Joint Operations Preview
Novalogic's next game will let you and up to 64 players duke it out by land, sea, and air.
First-person shooters started out as unrealistic arcade-style games in which you played as a faceless character who had to run about blasting everything that wasn't you--and that usually included monsters, robots, and other fanciful critters. But as time passed, technology became more sophisticated, and so did these action games. Rather than running through a single-player game shooting at a bunch of mutants, players found increasing enjoyment in networked and online multiplayer sessions that let them test their skills against real people in both head-to-head competition and team-based matches. In fact, team-based shooters are more popular than ever, and the developer that created Delta Force intends to expand on team-based gameplay in a big way with its next project, Joint Operations.
Before we tell you what Joint Operations is, we should probably explain what it isn't. Though developer NovaLogic has made a name for itself with Comanche, its helicopter flight combat series, and Delta Force, its tactical shooter series, Joint Ops won't be a part of either series, and it won't put you in the role of a member of the elite Delta Force squad. This is because although Delta Force is composed of highly trained soldiers who expend hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammo each year on various missions and training, these operatives are specially trained only for ground operations--they don't drive and they don't fly--and Joint Ops will let you do battle on land, at sea, and in the air.
Joint Operations will take place during a fictitious near-future conflict between US armed forces and separatist militia in Indonesia. As such, you can expect to explore close, indoor environments such as the mountain tunnel networks of powerful drug lords. We watched a brief demonstration in one of these tunnel levels that consisted of winding passageways flimsily supported by planks of wood and chicken wire, through which dangling roots swayed slightly. You can also expect to be assigned to dense Indonesian jungles packed with trees, underbrush, and tall grass--all of which will sway in the wind, and all of which can be used for cover in infiltration missions. The developer has taken a good, long look at the game engine it used for Black Hawk Down and enhanced it considerably to allow for "super-foliated" jungle levels, which will feature fallen trees that can be actually be climbed, as well as rivers and streams that will use the all-new water effects that NovaLogic is developing.
Though it's common for developers to get caught up in producing the shiniest, clearest water possible, most actual bodies of water (such as rivers, ponds, and rice paddies) aren't crystal clear, and they won't be in Joint Ops. The revised engine allows for various degrees of opacity and color, so that muddy jungle rivers will be filled with debris and brown silt, while polluted seawater will be a healthy shade of murky green. While this new graphical effect looks nice, the development team will also put it to use in the gameplay. As art director Chris Tamburrino explained, water might be a good place to conceal yourself, but it'll also provide a dramatic effect when an enemy soldier who's spotted your hiding place suddenly bursts through the clouds of silt in front of you and takes you by surprise.
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- NovaLogic
- Modern Tactical Shooter
- Release: Jun 15, 2004 »
- ESRB: Teen
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