PAX Hands-On: Codemasters

Codemasters is one of the UK’s oldest publishers, and while they haven’t had as many high-profile releases lately, it’s always interesting to see what they’re cooking up. At PAX, they were focusing on two of their upcoming fall titles, Damnation from Blue Omeda Entertainment and Liquid Entertainment’s Rise of the Argonauts.

Damnation

Codemasters’ first game, Damnation, is a third-person shooter set in a steampunk-inspired Wild West. In this alternate history of the United States, an arms manufacturer wrests control from the federal government and sets up a totalitarian leadership straight out of 1984. As the leader of a band of rebels, you must step up and take down the corporation.

The developers of Damnation describe the game as a “vertical” shooter, a melding of Prince of Persia and Gears of War. Combat isn’t just on a level surface; it also happens on ledges, while hanging from railings, and while zipping along hanging lines. In later levels, you will even have to fight while driving vehicles. Like in Gears of War, you constantly have a couple of computer (or player) controlled companions that help you out. Unlike in some of those other shooters, you don’t have to micromanage them. These squadmates are with you, but they are also there to do their own thing. You don’t need to babysit them or give them constant orders, but this also means that they won’t follow your every whim. These companions never die, but they can get knocked out for a short period.

From that Prince of Persia comparison earlier, you can probably guess that Damnation places a heavy focus on platforming. You spend a lot more time jumping between ledges than you would expect from a shooter. It definitely helps keep things exciting, as few things cause more anxiety than having to fight enemies both above and below you.

While Damnation’s premise and steampunk aesthetic hold a ton of promise, the game itself still needs work before it’s truly ready for primetime. I can forgive glitches since the game still has a couple of months of bug testing, but there were other issues that need to be addressed. For one, the controls were floaty. For a game so heavily focused on platforming and shooting, every bit of precision is key. Not only did I have issues with targeting enemies, but I completely missed important grab points like ladders and pipes. In general, the graphics could use an extra layer of polish. While the limited color palette in the demo stage may have been an artistic choice, it really just made it hard to see certain objects. Some anti-alaising may also be in line, the outer edges of some of the textures were pretty jaggy and characters didn’t really fit into the environments. I am interested in any game influenced by steampunk, and the idea of a Prince of Persia shooter is downright salivating, so I’m hoping that they fix a few of these issues before Damnation’s December release.

Rise of the Argonauts

Rise of the Argonauts is Codemasters’ take on the mega hit God of War, an action RPG (very) loosely based on the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece. King Jason’s wife, Alceme, is murdered on their wedding day, and you must find out exactly why she was killed. Rather than a story of revenge, Rise of the Argonauts is a story about the love that Jason held for his wife. He learns that the Golden Fleece, an ancient artifact, could bring his wife back from the dead, and he sets out to retrieve it from the depths of Tartarus itself. You are joined in your quest by five legendary Argonauts: Hercules, Perseus, Atatlanta, Achilles, and Pan.

Like in the other demoed game, Damnation, the Argonauts are not actually under your control. They are just there to help you smash a few faces. Trust me, you will be smashing a lot of faces. The combat in Rise is incredibly visceral. Unlike in other RPGs, where you start out meek and achieve greatness, you start out as a badass and steadily become more of a badass. By the end of the opening level, you already have your main three weapons (sword, spear, and mace). The combat controls remains the same regardless of which weapon you use — use one button for a standard attack, one for an “execution” attack, one for a dodge, one for a block, and combinations of them for different special moves. You can even switch weapons mid-swing with the right bumper button. While the combat controls in the same way, it feels very different with each weapon style. The mace is clearly much heavier than the sword, but it will break a shield in half with a single swing.

Rather than earning XP, you try to collect “deeds.” These deeds are sort of like achievements, given for things like killing a certain number of enemies or for surviving an “impossible” situation. You can present these deeds to four different gods — Ares, Hermes, Athena, and Apollo. In exchange, you’ll earn favor from that god, which can be spent for special abilities. Items are also treated a little differently than in other role-playing games. For starters, you don’t just go to merchants and buy them. Why would you? You’re a king! Instead, you are given special items at certain key points in the game. These items don’t actually have better stats, they have certain properties that make them important in specific situations.

While I didn’t get to play with the RPG elements of Rise (they were demonstrated by one of the developers), I did get to spend several minutes playing through the opening. The combat was fantastic. You truly do feel awesome from the beginning. The on-screen action is brutal, and the gameplay feels just as brutal. Bloody decapitations are pretty much the norm. The controls feel responsive and the system is easy to get used to. I did hit several glitches, especially when going through doors, but these are the kind of things that should get ironed out over the next month or two. While it might not dethrone the sublime God of War series, it is far from a generic knockoff. I can’t wait to play some more of it when it comes out later this year for the PC, PS3, and 360.