailer depicted a vicious
firefight between two factions (overdubbed with heroic-sounding "war is
hell"-type dialogue); the tide was turned when a powerful mech flanked the
other army and carefully aimed its cannon through an aperture in a crumbling
ruin and obliterated the enemy leader with a single shot. While dominated
somewhat by an excessively dull color scheme, the visual quality was
arguably the nicest (read: seemed closest to a pre-rendered movie) of Sega's
three next-gen titles.
Much juicier was the second half of the demonstration, which depicted
unfinished game concepts and graphical demos built around existing
franchises: "Fighting," "Shooting," "Frightening" and "Hedgehog?!"
Virtua Fighter kicked off this portion -- quite literally, as an extremely
detailed Akira performed a number of katas within rapidly shifting
environments. Sarah Bryant then took the stage, kicking and punching while
wearing a tight-fitting and extremely plastic-looking costume. Both
characters looked far more clear and detailed than in any previous
incarnation, and the fine texture detail in Sarah skin-tight suit was
exceptional. Even more impressive were the backgrounds, which shifted from
one to another fluidly and didn't lack for detail.
"Shooting" was represented by what appeared to be an amazingly detailed take
on After Burner -- the F-15 was exquisitely rendered in its fly-by, and the
environments through which it flew were nothing short of breathtaking.
Cloudscapes, oceans and a valley all looked amazing, and enemies attacked
ferociously with brilliant pyrotechnics. A Panzer Dragoon-like lock-on
system allowed the "player's" jet to confront a dozen or more enemy craft at
a time, and special techniques like barrel rolls were used for evasion.
An incredible-looking update of House of the Dead stood in for
"Frightening." Two characters, a man and a woman, proceeded through ghoulish
laboratory environs as zombies milled about and attacked in swarms. The game
camera took several opportunities to pan about reflective surfaces, allowing
the "player" to see his or her character from within a first-person
perspective. At a branching path, zombies approached from both sides; once
they were taken down, the characters moved ahead to a mezzanine overlooking
a floor swarming with at least a hundred zombies. The scene then switched to
a boss encounter in which an enormous, detailed multi-limbed creature
pursued the heroes through a sewer. Flesh hung loose from its swollen body
and saliva dripped from its tongue as its attacked in gruesome detail -- a
hideously beautiful spectacle.
Sonic the Hedgehog completed the demo sequence. Although this portion wasn't
as visually impressive as the others in terms of graphic design, the sheer
speed on display was amazing. More importantly, the middle section of the
demo allowed the representative to interact briefly with the on-screen
action, shifting the camera around and throwing containers of coins which
shattered upon impact with the far wall. Sonic bounced around the walls,
leaping from bumper to bumper as a killer robot tried to gun him down. After
escaping into a field, Sonic was then gunned down by an army of robots and
transformed into Super Sonic -- at which point the demo ended.
Anyone at E3 this week is welcome to stop by and see the next-gen demo for
themselves. Although the waiting line tends to be a little long, the payoff
is an impressive demonstration. And the theatre has some impressively comfy
leather recliners, which definitely feels worth the wait at the end of a
long day of running around the show floor.
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