E3 2002: Gore preshow report

DreamCatcher Interactive will be showing Gore, its upcoming PC first-person shooter, at E3 2002. Gore will be an over-the-top, sci-fi-themed multiplayer shooter. The game will have the same sorts of features and weapons that have appeared in other sci-fi shooters, such as Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament--features including jump pads and low-gravity areas, as well as weapons including personal rocket launchers and miniguns.

Gore will take place in a futuristic version of the late 21st century, in a world that's been nearly exhausted of its natural resources. In response, scientists uncover a means to artificially produce an exceedingly powerful new resource, simply called "ORE," which becomes so coveted that it puts the world's various political factions at odds with one another. To seize control of the world's supply of ORE, a government institution creates a brutally intensive combat simulation, known as the Meat Machine. The simulation is intended to be a trainer for a corps of shock troopers that will eventually help secure ORE.

The majority of the game will take place within this simulation, and over the course of the game, players will take on tough opponents of all shapes and sizes. Gore will let players choose to play as one of 10 different character classes and equip lots of different weapons to shoot down their opponents, and each weapon will have both a primary and an alternate firing mode. The game will also feature damage zones on characters. You can hit opponents--and get hit yourself--in the head, torso, or legs, and depending on how much armor your opponents are wearing, they may become disabled from a well-placed hit or simply able to shrug off your shots. Gore will also have interactive environments--specifically, players will be able to destroy a great deal of your surroundings, as well as actual items they'd otherwise pick up normally. For instance, instead of grabbing a health pack, players can also simply blast the item so that no other players will be able to use it.

Though Gore will have a single-player game, its primary focus will be multiplayer play. The game will ship with four multiplayer modes: deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, and a new mode entitled tactical warfare.

The game is currently scheduled for release this fall. We'll have more information on Gore from the show floor.