Eragon
Preview
Compared to the movie and the book...how does the game shape up?
by Barkara
previewed on PC
Flight of the Dragon
Eragon, based on the movie and best selling novel, will soon be hitting stores near you as a video game. Developed by Stormfront, it will be released for the PC, Xbox, PS2, GC, PSP, DS and the GBA. Most of what you will see in the game will be based off scenes from the movie. However, there will be many creatures and level bosses who were only in the book and not the movie. Stormfront's track record includes Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and it looks like we will be seeing elements from its combat system in this new title. How is Eragon shaping up? Read on to find out.
What's that on your neck? Oh, it's just your head...
The first thing you will notice when you look at this game is that the surroundings are simply stunning. Houses, trees, bushes, castles, mist, sky and water, it all looks very realistic and Eragon is a wondrous world to play in. It even goes as far as to texture each tree differently so that, like in real life, no two trees look the same. If you have played Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, you will find that the two games look quite similar. The main difference is in the updated graphics that make the game look even better. Ambient scenery such as fog and mist cover are incredibly life like. They further add a sense of immersion when combat erupts on a field covered in a blanket of a white obscuring haze.
The character modeling has been nicely done. There will be a lot of jumping around in Eragon and the character animations seem to accommodate this beautifully. Bodies move fluidly and you can easily see that a fairly complex physics engine has been built for this game. The faces of the characters look a bit funny however, and don't seem to fit in that well.
Fly my pretties! Fly!
Eragon will be featuring two different types of Gameplay within the main quest. It will have a typical character movement and combat system where you will be engaging in puzzles, small and large scale combat and interacting with other characters. The second half of gameplay will be where you get to play as a dragon. This will see you flying through the skies, dodging projectiles, using your fiery breath to incinerate enemies, thwacking the baddies with your tail or just grabbing them up in your claws and throwing them away. This looks to be an exciting addition to the game and will provide a nice break from your typical character movement.
