Pummel guards to death in a bloodless coup de grace

I TOOK TIME OUT to visit the big boys as Activision, EIDOS and others displayed their wares on my second day at E3.

As the major publishers have their fingers in so many pies, it is tough to pack all the games into a short PR appointment. For example, EIDOS is showing off 10 titles at E3. At five minutes a game that would make a 50 minute appointment. Fortunately, being a picky bastard, I tried to focus on the good ones.

Activision is hitting the market with a slew of titles including Call of Duty. Call of Duty was created by the original design team from award winning Medal of Honour. Call of Duty focuses on the life of an everyday soldier in WWII, and is a squad based game.

I had an opportunity to try my hand at it, and it is extremely engrossing. The AI is very intelligent, and not forgiving.

While not as realistic as some of the Tom Clancy games, this is not a game to stand in the open. A good burst from a machine gun will take you out, and several shots from a rifle will make your day shorter. The game has a good flow, and the squad tactics at this stage appear fairly advanced.

Another Activision Title that looks promising is Vampire: the Masquerade. Based on the White Wolf concept of vampires, various clans of vampires vie for control of the seedier side of society. The vampires range from aristocratic down to beetle-eating mongrels. The game is built around the Valve Source Engine, the same engine that powers Half Life 2. The game is visually stunning and the different clans afford an excellent replay value.

EIDOS is launching several sequels to previously successful titles such as Thief 3 (working title), Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Commandos 3, Deus Ex: Invisible War and the list goes on. The new additions to the lineup include The Italian Job, based on the soon to be released movie, Backyard Wrestling, and Whiplash. Whiplash might turn into a console sleeper hit, as the basis for the game is so unique. In the game, you play a disgruntled rat (Spanx) who has escaped his cage at an animal experimentation lab.

Unfortunately, you have a rabbit chained to your wrist. As the game unfolds you use the hapless rabbit (Redmond) as a wrecking ball, destroying everything in the company. The environments are extremely interactive, and the goal is to free other animals while wreaking as much havoc to the big bad corporation as possible.

The graphics are somewhat cartoonish, and EIDOS is aiming for a "T" rating to appeal to a wider audience. This means there is no blood, and the guards fall "asleep" after being pummeled by the hapless rabbit. For the older readers out there, it brings back fond memories of Monty Python and killer rabbits. µ