Haegemonia: Legions of Iron
International Distributor: Wanadoo
Local Distributor: Unalis Technology
Platform: English for PC
Release: Currently available
When Homeworld was first released in 1999 with its fully 3D visual and rich-audio effects, sci-fi fans were enthralled. Since Homeworld: Cataclysm, an expansion set, came onto the market two years ago, there has been a shortage of high-quality sci-fi games. Digital Reality, the designers of Imperium Galactica have now come out with Haegemonia, probably the most spectacular game released this year.
The game is set in 2104 and is an epic tale of conflict and alliance between four races. Plot elements include intergalactic colonization, the subsequent move for independence of the colonies, and conflict between planetary systems. During this course of events, aliens seek to infiltrate the solar system, and an ancient race long dormant suddenly reemerges.
"The player takes the role of one of the commanders, who not only leads troops, but also looks for ways of resolving the conflict," said Antonio Lu, senior editor of Gamebase Web site. "Everything from the sound effects, visuals and accompanying music have been designed to give the game an epic scale, with the player responsible for the destiny of his or her race."
The Walker Engine which powers the graphics took Digital Reality 18 months to develop, and is designed to fully exploit the capabilities of DirectX 8.1 for the representation of shadows and reflections. The battleships, created out of 100,000 flat surfaces, have an extraordinary realism from whichever angle they are looked at. And there are many beautifully rendered background effects of stars and galaxies, not to mention the discharge of laser guns and ion canons during the spectacular battle sequences.
Grandia II
International Distributor: eSoftnet, South Korea
Local Distributor: Unalis Technology
Platform: Chinese for PC
Taiwan Release: Currently available
Grandia II established its popularity on the TV-based Sega Dreamcast game platform and has long been seen as a rival to the Final Fantasy series (太空戰士). This year it has finally been adapted for the PC and PS2 platforms.
In Grandia II you take the role of Ryudo the bounty hunter, who travels the world with his team of specialists. It is similar to a role-playing game in that Ryudo meets up with over one thousand other characters during his adventures and must also make use of his team members' expertise, whether this be in magic or in combat skills, to achieve his aim.
"The difference with most role-playing games is that these targets will appear on the exploration map. The player has the option of bypassing them, or even launching a surprise attack against them," said John Chiang (
Gandia has adopted a partial real-time format in which combat is turn-based yet has time limits. While this allows space for players to consider overall strategy, they must also take into account the movement speeds of individual characters.
With the transfer from Dreamcast to PC, the designers have put great effort into enhancing the graphics quality, which is now rendered in 3D at a resolution of 800x600 pixels. Combat special effects take advantage of Japanese-style "full screen" presentation.
Unlike most role-playing games, the number of commands needed is limited, giving Gandia II a much lower entry barrier. The ability to use external consoles makes playing the game as simple as it was on the Dreamcast platform.
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