Word of Mouth

Avery Score waxes on about Chaos Theory for the N-Gage and Jade Empire.

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Avery Score
Assistant Editor, Mobile Games

Jade Empire

Bioware's Jade Empire has some high expectations to meet. Bioware has long been known and revered for its work on PC role-playing games set in the Forgotten Realms continuum. A year and six months ago, the Canadian development house released the first Knights of the Old Republic title, finally making the console audience privy to its brilliance. The game also happened to feature the best Star Wars story told, through any medium, in decades.

Can Bioware's RPG magic translate to a mythical Asian setting?

Jade Empire is the first game developed in-house by Bioware since KOTOR and is therefore a kind of spiritual successor. While not set in the Star Wars universe, Jade Empire's world of martial arts and sorcery seems at least as intriguing. While KOTOR was accessible and fun for just about anybody, it was especially enjoyable if you were a fan of the source material. The same looks to be true for Jade Empire, which draws its influences from martial arts movies and arcane Chinese literature.

Jade Empire will reprise KOTOR's system for managing moral alignment, as well as the countless hours of spoken dialogue containing alignment-determining dialogue options. If you're like me, having a hand in the fate of a game's characters multiplies your connection with them.

What excites me even more than the new high-fantasy setting is Bioware's choice to make gameplay more reflex-driven this time around. Hmm... Fighting game-like combat within the context of an RPG set in the East... Sounds suspiciously like Shenmue! Many remember Shenmue and its sequel as conceptually interesting exercises in tedium. And they're pretty much on target. Those games made a big impression on me, though, and these similarities only fill me with hope. Bioware has proven itself to be as capable as Sega-AM2 when it comes to delivering quality product.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

I'm just going to throw this out there: Gameloft is the most consistently brilliant mobile developer in business today. While its games are invariably well-adjusted for the handheld, Gameloft typically seeks to approximate the console gaming experience as closely as possible. Its association with parent company Ubisoft therefore benefits the company greatly, allowing it access to valuable licenses. Gameloft has put the Tom Clancy name to especially good use by releasing games for the mobile and N-Gage platforms. The company's upcoming Splinter Cell Chaos Theory for the N-Gage is poised for simultaneous release with the eponymous console title.

N-Gage owners will soon get the drop on Sam Fisher.

Unlike the last N-Gage Splinter Cell, Chaos Theory will be rendered in full 3D, which should be considered a prerequisite for true stealth action. You can therefore expect San Fisher's movements to more closely match those of his console counterpart this time around. A rotatable camera, nonlethal weaponry, and all of Fisher's visor options will make their ways in to the game. You'll even be able to employ your optic cable under doors to see inside rooms while remaining unseen yourself. All this action is shown through visuals of a quality previously unseen on the N-Gage. Lighting is obviously of particular importance to Mr. Sam Fisher, and it's good to see that Gameloft has crafted an engine capable of stylishly enshrouding him in chiaroscuro.

With Pandora Tomorrow on the Xbox, multiplayer support became an important component of the Splinter Cell series. Chaos Theory is likely to follow suit, and the N-Gage version of the game won't be left behind. Multiplayer was already working admirably in the alpha build we played, successfully linking up players via Bluetooth. Your partner's movements will be shown alongside your own via a split-screen. Incredibly, this has been accomplished with little sign of slowdown or lag.

Suffice it to say, N-Gage owners will be in for a treat come March. Furthermore, unless Chaos Theory is announced for other mobile platforms (which is likely), the N-Gage version will be the only way to enjoy Sam Fisher's latest romp while on the go.