Project Snowblind Preview

It was first planned to be a part of Deus Ex series with a fancy name... like Clan Wars or something. Then the idea was abandoned, and Snowblind was to become a stand-alone title. After several name and concept changes, the work on Crystal Dynamics' new first-person shooter, Project: Snowblind, as it's now known, is almost finished. Due to ship to stores this winter, the game appropriately features a main hero called Santa Claus... I mean, Frost. His name is Frost, sorry.

Stop looking at the cool lights and concentrate on shooting someone!

There's that goddamn pigeon again! I'll get the bastard this time!

Now, where was I? Oh yes, the story... I'm sure you'd all fork over a month's pay to hear the juicy details, so here it goes. Project: Snowblind puts you in the role of an elite soldier called Nathan Frost. Now, this Frost guy has been terribly wounded, so after some experimental surgery and a lot of stitches, Frost was as good as new, only with significantly less humanity and a lot more guns. Sound familiar? Frost is now a soldier in the Liberation Coalition, a super-soldier, with a heavy firepower, cybernetic implants and all the nice swag. The game is set in 21st century Hong Kong, in the year 2065 to be exact. You've just been brought back from the dead and turned into a walking tank. Shockingly, that doesn't please you one bit. I mean, realistically, who wants to die only to come back as a well-armed Robo Co... uh, soldier.

As it turns out, you and your squad are stuck behind enemy lines for some reason or other, so it's up to you and your mates to find your way out and come home in time for dinner, saving the world along the way. (Ed. - It's always save the world, destroy evil, why don't they make an FPS where you go get tacos.)

Okay, so the story is kind of old hat, but what about the game? Let's start with saying that Snowblind is very similar to Deus Ex in terms of gameplay mechanics. Naturally, this comes as no surprise as Snowblind wasn't supposed to be a separate title in the first place. While this may be all right, it naturally has some downsides, like the game not being particularly innovative.

Snowblind will offer two types of missions and a wide choice of weapons. There are "Infiltration" missions that are based on stealth; in this mode, the goal is to do things like disarming traps and silencing enemies once and for all. On the opposite side of the fence, there will be the "Total War" missions where you get to show your violent side. In this mode, you will also be accompanied by several NPC teammates. So, what would an FPS be without a cadre of impressive weapons. The game's producer John Chowanec said that there are about 24 different weapons, gadgets and abilities in the game. The ordinary type weapons will include assault rifles (Carbines), shotguns, sniper rifles, and several different types of grenades, like frag and flash bang. One interesting "new" type of grenade is the Spider Bomb, which develops into a spider-robot and shocks enemies. ("Eek! What is this? A robotic spider. How very shocking." - Well, that would be fun.). Special weapons include Rail Laser, which can penetrate walls, the Kinetic Kicker that will push or pull stuff around and the more futuristic Flechette, which can shoot pulses of energy. All the weapons will have the standard two modes of fire, primary and secondary, and in some cases a scope option. Some weapons have very neat secondary firing modes; for example, the carbine uses a grenade launcher as a secondary fire, while the Flechette has a very impressive smart weapon system, which consists of shooting out a swarm of flying, enemy-surrounding, villain-consuming particles called Attack Drones. Eidos claims Frost can get even more hi-tech gadgets later on in the game, and several of them were mentioned. One is the more self-explanatory "Bot domination tool" and the Riot Wall, which is a portable shield. (Bot domination will be of course very familiar to fans of Deus Ex: Invisible War. - Ed.)

Also, because of your "Robo Copping" you now have superpowers. Frost's superpowers are also very varied and numerous, starting with the simple ones, such as Force Field and Invisibility, to the more powerful ones like Electric Storm. One cool thing that you can do is slow down time to avoid bullets, much like in the famous bullet-time mode. (Dodge this! HA! - Sorry.). Another superpower is the ability to highlight enemies and see them through walls. Thanks to the rather large arsenal, some neat superpowers and two different types of missions, Frost will need to approach each situation differently. In that sense, this game is going to offer a lot of variety. Having received a rather warm welcome by the gaming community, this title looks like it will find its place under the sun. Most journalists agree that the game looks and plays well, with Frost's nifty powers and futuristic surroundings that could have been drawn right from the legendary Blade Runner.

Drivable vehicles are also going to make an appearance in Project: Snowblind. Some of the newer additions include a two-legged, mechanized walker, and a futuristic tank. But the old standbys like cars and transports will still be present. Crystal says many of the vehicles also support multiple seats in multiplayer, like the two-person combat buggy.