E3 Review: Jade Empire
By Hardcore
Guess where I am, children? No, not my Mom’s basement, though that’s a good guess. Your old pal Hardcore has actually finagled his way into E3 2004, and at this moment I’m in sunny Call-E-Forneeyah, where all the limos are Hummers and all your booth babes are belong to us. I’m taking a hands-on look at some of the most eagerly anticipated hardcore games coming to the Xbox. First up is BioWare’s Star Wars® Knights of the Old Republic™ follow up, the Xbox-exclusive Jade Empire™.
Jade Empire is only on Xbox, baby!
Call Me Jaded
The hands-on demo consisted of four major sequences from the game that showed how the game’s action blends seamlessly with more traditional RPG elements (read: the talky bits). The game looks simply stunning, as one might well expect from the folks who brought you Knights of the Old Republic. Given free reign in their own game universe, BioWare has really gone to town. Massive golems that resemble suits of armor inhabited by living flames, a floating boulder chained to a sacred garden, even ancient airships inhabit the stylized, mythical China that is the Jade Empire of the title. The game runs on a second-generation version of the KOTOR engine, and the refinement of graphics and style can be seen in eerily realistic character models and the fast-paced combat system.
Focused chi energy makes your hands glow blue and your punches downright devastating.
The demo didn’t waste time kicking off the action—after I’d selected a character, that is. There aresix basic (customizable) character archetypes available, and each one has different strengths and weaknesses. Some are slow but strong, others physically weak but lightning fast, and others have massive amounts of chi to power their attacks. Every character also has a finite amount of focus that’s harder to replenish than either health or chi, but it’s sometimes the only way to defeat you foe. I picked the box cover model and entered the fray. Every character can have all kinds of different fighting styles that you can change on the fly (you can still pause and plan actions with your character as needed, including switching to a different style or weapon). You can map your four favorite modes of attack to the D-pad for quick access, too.
Hardcore’s favorite character archetype. So far.
The second major battle was a nasty cannibalistic god that required some strategic thinking to defeat. The cannibal god, like many of the more fantastical characters and demons in the game, is soaked in Chinese mythology. (Check out that box shoot—that horned goat-dude in the lower middle? At one point in the demo, I got to turn into that guy. Still couldn’t damage the cannibal god.) However, the transformative ability gives you even more fighting options. Two attack buttons are enough to give you plenty of combos, and switching targets requires only a tug of the trigger, which makes fighting multiple enemies a snap.
You totally get to turn into this guy, after you’ve gained enough experience.
Jade Empire is packed with that trademark BioWare flavor, too. Your allies are a colorful bunch, especially Mr. Ho, your henpecked sidekick. You’ll never control your allies directly, as in KOTOR, but they will fight at your side. Your decisions in the game will definitely affect the story’s outcome, and though BioWare wasn’t saying, it appears there will be more than just two ways to wrap up the story. In one conversation with Mr. Hou alone, I had the choice of five different ways to get him to do what I wanted. And then there’s the sweet, sweet violence, which is as graphic as all heck-fire—this one ain’t for the kids. Many of the moves my character pulled off with ease would not have seemed out of place in Kill Bill or Battle Royale, including one particular nasty move that appeared to make my enemy explode into a cloud of gore. In fact, designer Michael Laidaw pointed out that Lucy Liu’s stunt double in Kill Bill, Vol. 1 worked for BioWare as a motion-capture model.
Cannibal gods suck.
The only bad news? Xbox gamers will have to wait until early 2005 to get their hands on Jade Empire. But with BioWare, you know it’s going to be worth the wait.
