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It was the summer of 1984 when a computer game first took over my life. After an exhausting six-mile journey on my Grifter, I reached my friends house. Inside ‘Elite’ was running on his BBC Micro…
Elite was the first computer game I played where a universe was truly created. It was up to you who you wanted to be, an honest trader dealing in textiles and the odd luxury item, or a dishonest trader selling narcotics and slaves. You could become a bounty hunter, killing for cash or even work for the military. Good or bad, it was up to you. Never before had a game given a fourteen-year-old boy these sorts of choices.
So it’s good to know that games like Elite were played by the guys at Warthog, because their working on a new space based title of their own; Bounty Hunter.
Bounty Hunter promises to deliver something quite different, and potentially ground breaking. You play the part of a Ranger, who is ‘set up’ in the first mission, and goes to jail for ten years. So it’s up to you to uncover how and why it happened, and who is ultimately responsible. Included are alien factions, many planets to explore and a strong story throughout. The most impressive feature of Bounty Hunter has to be the fact you can be out in space one moment, get a message to land on a planet, and without ANY loading at all – you land, get out, and start hunting your prey – FPS style. Bounty Hunter is both space combat and first person shooter, and lest we forget - Warthog worked on Starlancer.
The missions are semi-linear, meaning there is a structure to them, but there will be so many options and branches of the main story, that it will feel free roaming. Encountering many NPC’s that may be good or bad, NLG has learned of two such races; the ‘Valleakans’, shy and small in stature, and the warrior-like ‘Jaldari’. Be warned, if you side with one race, the others may not like it!
Once you have made your kill, and collected your bounty, you can spend it on hand weapons for when you’re on the hunt, or update your ship systems. Purchasing new guns and missiles and other upgrades.
Bounty Hunter will be revealed at E3 next month, and it’s a possible launch title for the XBox in Europe, but may not make the American launch.
Gameplay Features:
Consistent movement control and weapons management systems in both space and on the ground.
Modular player vehicle system with a vast array of equipment and upgrades.
The ability to pilot a wide range of vehicles and ride a number of exotic creatures.
Numerous factions and races respond differently depending on the player’s reputation with that group.
Lifelike NPC reaction depending on their intelligence, bravery, health, etc and in combat will adjust their strategy based on their numbers, types of weapons, available cover, and numerous other conditions.
Diverse missions, some story driven, some incidental, and random encounters create a dynamic, realistic universe fir an immersive experience and excellent re-playability.
Large number of player weapons from low to high tech, many unique to this game.
A Huge variety of walk-around environments with different physics, obstacles, inhabitants and creatures for hours and hours of gameplay.
Seamless transitions between first person combat and space flight action.
Technical Features:
Seamless transitions between first person combat and space flight action.
Bespoke animation system allows motion blending and animation of detached parts of objects (“Motion Blending”).
Revolutionary ‘Tusk’ 3D engine employs scene-graph principles that allow movement within and between different types of environments – currently impossible in other games.
High level of visual effects, lighting and sound, utilizing high-spec future target platform.
Multiple weighted skinned animation system.
Per polygon collision systems.
Skinned deformable skeletal characters, skeletal snapping.
NLG will have an update on this exciting XBox title next month.
John Grothier
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