Adopting a similar approach, 3DO's upcoming aerial based adventure, aptly titled Dragon Rage, answers the call to the eager wishes of players fond of worlds of fantasy, orcs and the like to at last engage an epic game through the eyes of a dragon. Featuring a compelling storyline complemented by its emphasis of solid gameplay mechanics and exciting mission objectives built around imaginative play, Dragon Rage aims to deliver an addictive, entertaining experience as players take to the skies in a world of monsters and magical beings.

The premise of Dragon Rage is a heroic story of revenge and redemption. For centuries, the Orcs have enslaved the dragon race in order to extract a powerful substance called Zeenium. This element provides dragons with their primary strength and fire breathing ability. Now the destiny of the entire dragon race hangs in the balance as they edge toward unequivocal extinction. A young shackled Cael is in the grips of death as he approaches extermination above a molten pit. Fate intervenes as a sprite named Adara helps Cael break free from bondage, allowing him to seek vengeance against the villainous Orc bureaucracy and to fight for the freedom of his brethren.

The gameplay is divided into 16 campaign levels, respectively for single and cooperative play. Each campaign will be full of action and challenge as you engage enemy forces consisting of Orc units which attack from the ground, air and sea; in addition to other dragons that seek to destroy you at any cost. As Cael, players can crush the diabolical forces by choosing from 32 unique dragon attacks and magic abilities. In addition, Cael can swoop down and grab enemies in his mighty claws, ram objects with his powerful head, or use his crushing jaws to devour foes. Cael features a variety of abilities which make the aerial experience very exciting as players execute loops, barrel rolls and other fascinating aerial maneuvers (though I doubt there will be an Immelman turn.

Dragon Rage is visually stunning, featuring photo-realistic enviroments and an enhanced particle system which allows for complex phsyics-based motions with items such as explosions, flowing water and lava. Additional level design highlights include:

• Physical modeling of environments - Real world forces such as wind and the effects of gravity on various masses.
• Algorithmically created Unit Behavior - Algorithmic behavior description allows for non-scripted character and object motion. Objects interact with each other based on their behavior description, rather than on pre-programmed functionality.
• All new outdoor engine for more expansive environments.

Since the game is still pretty early in development, it's difficult and premature to provide extensive impressions on how Dragon Rage will fare as a finished product. But at the rate in which the PS2 library is expanding with quality titles, Dragon Rage shows promise and could very well be recognized as one of the systems' most enjoyable titles this year.

· · · Bahn