Comments (0)

Most tactical games allow the player to make use of the environment to his or her advantage. Will this be the case for IGI2? Exactly how have you made this so?

HR: You are constantly making use of the size of the landscapes, the hills where you can get an overview of bases/compounds with your binoculars, and hiding in vegetation. It's also possible to send the AI on a wild-goose chase to make your own progress easier. AI will for instance set off to explore and patrol and area if you make sounds by running close to them or create a bullet impact in their near vicinity. Use of cover in any form is vital for the stealthy player.

Comments (0)

The IGI 2: Covert Strike playable demo calls for skilful stealth tactics but players also need to be sharp shooters when the need arises. The demo sees David Jones, our IGI (Institute for Geotactical Intelligence) agent, investigating the theft of an advanced nano-technology device by an organised crime syndicate.

The demo and video also showcase IGI 2: Covert Strike's incredible visuals, with detailed internal locations and massive outdoor environments with vistas rendered as far as the eye can see.

Comments (0)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has huge open terrains and a level of detail so great that it looks as if you could actually touch it. The engine behind all of this is called X-Ray, developed in-house. X-Ray is capable of delivering optimized T&L, 300,000 polygons per frame at 60fps, detailed character models at 500-10,000 polys, dynamic shadows, breakable lights, and the list goes on and on.

Comments (0)

The multiplayer beta test that we got to play was a limited version of what you can expect in the full game (tentatively scheduled for a February 2003 release). Along with a full single-player campaign, IGI 2 will ship with about five massive maps that blend expansive outdoor terrain with detailed building interiors for brutal close combat. From what we've seen so far of the game's multiplayer component, the results could be both predictable and unexpected.

Comments (0)

And now, completely left out of the first game, is this fully implemented, full-blown multiplayer support. Standard modes we're all familiar with accentuate two real sellers, cooperative play and counter-operative play. Cooperative, as the name suggests, allows friends to partake in the entire singleplayer experience together, making the ride that much more enjoyable. Hell yes! Pacific Theater's version of counter-operative play (a name I take from Perfect Dark), is essentially the same kind of mission-based play, only people can also opt to be Japanese and prevent the American advance. You're right, that is very cool.

The foliage isn't merely aesthetic. Since DD:PT allows kneeling and crawling, you can take advantage of the flora to move stealthily. This has a palpable effect on the detection radii of enemy soldiers, who can spot you standing out in the open from several hundred yards, yet fail to see you lying prone in tall grass from ten feet away. Speaking of distances, each of DD:PT's levels provides vast expanses of terrain covering several square miles. It's even more impressive given the fact that each map is bereft of annoying loading zones.

Comments (0)

As in the single-player game, the emphasis will be on stealth and tactics, and players will actually be able to view real-time satellite data of their surroundings--including any units and armaments--using a map computer. This will not only be important for locating enemies and teammates, but it can also be used to assess the surrounding terrain, perhaps looking for somewhere to camp or conduct surveillance of a target.

Comments (0)

Despite being a squad-centric game, it takes Operation Flashpoint's approach of having you as an individual rather than Hidden & Dangerous' ability to skip quickly between each of your squad. "What we wanted to have is a believable experience," elaborates Jarek. "You play as Special Forces Sergeant Steven R Hawkins. You are playing him and have the ability to hear his thoughts on the current situation. You only control him: you can't shift to other characters. The rest of the team is also defined by the story. You can't choose them, but they're able to communicate with you.

Comments (0)

Action Vault: Will the game have many different levels, and what were the primary design influences affecting them? What degree of world interactivity will there be?

Teut Weidemann: There is only one level in Soldner, but it is HUGE - 6,500 x 3,500 kilometers huge. The reason was simple - to support all ranges of military weapons, we needed huge levels anyway, so why not connect all of them and make one big landscape? That's exactly what we did.

Our other design philosophy - "Everything you can see you can destroy". Simply said, every object in the game should have a reason in gameplay to be there. Trees can be run down, so you can't take cover in their leaves with your camouflaged soldier. Houses can be destroyed wall by wall to take out a pesky sniper hiding. No more camping in indestructible walls or houses. Larger explosives leave craters in the landscape, which can make vehicle crossing difficult but provide excellent cover.

Of course soldiers get their own share of landscape action - opening doors or blowing them apart, blowing holes into walls to ambush soldiers in houses, or even jumping through windows, shattering them and attacking enemies in behind.

Comments (0)

On another plus note, the game gives a good variance of missions to accomplish and things to do while engaged in them. One mission might have you infiltrating and destroying warehouses that intel has determined are housing supplies for the enemy … or you may have to go on a search and rescue for captured soldiers. In addition, you can also commandeer vehicles that you come across from time to time, such as fully moving and firing tanks and trucks, or utilize mines or rockets to take the vehicles out rather than drive them … again, it’s your call on how you think the mission will go smoother in the end.