RPG fans who own a PlayStation 2 have been patiently biding their time with the few role-playing games to hit the console since its launch last year. Fortunately, since PS2 development has started to hit its stride, new titles on the horizon look to engage gamers with different takes on the RPG formula. One such title comes from developer Stormfront Studios, whose upcoming PS2 RPG, The Legend of Alon D'ar, aims to offer players a decidedly different experience from that of the more typical RPG. During a recent visit to Stormfront, we got our hands on a build of the game and took it for a test drive to see how things were coming.

The hero.

When it was shown at E3 nearly two years ago, The Legend of Alon D'ar went by the name "Eternal Blade" and was in very rough form. Little was known about the story, but the company promised big things when asked about the game. Now, two years of development and roughly three publishers later, the game is nearing completion and looks as though it will actually offer a different take on the RPG genre than what's been seen on the PS2 so far.

Senior Producer Sarah Stocker cites the desire to do something different as the main motivator for the team's decision to tell an original story. Without the constraints of a license or a known world, the team was free to let its imagination run wild when designing characters. Written by Christy Marx, a scriptwriting veteran whose portfolio runs the gamut from live-action TV fare such as Babylon 5 to the animated X-Men Evolution series, Alon D'ar's story is set on the world of Chandar. A young warrior named Jarik finds himself marked with a mystical symbol and is sent off on a quest after his village is attacked. Jarik's travels are filled with peril, thanks to the fact that Chandar is a shattered world made up of many floating continents that are home to different races. Jarik's people, the Orin, are a human race inhabiting the foothills. A race of female warriors called the Kemarrans live in the Kemarran Highlands. The Dagani are a race of humanoid amphibians that live in the swamps. Finally, the Sarojins are a race of mystical humanoid lizards that have constructed mystical portals throughout Chandar. Like in all good RPGs, Jarik's quest is one of self-discovery--one that will eventually change his life forever. Over the course of the game, he will encounter and join forces with three other residents of Chandar as he comes to understand the true nature of his quest.

The amphibious Tahir.

To bring Chandar and its residents to life, Art Director Bill Boyer and his crew set out to create characters that were truly original, not derivative. Once the designs were set, Jarik and the three other lead characters were modeled out of 2,000 polygons. The team's key priorities were to create an organic world that would avoid the stereotypes that most people expect from an RPG and to ensure that the main characters were solid. To that end, the team made a concerted effort to make sure the various creatures you'll encounter in the world match the ecology of the land in which they're found. Once everything was designed and modeled, animation was added to give the various creations, humanoid and otherwise, a distinctive look. For example, small doglike creatures, which are harmless, will graze and move about the land as you go about your business, but if you get too close, they scurry away. A simple AI routine was also created to let birds flock together when in flight. Ambient sound is also being used to provide atmosphere for the various locations. The in-game voices for the various characters should be a pleasant surprise for RPG fans, since they actually sound pretty good. Nothing too groundbreaking to be sure, but little touches like that throughout the game have gone a long way toward making Chandar feel like a living world.