Project: Snowblind Preview

Over the years, first-person shooters have grown in complexity from simple run-and-gun killfests to fully developed adventures replete with cinematic elements, environmental interaction, and useful secondary abilities. Knocking down an endless line of targets no longer cuts it for the discerning shooter fan, yet a well-designed shooting model is essential to any good FPS. It's fortunate, then, that Eidos and Crystal Dynamics' upcoming shooter Project: Snowblind has both a solid, accessible action core and a huge number of peripheral abilities to use against your enemies. We've spent some time with a work-in-progress build of the game, which is scheduled to ship in late February, and so far have been left with a favorable impression.

Battle an evil empire as technologically enhanced soldier Nathan Frost in the upcoming Project: Snowblind.

In Project: Snowblind, you'll take control of Nathan Frost, a second lieutenant in the Liberty Coalition Army. Frost and his comrades are dispatched to Hong Kong, where a brutal war against a marauding general and his evil republic is being waged. In the game's brief introductory mission, you'll take part in a raging battle against invading enemy forces set inside ancient temple grounds. Just when the dust seems to have settled, an unexpected enemy bomb ruins Frost's day by nearly killing him, and the game cuts to a cinematic sequence from Frost's perspective as he fades in and out of consciousness while doctors work to save his life inside a military hospital.

As it turns out, the doctors were doing more to Frost than simply trying to resuscitate him. When you come to, your heads-up display has some new elements, which is your first clue that the military has made Frost the prototype model for a new form of technologically augmented supersoldier. As you roam around the base, you'll quickly be introduced to the initial abilities you've been granted, but Coalition Command wastes no time putting Frost and his new toys to the test by sending him out on his first mission. You'll have time to get a feel for the basic controls and interface in the hospital, but you'll have to learn how to best use your various combat and secondary abilities under fire.

The core of the game's action revolves around shooting, and Snowblind puts a sizable futuristic arsenal at your disposal. You'll begin with the standard assortment of an assault rifle, a pistol, a shotgun, and so on, and you'll soon pick up a rocket launcher to use against armored targets. Each weapon has an alternate fire mode--you can charge the pistol for a more powerful shot, fire a grenade from the assault rifle's launcher, or shoot sticky bombs from the shotgun. Later on in the game, you'll start to find more-advanced weaponry, like the flechette gun, which shoots a rapid-fire particle stream, or the HERF gun, which you can use to zap multiple enemies. The alternate fire modes for some of the later guns are pretty imaginative--for example, the flechette's alternate fire sends out a flurry of drones that will actually chase down unsuspecting soldiers, which can make for a fairly comical effect.

You'll also have a range of secondary equipment to aid you in battle. The "icepick" looks like a small pistol but actually fires a spike that can interface with computers and some robots. Once you've successfully hit a target with the icepick, you can switch to a hacking interface that lets you disable automated security, open doors, or whatever the case may be. You'll even be able to overload or take control of some robots with this hacking ability. With the kinetic kicker, you can exploit the game's physics system with the ability to push and pull loose objects in the world. This comes in handy for grabbing items, like health and bioenergy power-ups, that are too far away for you to get to physically.

Frost will have a massive arsenal of futuristic weapons at his disposal.

A number of other combat items will come in handy throughout combat. The deployable riot wall is an energy shield that you can toss down in any unobstructed area to create some temporary cover against enemy fire. The spiderbot is a small mobile robot with heavy firepower that can help you out when you're up against too many foes. Finally, you'll have an assortment of grenades at your disposal, from standard frag and flashbang grenades to an EMP grenade that'll knock out nearby electronics.

Of course, Frost wouldn't be much of a supersoldier if he had to rely entirely on external equipment to fight against the overwhelming odds of the Republic. Fortunately, he has some nifty special abilities built right into his internal hardware. Read about those next.