First look: Dragonkind

TriLunar, which was cofounded by comic book artist, writer, and creator of the Battle Chasers comic series Joe Madureira, has taken the wraps off its first game, Dragonkind. The game is set in the fantasy world of Vermilion, where players assume control of a character named Grail, who has the ability to control dragons.

"I've always been fascinated with video games," said Madureira, the company's president of creative development. "I had been looking for the opportunity to express myself creatively in real-time 3D. Our goal is to make Dragonkind feel like a real-life comic book with all the great characters, story, and action found in today's best comics. With today's technology, you can create fantasy worlds of unprecedented depth and detail."

The gameplay in Dragonkind will be action-oriented, as Grail will be able to run, jump, climb, and swim through the environments. In addition, while the game will be story-driven, it has been designed to give players a little more breathing room by not requiring them to complete objectives in a set order. Some objectives won't need to be completed at all.

Dragonkind is currently in development for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, and it scheduled for release in 2004.