A Revolution Worth Fighting For
First person shooters have come a long way. All but gone are the days of running amuck through single levels blasting your enemies to smithereens. We still have games like that, but those are the games we tend to say we do not have, unless they are really good. Over the past few years, we have seen a distinctive growth happen in the FPS genre, a growth that has rekindled the spark of the genre as a whole. Whether it be including elements from other genres, like S.T.A.L.K.E.R., or by making the battlefields more interactive. The folks at Artificial Studios understand the need to grow in a genre and they have set the stage for the next evolution in the FPS with CellFactor: Revolution.
The funny thing about CellFactor: Revolution is that when displayed at last year’s E3 it was not going to be the next big game from them, that title was supposed to go to Monster Madness. In fact, CellFactor: Revolution was supposed to be just a tech demo for the new PhysX technology from AGEIA. As it turned out, the interest in the game grew like a wild fire, and Artificial Studios had no other option than to build upon their highly impressive tech demo. They even took the necessary steps to ensure successful completion on Monster Madness by hiring another developmental staff. So far, the decisions they have made in order to bring the title to the PC appear to be well worth their efforts.
After a series of cataclysmic events, the Earth is dominated by a superpower only interested in the advancement of technology, negating all responsibilities to human life. This technology forms the basis of a cybernetic-enhanced humanoid army, whose telekinetic powers are used to maintain relative order across the planet. A scattered human resistance fights for one last shred of freedom, tapping into psychic abilities in an attempt to conquer what appears to be an invincible enemy. We will have the opportunity to choose and guide one of three different types of characters – Bishop, Guardian, or Black Ops – through an industrial setting in the near future.
The Bishop is an experiment of the secretive Technocracy faction in the game. Though originally human, they have been injected, since birth, with mind enhancing drugs and fitted with cybernetic implants to further their capabilities. The Bishop will carry no weapons and will rely solely on their psychic power they have control over. Bishops will be the class for players that only want to have the psychic powers at their disposal. The Guardian is a cybernetic being that is not innately organic, thus not allowing them to use the destructive powers of a psychic. However, what they lack in psychic power will be more than made up by the ability of carrying two of any weapon. The Guardian will also be incredibly strong, delivering devastating punches to their enemies when not carrying two weapons simultaneously. Last, but certainly not least, is the Black Ops class, which some may recognize as the player in CellFactor: Combat Training, which is what the tech demo was titled. The Black Ops soldier is the best of all of the classes. They are the standard unit of human resistance that has undergone psychic enhancements by using some of the captured Technocracy equipment. The Black Ops class will also be able to build upon their psychic abilities by finding power-ups in various locations in the environments. You will also be able to choose which side you fight for, adding to the mix of the game.
The beauty of CellFactor: Revolution is the graphics. The environments are where the graphics really explode, literally. The amount of interactive features in the game are already impressive past anything we have seen thus far. The varying attacks that you can perform have a ripple effect on the environments. If you use one of the Bishop’s psychic abilities called the “psi rift” near a structure, that structure may crumble in graphic detail and then you can gather the pieces to form a ball and hurl it at your enemies. This one example only describes a fraction of the power behind CellFactor: Revolution; because of this, the player to feel like they may not be able to run the game. Artificial is taking the necessary steps to ensure that all players will be able to enjoy the game, albeit in different graphic resolutions. Simply put, if you don’t meet the graphic requirements, you can still play the game, but not the way it is meant to be experienced. This will also come into play when playing online. Artificial again is making the game supportable by the servers with the option of a slider to adjust the setting to run appropriately.
There certainly are many impressive features to CellFactor: Revolution, including the use of psychic abilities as a conventional weapon and the destructive possibilities of the environment. However, without actually playing the game, we can’t say as to how CellFactor: Revolution will actually play for the average gamer. Be sure to check back here at CCC to find that and more out in about a month. Then, we will be able to fully disclose how awesome this game should be.
Features: