Kalisto announces NY Race

Kalisto will give players the opportunity to drive the cab from Luc Besson's film The Fifth Element. The company has partnered with Wanadoo and Gaumont to develop NY Race, a futuristic racer inspired by Besson's film. In fact, the game's scenario is being created by the film's designers and helps capture its spirit with bustling streets, police patrols, floating Chinese pagodas, intercity elevators, and aerial tramways.

The game is set in full 3D and gives players complete freedom of movement on the vertical and horizontal axes. So, essentially, players can climb sky-high in their cabs and then dive down toward the streets while avoiding moving traffic. There are more than 30 high-tech vehicles in the game, including the famous taxi and the police car from The Fifth Element. Each of the vehicles has different characteristics in such categories as speed, capacity, maneuverability, and bodywork. Naturally, each of the vehicles is equipped with a decent weapons arsenal as well. There are 12 nonlinear circuits set in and around New York, and they can be played at either day or night. Additionally, five power-ups based on five elements (water/bomb, fire/missile, air/acceleration boost, earth/collision shield, and a mysterious fifth element) can be collected on each track.

Several gameplay modes have been revealed thus far. The single-player modes include championship, single race, time attack, and eliminator. The two-player gameplay modes are championship and single race. Finally, the multiplayer modes, which feature support for up to eight players, are mini-championships and eliminator.

NY Race is scheduled for release in November for the Sony PlayStation 2, the Nintendo Game Boy Color, and the PC platform. Kalisto had previously developed a full-fledged Fifth Element game, which was an action-adventure, for the Sony PlayStation and PC platforms.