E3 2001: Hands-on: GUNVALKYRIE

Sega has decided to have a low-key presence on the show floor at this year's E3, but behind closed doors the company was showcasing several of its upcoming games. One of the most impressive games shown was Gun Valkyrie for the Microsoft Xbox. We played through two levels of the game, one in a futuristic research facility and one outdoors in what looked like a canyon environment on an alien planet. Gun Valkyrie is essentially a fast-paced shooter, which, at least in the levels we played, wasn't bogged down by the introduction of puzzle or elaborate exploration elements. It was just a matter of finding our way through the facility and disposing of any and all enemies. The enemies in the playable levels were stocky in appearance with giant scorpionlike claws. They were highly intelligent in their attack styles and usually appeared in droves.

The control layout in Gun Valkyrie is somewhat unorthodox. The left analog is used to move the character, the right analog is to look around the environment, the left shoulder powers the character's jet pack, the right shoulder is used to shoot, and one of the face buttons switches between weapons. This scheme certainly takes a little getting used to, as at first it is difficult to move the character freely around the game's environments. Particularly, it's hard to do a 180-degree turn, as the character simply hops back while facing the same direction.

At her disposal, the game's lead character has eight distinct types of weaponry. In the E3 demo, she had a pulse cannon and a simple rapid-fire weapon. The environmental distortion from the explosion of the pulse cannon was truly impressive, as it created realistic ripple effects in the character's field of view. The character models were smoothly textured and highly stylistic, as the lead character in particular wore a form-fitting mech suit--it was similar in design to the mech's in Konami's Zone of the Enders. The environments were equally as striking. Although the level settings didn't lend themselves to a robust visual style, the textures were varied and created with an impressive level of artistic detail.

In the game, players assume the role of a member of the Gun Valkyrie special forces team, an elite group of operatives bent on protecting a revolutionary form of energy. Dr. Hebble, the scientist responsible for the technological breakthrough, has disappeared, and it is up to the Gun Valkyrie team to destroy a band of vile creatures that have appeared since Hebble's disappearance.

Gun Valkyrie will be released for the launch of the Xbox console this fall.