E3 2002: Treasure Planet unveiled

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles today, Disney Interactive gave us a demonstration of Treasure Planet, its upcoming real-time strategy game of naval combat, which is based on Disney's upcoming animated film of the same name. The film is a sci-fi retelling of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson adventure novel Treasure Island. Like the film, the game is set in a sci-fi fantasy universe in which spaceships look and act in many ways like the galleons and other seafaring vessels from the Age of Sail.

Treasure Planet's storyline is actually a follow-up to the events depicted in the upcoming movie. The game eliminates most of the resource management and base building featured in more traditional real-time strategy games in order to focus exclusively on combat, which is based on traditional naval combat principles. Ships in the game maneuver in much the same way that old sailing ships did, and they also use similar weapons, such as cannons and harpoons. While using this style of combat in space may not be particularly realistic, it does look fun to play, and it's an interesting twist to the typical real-time strategy game. The colorful space scenery makes a nice backdrop for the slow-moving dance of ships getting into firing position and bombarding one another.

Each of the game's 20 ships will have different handling characteristics, and players who want to will be able to customize their ships with different weapons and other features. In addition to the single-player storyline, the game will include quick skirmish battles and multiplayer support for up to four players on a LAN or Internet connection. The 3D game also lets players rotate and zoom the camera to get the best view of the action.

Treasure Planet is being developed at Barking Dog and is scheduled for release in November.