E3 2001 Preshow Report: ARX Fatalis

Fishtank Interactive will be showing ARX Fatalis as part of its E3 lineup this year. ARX Fatalis is a role-playing game set in an underground world and uses an in-house 3D engine. The game will have a first-person perspective similar to Origin's Ultima Underworld series. The gameworld will have several locations such as dungeons, underground cities and lakes, and huge caverns to explore. These areas will be inhabited by 40 different races including goblins and ratmen, all of whom may be friendly or hostile toward you.

The game is about an evil cult that is attempting to bring its god into the mortal plane. You must stop the members of the cult before they can complete the rituals. Throughout the game you will meet and interact with many NPCs. You can listen in on guard conversations and hear goblins tell jokes to each other. You can even get two NPCs to get in an argument. The single-player experience is driven by the main story and several side quests. You can follow the directions as given or decide to do things on your own. The gameworld is realistic in that players can be detected by making sound or by venturing into lit areas. You can try sneaking in the dark behind enemies and backstabbing them. Spells are cast by drawing one of more than 50 runes on the screen with the mouse. When the correct sequence is drawn, the spell is cast. The game will also have multiplayer capability.

ARX Fatalis is currently 50 percent complete. Arkane Studios, the developer of the game, is hoping to have a demo build at the show for people to play. Once we get to check out ARX Fatalis, we will have some new information about the game. ARX Fatalis is shooting for a September 2001 release date.