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Kings of War Preview
by Dan "Chimaeros" Genovese
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Introduction |
I am one lucky guy. Two years in a row I have
had the opportunity to enter the gamer’s nirvana that is E3. Where else
can you find every gaming platform coexisting peacefully at such close
quarters? Throngs of people carrying paper bags branded with the X-Box
logo stroll casually through the Playstation area without being
physically accosted or beaten to a bloody pulp. Of course, sit these
same people across from you in a game of Halo and they’ll want your
blood. Ah, gamers.
Last year, TimeGate
Studios was walking around showing their Kohan II demo on a single
laptop. They were about to show it to me with their laptop placed
squarely on top of a trash bin when I told them that perhaps that was
not the best place. After all, no need to create an omen…
This year, TimeGate
has moved up in the world of gaming. Their own room in Kentia Hall, the
smallest of the main halls, with its large widescreen TV, plush couch
(rented), office cubicle walls, and the gentle, pulse-pounding rhythms
of the Conan, The Barbarian soundtrack (bought) was the perfect,
intimate environment to see the game that I flew all the way across the
States to see.
While I met and
talked with the whole TimeGate crew, the majority of the information in
this preview is garnered from a presentation given by Ian Klimon, Steve
Hemmesch, and Christina Ginger. What was shown was an actual playable
“demo” and not just a mocked up movie. And let me tell you, if the demo
had lasted an hour, it would still have been too short.
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Preview |
First of all, Kohan II is no longer Kohan II, it is now Kohan: Kings
of War or Kings of War (KoW). Why the name change? Simply
put, TG wanted a name that was more accessible. How many times has the
question “What’s a Kohan?” popped out of a prospective buyer in the
local EBX? Kings of War should be more successful at grabbing the
attention and those three simple words speak volumes more than
“Ahriman’s Gift.” (Who is Ahriman and to whom is he giving a gift?)
Kings of War is the follow-up to Kohan and though there
are many changes and enhancements it is important to note that the core
gameplay is remaining intact. The interface has been streamlined
in an effort to make it more efficient, easier to understand, and with
the hope that it will appeal to a wider audience. TG hopes to bridge
the mainstream RTS with the Kohan gameplay that we all love. You will
not have to manage peons, micromanage troops, or cramp your fingers
while trying to get someone to cast a spell. At its heart, KoW is still
Kohan.
The first major
change, of course, is the jump to 3D. And let me say that Khaldun is a
beautiful, vibrant world. The palette is not washed out like a certain
“Age” series of games. Trees gently sway in the direction of the wind,
birds fly overhead, herd beasts wander the land, and clouds cast their
shadows upon the ground. The water now also has waves. While the sense
of scale is not perfect, that is buildings are not in scale with units,
it is much closer than the previous incarnations. This is not a
criticism; a game with units properly scaled to buildings would likely
be unmanageably huge. Units will pass under trees, allowing a
little bit of camouflage
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