E3 2005: Activision Booth Tour

Written by Kyle Williams  on June 02, 2005

Special: Kyle takes you on the Activision booth tour to preview new Marvel games, a Tony Hawk title, two new Call of Duty games, The Movies and more.

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Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (PS2, Xbox, GameCube, Xbox 360)
The next evolution of Tony Hawk's magically successful skateboarding videogame series is American Wasteland. Slated for release this fall, American Wasteland will have players stepping into the role of a young skater from the midwest that finds his way to Los Angeles, the veritable mecca of skateboarding.

There is a slew of new material and features crammed into American Wasteland. Obviously, new tricks have been added to the already expansive trick database but the setup of American Wasteland's Los Angeles is the huge draw. The entire city is available for skating, without load times between neighborhoods. In your quest to develop a skate ranch into the ultimate skate park you will gather icons and monuments from around the city by performing missions and interacting with other skaters.

Taking a cue from past Tony Hawk titles, American Wasteland will feature tons of professional skaters in its living and breathing Los Angeles, though Activision is currently tight-lipped about Tony's role in AW and whether or not Bam Margera will make an appearance this time around. Perhaps the biggest new feature that American Wasteland is including is the addition of a BMX bike. With its own unique trick set that is based off of using the analog sticks, the BMX bike is expanding the game's depth beyond anything that a skateboard alone could do.


Ultimate Spider-Man (PS2, Xbox, GameCube, DS)
Being developed by Treyarch, the masterminds behind the two movie based Spider-Man videogames, Ultimate Spider-Man is taking to action series to its comic-book roots. Drawing its inspiration from the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book, USM is incorporating a visual style and flair that looks as if it is torn straight from the printed page, going so far as to incorporate interactive comic book panels.

Penned by Brian Michael Bendis, the creative genius behind the comic book's success, Ultimate Spider-Man is offering up a brand new story that puts you in control of both Spider-Man and one of his most ominous adversaries, Venom. The mission based gamesplay is set amidst a massive free-roaming New York City and features a vast rogues gallery from the comics. Combat, especially while you are playing as Venom, is immense and captures the look and feel of the comic book to a tee.


X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (PS2, Xbox, GameCube, PSP)
As we showed you with our recent preview of X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, the winning formula of team-based action and RPG style character progression is making a return to gaming this fall. Pitted against Apocalypse, the first mutant, the X-Men have to team up with their former foes, the Brotherhood, in order to stand a chance of survival.

Both X-Men and Brotherhood members make up the sixteen playable characters that Rise of Apocalypse is sporting while the overall look, feel, and gameplay of the original is being preserved. While all of the console versions will sport four-player cooperative play, the PS2 and Xbox versions are taking the game on-line, allowing players to take advantage of ROA's expanded power set and new characters with friends from around the country.


Quake 4 (PC, Xbox 360)
Built on the Doom 3 engine, Quake 4 will carry on the battle between Earth and the Strogg that we last saw in Quake II. You are Matthew Kane, a member of Earth's last hope for survival, on a mission to the Strogg home planet. As a part of the invasion force, you will fight alone and in a squad, on-foot and in vehicles, in an effort to de-rail the alien war machine. First-person action will be aplenty as you try to destroy the Strogg and later become one.


Call of Duty 2 (PC, Xbox 360)
While we have known that war is hell for a long time, Call of Duty 2 will educate us on where that distinction came from. The graphical prowess of this PC powerhouse title will restrict its console presence to next-gen systems, specifically the Xbox 360. This sequel to the granddaddy of all WWII first-person action titles takes advantage of gorgeous graphics, advanced AI, and unparalleled realism to portray the war in Eurpoe, Northern Africa, and along the Russian front.

Building upon its predecessor, Call of Duty 2 puts us into the roles of four individual soldiers as they make their way through the war. With these four heroes, we have the opportunity to either fight through the war chronologically, alternating between one soldier and theater of combat and the next, or carry one soldier's story to completion before moving on to the next. Also, huge battlefields are opening the door to multiple pathways for completing missions.


Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)
While high powered PCs and next-gen consoles are getting Call of Duty 2, current home consoles will be playing Call of Duty 2: Big Red One come this holiday season. Putting players into the role of members of the American 1st Infantry Division, their division crest landing them the nicknameBig Red One, CoD2:BRO is building upon the success of the Call of Duty franchise by improving artificial intelligence to better utilize environmental cover, adopt more effective squad maneuvers, and employ new authentic battlefield tactics.

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One puts players into some of the 1st Infantry Division's historical conflicts, ranging in locale from North Africa to Sicily, eventually leading up to the monumental landing of D-Day. Big Red One departs slightly from other CoD titles by offering one continuous storyline instead of viewpoints from several different soldiers in the war.


True Crime 2 (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)
New Crime. New City. This fall, when True Crime 2 hits shelves, players will step into new, yet familiar territory. While details are in short demand, we do know that True Crime 2 will star Marcus, a street smart detective that delivers brutal justice, and that it will not be in Los Angeles. In fact, over at www.truecrime2005.com Activision is running a contest in which you guess which city the new game takes place in for a chance at winning Marcus' tricked out Chrystler 300, a beautiful car that Activision had on the show floor at E3. You can guarantee that the action will still be up close and personal when True Crime 2 comes to your PS2, Xbox, or GameCube.


The Movies (PC, PS2, Xbox, GameCube)
Peter Molyneux has established himself as the king of groundbreaking simulation. His latest endeavor is The Movies, a chance for guys and gals like you and me to try our hand at the movie making industry. One part The Sims, one part Roller Coaster Tycoon, and one part eccentric brilliance all come together to create a game that will be talked about for years to come.

A simple user interface is the key to your movie studio as you guide it from the early days of "talkies" to the big budget action titles of today. A flexible format will let you, the game player, determine how involved you get in the small details (like scriptwriting) of your motion pictures with the end result being a movie that you can save as an .avi file for people that don't even have the game to watch.


Fantastic 4 (PS2, Xbox, GameCube, GBA)
Activision has brought another beloved Marvel property into their fold as they gear up to release Fantastic 4. Based off of the movie of the same title, Fantastic 4 is offering us true believers the opportunity to play as the first family of comics.

Adopting a similar formula as Activision's successful Spider-Man games, Fantastic 4 will follow the story of the feature film while allowing players to experience additional locales and fight villains that are taken from the drawn page. Cooperative play will allow you and a friend to team-up against the forces of Doctor Doom as you control all four members of the super hero family. Each member's powers will play an integral role in the successful completion of a level and, at times, the family will have to pull together all of their powers to keep New York City safe.


Shrek SuperSlam (PS2, Xbox, GameCube, DS, GBA)
With Shrek 3 still a few years away from theatrical release, Activision is keeping the love for the big green ogre alive with Shrek SuperSlam, a multiplayer action romp in the vein of Power Stone or Super Smash Bros. Able to support up to four combatants simultaneously, SuperSlam will pit four players against each other in an all out battle royal. Twenty characters from the Shrek universe are selectable and go toe-to-toe in fully destructable environments that draw from the films, fairy-tale lore, and pop culture parodies. Over the top action is the name of the game as the controls are all about easy to execute moves and the graphics promote havoc and mayhem.