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Old 14-11-2006, 05:19 AM   #1 (permalink)
Drowect
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Default 360 Players Cannot Play Sapiens Or Alts

I know I’m a bit late on this one but I’ve had to play a little catch up on a

few things. This is one I didn’t want to pass up writing about however

since I’ve been taking a look at it since I first learned of the game. I’m

talking about Webzen’s MMOFPS Huxley, loosely based or at the least

inspired by Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”. Don’t get confused

though, this is not a “Brave New World” but just an inspiration. The

storylines are not the same but it is a “Brand New World”.Huxley touts

itself as a cross-platform interactive game using the Unreal 3 graphics

engine and will be available on both the PC and the XBox 360. Players

from PC and from the XBox will be able to go toe to toe and maybe at

last we’ll find out who are the better FPS players. Players on PC will be

able to choose the side of the Sapiens or the Alternatives. On the XBox

360 players will be able to play as a part of the Human Liberation

Organization (HLO) and fight against the Sapiens and Alternatives in

order to “unshackle the oppressed Hybrids”

While Huxley is an FPS it also has the MMO aspect going for it. There will

be in-game quests that allow players to learn more about the world they

live in as well as obtain new skills and weapons. Here’s a little snippet

from their site that tells a little about the storyline.


At E3 I got a chance to lay my hands on the game itself and try out the

small section they had up for people to check out. Once more, our

gracious host was Chris “Vosx” Mancil and I was anxious to give the

game a go.

I need to explain one of my strange quirks when I try a new game. I do

things oddly. That’s the only way to explain it. I purposely am a gimp for

the first bit. Someone on the floor came by as I was checking the game

out and while Sean “Ashen Temper” Dahlberg and Chris were on

another machine looking at the game. He seemed to believe I was a

total newbie and started giving some advice. I don’t mind getting advice

when I’m actually trying to play. I mind when I’m just testing the waters

a bit. I think perhaps he had the assumption that I needed advice as I

attempted things like jumping through a window. “You can’t jump out

windows,” he said. I had tried shooting one out and no dice. “You need

to turn around to get out,” He said as I gimply attempted to back down

the stairs to get the feel for how it handled down the stairs and around

the corners as if you’re in a firefight. “It’s ok,” I said. “I used to play

competitively. I swear there is a method to my madness,” I had to tell him.

The game handles as smooth as you’d like. It has that intuitive Unreal

Tournament feel. It’s a bit awkward on the backup but I’m not sure how

much of that was because I had an observer that was assessing

whether or not I needed a straight jacket.

The environments are what you expect in an FPS as well. It’s high quality

and clean with some great textures to give it that realistic feel you’ve

come to expect in a game. It’s a nice piece of work. Also outside were

ships you could use for transport around the map. I have to admit one of

my weaknesses is flying. I do all right enough but I bumped into more

than one building as I worked on getting a feel for the lift of the thing. I

was told that you could not fly over the buildings but had to go around. I

think that was wrong however because later I was able to once I had

enough loft to actually clear from a distance away. Maybe it’s all just

down to the handling.

There’s not a whole lot I can tell you about the game beyond a few

minutes of play. There are capture points you can get and of course

defend as you move about. The demo we saw was limited but when I

took my hands off the keyboard I had those after ‘twitches’ we all know

and love after playing a good FPS. Does Huxley rate as a good FPS? I

think it could very easily especially with the MMO aspects tied in.

This game is on my watch list. It looks good. It feels good. One of the few

things I didn’t like that I’ve gotten used to with games like Unreal

Tournament was the alternate fire on weapons. Huxley didn’t have this

capability. I’m sure it’s something I can get over provided I am given

enough variety of weapons and skills, which I’m assured Huxley, will

have.

When will Huxley release? They claim to have it ready for 2007. I’m going

to give them the benefit of the doubt since they actually had a working

demo in their booth and it looked good and felt good. I think they are

well on their way. With the right handling this could be THE MMOFPS

people have been waiting for. I am in the ‘Wait and See’ club but I’m

hoping the seeing will make many others and me believers.

Editor's Note: Danielle Vanderlip is the Assistant Community Manager for Shadowbane and covered E3 for us.


Article By: Danielle Vanderlip

Created On: May 24, 2006

Last edited by gobbly2100; 05-05-2007 at 11:53 PM.
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