Eragon
Preview
Compared to the movie and the book...how does the game shape up?
by Barkara
previewed on PC
Ow! My spleen...
In Eragon, fighting is one of the things you will do most and the combat engine has received a lot of attention from the developers as a result. The game will see you taking part in fights in inns, trying to escape from assassins and taking part in battles between large armies. You will even be taking on some monster dragons occasionally. To help you do all this, a wide variety of moves and abilities will be made available to you. You can for instance, slice up your opponent with a sword -or- snipe them with a well placed arrow -or- give them a good fist-to-fist bashing. Whatever tickles your fancy. For the more advanced fighters among us, the developers are working on a combo system. Through careful planning of you moves, you can put the enemy off with your sword before jumping in, grabbing them and twisting their arm behind their back. Quite neat really and there are certainly many more combat combinations to be discovered through out gameplay.
Besides the usual hack and slash weaponry, another strong focus in the game is on enchantments and magic in combat. You will be able to cast spell, enchant your weapons to do extra damage and the like. Enchanted arrows for example, can have several types of magical enhancements that when used will deal much more damage than standard ones. Your companions too will be using spells and wielding magic so there is much variety on how and where it is used.
Companions you say?
Everywhere you go in Eragon you will have friends and companions that will seek to aid you in your quest. The Artificial Intelligence used for these characters seems to be well above average. So instead of being in your way and doing stupid things, they are actually of use and will be able to do similar things that you can such as attacking enemies (either with weapons or with spells). These NPCs will also have their own back stories which will be introduced and delved into over the course of the game.
Eragon looks to be shaping up very nicely and will provide some original, interesting and exciting gameplay. There will be a lot to look forward to in this game regardless of whether you have seen the movie or read the book. If the heads of the character models can be worked on a bit more before the game's final release, there won't be much to complain about. Eragon looks as though it will be a worthwhile game to pick up when it comes out next month, right in time for the movie.
