Gaming Target - Xbox: Crimson Sea

Written by Nick Doukas on October 10, 2002

First Impressions: A game that looks to be even more fun than battling-seizure robotsЕ

Have you ever wanted to possess psionic powers? I mean come on, seriously, you can tell me. Have you? What the hell are psionic powers you ask? Follow meЕ I'll explain everything. Imagine a futuristic landscape littered with alien sand, bizarre rock formations and strange creatures. A lone humanoid figure makes his way across the desolate terrain. Suddenly, a swarm of huge insects roars across the plain with a sibilant buzzing, a massive cloud of death bent on utter destruction. As they draw near, our hero drops into a classic fighting stance and draws upon a deep well of power to unleash a series of insane energy attacks that decimate the enemy ranks and turn them into smoking confetti. Surveying the destruction, then quickly moving on, our man has just given a textbook lesson in psionic power. Interested yet?

Developer Koei, best known for the historical fact based Kessen games, is trying their hand at some Xbox exclusive content in a little game called Crimson Sea. The title takes a fresh approach to the 3D action/adventure genre, combining science fiction and fantasy with a powerful game engine capable of group control (maybe that's why they dubbed it the Уgroup control engineФ, ya think?), so you'll have an incredible number of enemies coming at you simultaneously. Just for fun, many of these baddies will also have the ability to meld into new forms, and perform real-time morphing on the fly. Other freakish talents include the power of invisibility, as well as the ability of certain behemoths to break apart into swarms of smaller creatures that attack in hordes. You'll need to use the in-game combinations of force feedback and Dolby 5.1 surround to cue the location of certain slippery creatures that insist on the silent assassin approach. All manner of missions and new objectives will present themselves as you make your way through the games various environments, all of which feature fantastic lighting, clever architecture, and a host of other eye popping effects that will take serious advantage of the powerhouse hardware under Xbox's hood.

Gamers will assume the role of Sho, a young adventurer who just happens to be a warrior of formidable power. In addition to impressive weapons skills, Sho is fluent in a style of psychic magic known as Neo-Psionics (all that crazy stuff we covered in the last couple paragraphs, remember? СCause I know you're starting to think about Halo 2 or Splinter CellЕ.trust me, once you see the gameplay footage, you won't be able to stop thinking about this one either), which will be key in defending against the legion of horrors you'll face on the battlefields strewn across the floating cities, underwater bases and various other atmospheric locales you'll visit during your quest. Speaking of the battlefield, Crimson Sea will allow players to control multiple characters in combat, and considering the staggering amount of foes you'll deal with, this certainly comes as welcome news. Plus, it's just really cool. There's nothing like fighting alongside AI controlled allies that react realistically to the combat around them. CS looks to have this feature in spades, and if the developers are able to implement all of their ambitious ideas in the final product, Crimson Sea could turn out to be a must have title in the coming months.

Since it's exclusive to Xbox, it behooves me to take into account Director Fumito Kozutsumi's reasoning for bringing CS to Microsoft's platform: УThere is one main reason that we chose to develop for Xbox Ц processing power. There are many elements of the game that we would not have been able to put in if it were not for the power of the processor in Xbox. We are focusing on three particular aspects of Xbox for Crimson Sea: Dolby 5.1 digital sound, graphics speed, and pushing the speed and processing power/number of calculations that the processor can handle. It is through these aspects that we plan to provide a highly immersive gaming environment.Ф Now that sounds really good to me, how about you? If the talent at Koei can pull off what they've described, we're in for a real treat. Keep your fingers crossed, and start the waiting.