[ Home ] [ us ] [ SPORT ] [ game zone ] [ under taker ] [ music ] [ we interview you ]

Gran Turismo 3 (PS2)

New name, but no less amazing

Since releasing something with a name like Gran Turismo 2000 makes absolutely no sense for a game set to hit shelves in early 2001, it's easy to see why Sony CEA has subtracted 1,997 digits from the title of the latest entry to its series of racing games. Sure, it might not be a launch title as we hoped months ago—but if it takes that extra few months to further amaze us, then we'll be patient.

Everything that GT2 did, GT3 will do better. Of course, it all begins with the graphics. Whereas it took 400 polygons to create one of the great-looking vehicles of GT2, for instance, you'll have to add another zero to equal the number for this one—you do the math. We've also seen a redesign of the original's forest track, one of 15 in the game, that makes the PS one rendition look absolutely archaic. And the replays? "I don't know if you'd be able to tell the difference between a live broadcast on TV and what's happening [in replay mode]," says SCEA product marketing manager Susan Nourai. We sure can't.But graphics aren't the only enhancement for GT3—not by a longshot. You can also expect better weather effects, vastly improved artificial intelligence, an emphasis on satisfying everyone, and so much else that we're going to have to devote next month's entire feature to the game. We'll see you then.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (First Impression)

On Wednesday afternoon, Konami and famed game designer Hideo Kojima held a press event to publicly unveil what's sure to be one of next year's biggest games on any platform: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The demonstration was held at the Universal Studios lot inside a moderately-sized auditorium for an audience of about 150 journalists from around the world.

Kojima briefly addressed the audience before showing the promotional footage of Metal Gear Solid 2, which showed off a lot of the game's forthcoming features, alluded to its plot, showed some of its main characters, and kept the audience riveted until it finally erupted in applause once the trailer finally ended. The government-trained specialist Solid Snake returns as the protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2, and from all the footage that was shown, it's evident that Snake looks and moves more realistically than ever before. He bolts through high-risk areas, dives out of range of enemy fire, lies in ambush around corners, shimmies across precarious catwalks, and more.

But Snake's done most of that already in Metal Gear Solid for the PlayStation - as such, it's not that Metal Gear Solid 2 seems like it'll have a radically different concept than its predecessor. Instead, even as Metal Gear Solid helped set new standards for cinematic quality in games, so too does the sequel stand poised to shatter any previous conventions or expectations for quality of game graphics and gameplay realism. Solid Snake himself looks strikingly realistic in the sequel, and the game's environment is equally impressive; Although it was stated previously that the game would take place in Manhattan, it appears that most of the action actually takes place off the coast of New York, in a gigantic ship that looks like an oil tanker. The outdoor sequences aboard the ship took place in heavy rain at night, and you could see the rain drenching Snake's hair and clothing. Characters casted real-time and dynamic shadows, and in one sequence Snake waited around the corner for a guard whose elongated shadow first gave away his presence.

Another exciting sequence took place in what looked like the ship's bar, as Snake dodged gunfire that tore through liquor bottles nearby, spraying the area with glass and alcohol. Kojima stated that guards in Metal Gear Solid 2 would come in several levels of strengths, and won't all be garden-variety soldiers. In one sequence, Snake was confronted with Genome soldiers wielding riot shields that successfully deflected his bullets. The perspective then switched to the player's first-person view, which showed Snake aiming a few degrees below the shields, firing at the soldiers' legs. In spite of such surprisingly great-looking scenes, Kojima noted after the presentation that he was rather nervous about how the game would be received.