Deuce E3 2000 Hands-On

Deuce is Point of View's new adventure game for the Sony PlayStation. The overall storyline of the game is based on the structure of a deck of cards. You begin your adventure as Deuce, the two of hearts, in the Hearts family. Your objective is to rescue the "Royal Flush" of Hearts from the evil Jack of Spades.

The game's perspective is similar to Zelda: Ocarina of Time in that you traverse in a world in the third person. You control Deuce with the analog pad, while jumping or using sword attacks to defeat enemies. In addition to basic swordplay, Deuce can add special magic spells to his sword in order to gain an advantage. For example, he can apply a fire spell on his sword in order to defeat an ice boss.

There are 12 full levels with many puzzle-laden sub-quests for Deuce to explore. The levels are non linear, allowing the player to return to levels in order to accomplish other tasks needed to advance. Some of the various puzzles in Deuce include timing various jumps in succession, traversing mazes, climbing through obstacle courses, and solving pressure plate puzzles. The puzzles are truly diverse and offer a welcomed sense of variety.

The most interesting aspect of Deuce is in the way your character advances through the game. Deuce starts off with two life containers shaped as hearts, which also represents the rank he currently possesses, hence the name Deuce. As you advance, Deuce gains more hearts, increasing his life containers while increasing his rank. Eventually you obtain the rank of 10, which is considered to be Knight.

Deuce seems to play very well and the controls are quite solid. The jumping puzzles need a little work, as the camera would often get in awkward angles; however, facing the jump and hitting the camera button, which knocks the camera behind the player, seems to help a bit. Overall, the game looks very promising, offering many levels of complexity in a deep storyline and a myriad of puzzles.

Expect to see Deuce charm his way on to the PlayStation for the holiday season.