E3 2002: Project Ego impressions
Peter Molyneux and Big Blue Box's ambitious Xbox RPG is on display at this year's E3.
We had a chance to catch up with Lionhead Studios' Peter Molyneux to get a look at the incredibly ambitious RPG that is currently being developed at Big Blue Box, one of Lionhead's satellite studios. The impetus for the creation of Project Ego stems from Molyneux's desire to create an RPG that has no fixed paths or a population of static NPCs who don't respond to events transpiring before their very eyes. But to describe Project Ego in such simple terms would be doing it a great disservice because it has so many features that truly make it unique as a role-playing game.
Imagine a role-playing game character who changes depending on the weapon that you use, how much time you spend in the sunlight, or the deeds that you undertake. These changes in characteristics were illustrated to us in real time. The main character was standing in a small circular brick structure, surrounded by flowing fields of grass and lush green trees.
Then the character's muscles expanded, pushing veins to the surface of his skin, which gave it an eerily realistic texture. Your character's muscle growth depends entirely on how often you actually use those muscles. If you're constantly wielding a massive sword or another heavy weapon, then your character's muscles will steadily grow over the course of the game. Conversely, if your character doesn't engage in any high-impact activities, then the muscles won't grow and your character will remain a weakling.
Shortly thereafter, wrinkles gradually crept their way on to the character's face, aging him more than 40 years within a matter of seconds, but of course, that's not how aging will function in the game. Molyneux explained that characters will have a normal aging cycle until they reach a specific age (somewhere around 45). Once that age is reached, the aging cycle will be slowed down significantly so that your character doesn't so old as to need a walker to maneuver around. Interestingly, the wrinkles that appear on your character's face are dependent on the amount of time he spends out in the sun--the more sun that shines on his face, the more wrinkles he will have. The overall effect of aging is quite amazing to see, and it's a perfect supplement to the notion that everything within Project Ego's world is alive, especially your character.
However, at this point, the aging process seems to be more cosmetic than anything else, but there are some other visual character changes that will play a more important role. In fact, your character's facial features will change depending on what you do within this living world. For nefarious characters, the eyes will slowly become darker and the jaw will become misaligned, giving the character a constant sinister look on his face. But if your character performs good deeds, then his facial features remain fair. This feature isn't unlike the one found in Peter Molyneux's PC game Black & White, in which massive animal characters change their physical form to correspond with their temperament. This feature also speaks to the open-ended nature of Project Ego--you are free to do whatever you want and are encouraged to do so. Even your name will reflect the life that you've chosen. If you constantly kill monsters with a saucepan--and one actually does exist in Project Ego--then you'll receive the name of "Saucepan Blood Slayer" or something along those lines.
Fable Quick Links
Summary | Reviews | News | Previews & Features | Images | Videos | Answers | Hints & Cheats | Forum | Check Prices
- Microsoft Game Studios
- Big Blue Box
- Action Role-Playing
- Release: Sep 14, 2004 »
- ESRB: Mature
Games you may like…
-
Fable: The Lost Chapters
(XBOX) -
Fable: The Lost Chapters
(PC) -
Fable (1996)
(PC) -
Jade Empire
(XBOX) -
Fable II
(X360)
Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.
See More Similar Games
0 Comments