Dinosaurs are fascinating. The plodding but graceful gait of the brontosaurus; the easy glide of the petradon; and of course the sheer scary blockbuster-making power of the T-Rex. Several games have been made to take advantage of gamer's dino-fixation such as Dino Crisis, Turok The Dinosaur Hunter. Dinosaur-related calamities are always good fodder for entertainment, so to continue in this grand tradition, publishers and developers Aspyr, Sunflowers, and SEK Ost have teamed up to give us Paraworld
Paraworld's setting is a world that is like our own, but different in a lot of ways. For one thing, the technological level doesn't range far beyond the 19th century. Trailers we've seen show evidence of nothing more technologically advanced in the Paraworld than rifles, with bows, arrows, and swords seemingly even more commonplace.
The plot, said simply, is this. A English scientist gathers a group of notable intellectuals together with the idea of trying to locate parallel universes. It is the scientist's goal to establish reliable transport to these alternate realities through specially constructed gates. But, as with many tales of this kind, scientific curiosity soon leads to danger, when outsiders stumble upon the Paraworld. The villain, the evil Dr. Babbet, traps the scientific team on the other side of the portal so they won't blab to anyone else about what they'd found.
So, what exactly is the Paraworld like? Well, as said above, it's very much like our own. It is divided up into five different types of environments (jungle, grasslands, polar, etc.) that the three unlucky heroes will have to explore and, yes, fight their way through as the game progress. Their opponents come from three individual tribes that are split amongst the five different territories on the map. Combat is performed entirely in real time. Trailers seem to indicate that the player will be able to construct their own army, but what conditions will allow this isn't indicated as yet.
What is known, however, is that the player will have a great degree of flexibility in creating their army. The player will be able to draw from fifty or more different animal types, including saber tooth tigers, woolly mammoths and, of course, dinosaurs. Best of all, the player's dino allies can be equipped with a variety of different weapons, further increasing their destructive power. In addition, each race can create a single megabeast called a Titan. All of you Resident Evil fans can stop shaking.
The environments in the game look extremely pretty, from the stark and frosty-looking northlands to the warm grasslands that, apparently as a contrast, are home to the nastier looking dinosaurs with their mouths full of equally nasty looking teeth. The computer recreation of the people in the game has received the same level of attention as the prehistoric residents of Parawold.
With its real time strategy component, it's fascinating computer generated world to explore, and it's exciting back story, we are hopeful that Paraworld will prove to be a excellent addition to the RTS genre. The game is due for release in early September and, if you'd like more detail, you can check out the game's website at: http://www.paraworld.com/ . Check back with MyGamer often for news updates and a full review once the game goes live.
Nick McCavitt and nmccavitt@forumwizard.net