Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure – GBA – Preview

E3 2003 – First Look

When we think of skateboarding, the first
names that come to mind usually are not Tarzan, Woody, or Buzz from Disney’s
more recent movie lineup. Usually, we think of … who else … Tony Hawk. He’s
had a great series of fun and addictive skating titles out, and who better than
to take on a Disney skateboarding project than the original developers of the
series? Activision is looking to change our thinking on "who’s the best skater
around" with Disney’s Extreme Skate.

This game will actually use the Tony Hawk
engine that we all know and love, but add in characters from Disney movies that
both grown ups and kids will recognize. For example, the elephant from Tarzan
was riding his own little bamboo board and grinding it up while Woody was
ripping it up on Hot Wheels tracks scattered around Andy’s room. The graphics
were already looking good, with toys, environments, and objects being brightly
colored and placed just enough for you to pull off lots of cool tricks and
combos. There’s also a create a player mode that’s added in for additional fun
for all.

Keep an eye out for Disney Extreme Skate
around August 2003.

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Vampire : The Masquerade – Bloodlines

First Look

Vampire looks like it’s going to be an
awesome game in all aspects, even though it’s still a work in progress.

Vampires on the big screen have always been
captured our nightmares and imaginations dating all the way back to the days of
Lon Chaney. Nowadays, vampires have become sort of a pop culture kind of thing,
with big screen hits like Blade, Vampires, and Dusk till Dawn. Activision is
making a stand alone sequel to it’s original Vampire : The Masquerade game …
and it’s looking pretty nasty (in a good way) already. In this newest version,
you can actually pick which clan you want to be in from the RPG series (Brujah,
Nosferatu, etc.) and the clan choices or actions will actually affect NPC
reaction and dialogue as you go about your shadowy ways. For example, the more
beautiful Malkavians will be more adept in getting NPC’s to talk to them (or do
various other things … there IS a strip club in the game)while the beastly
Nosferatu will usually send people running the other way. In addition, killing
and revealing yourself to the world may get the clan leader on your tail for
your blantant stupidity, and continuing to be careless may lead you into getting
assasinated. Currently they are working on a vampire vs. vampire hunter
multiplayer mode, and have ported all of the attributes like lockpicking,
computers, etc. in from the tabletop RPG that White Wolf released X amount of
years ago. The graphics are already VERY detailed down to light reflections in
the eyes and facial emotions portrayed very well. For all you hunters of the
night, be looking for this one in Spring of 2004.

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Crime Story – XBox – First Look

Crime Story looks to take two styles that we
all play and love and fuse them together for a lot of action packed fun.

When GTA3 was released, everyone was amazed
at how well everything was done … and who doesn’t enjoy fighting and stealing
cars now and then? Activision is now heading onto the map as well for that same
huge environment and fun play style with Crime Story for the XBox. Now, don’t
think that this is a GTA3 clone by any means … to think that would be a
mistake. Crime Story puts you into the role of Nick Cane, a cop who makes his
own rules busting up the bad guys (and some public property in the process).
Part of the game played out with Nick driving and responding to various calls or
concerns from his department … like a carjacking or parole violation … and
heads out to deal with the mess. Once you decide to confront your victim and
leave the vehicle, the game moves to a 3rd person shot where you can kick,
punch, and even perform "finishing moves" (not MK violent ones, just flipping
them onto a car and whatnot) to apprehend the criminal. Activision is also
fusing in a good combo system as well which will allow you to do a little more
than "hit A repeatedly" or some other repetitive things we’ve all seen before.
240 miles of Los Angeles have been mapped out and available for you to move
around in, and the graphics are already looking great with some good lighting
and environmental reflections and good character modeling. Be looking for Crime
Story around Fall 2003.