Acclaim Editor's Day Update

Late last week, the industry's latest comeback kid, Acclaim, flew in a slew of gaming editors to check out its newest games, all currently scheduled for release in 1999. These games included Jeremy McGrath's Supercross 2000, All-Star Baseball 2000, Shadowman, Re-Volt, Armorines, WWF Attitude, and - the biggest surprise - Velocity.

After a hedonistic soiree where we dined on fried shrimp, sesame chicken - and had to cope with a discouragingly early last call - the whole pile of us were shepherded off early Friday morning to Acclaim's Salt Lake City studios where we toured the studios, saw the games, chastised the product managers, and generally ranked on each other until we were blue in the face.

(That very same evening we all sloughed off to a Utah Jazz game where we witnessed perhaps one of the sloppiest basketball games ever played. As the Jazz demolished the hapless Mavericks - Jeff Hornacek owned The Mav's - yours truly got to experience the lowest urinals, as in ankle-height, found in the civilized world - and a surprisingly large amount of Coors Light.)

Later that evening, much Pac-Man was played (on old, sit-down table tops), as was an old Twilight Zone pinball machine. The following morning, those of us able to get up for an early breakfast of skiing and snowboarding (not me), got up and, um, skied and snowboarded. In the end, however, the most important thing was the games, and Acclaim is certainly hoping to build on the momentum it generated with Turok 2 and South Park.

Although there was no Quarterback Club 2000 for the Dreamcast, sources said to wait for the upcoming Quarterback Challenge for details surrounding that game.

Good news for gamers is that Acclaim has one of its strongest lineups ever. While there may not be the earth-shattering licenses Acclaim is usually known for, it's quite possible that this will be one of the Glen Cove-based publisher's finest rosters yet.

Now, on to the games...RE-VOLTFans of R/C racing action can look forward to Acclaim's "racing" game Re-Volt. Set in life-size environments, imagine Micro-Machines viewed in a more traditional racing perspective and you've pretty much got it. Re-Volt features eight cars available at the outset, with 20 more to discover. The thing that separates Re-Volt from the majority of similar racing games is the elaborate physics engine that the development team spent almost a year perfecting. With 14 single-player tracks, set over seven different environments, gamers can take multiple paths through each area. Like Acclaim's Jeremy McGrath Supercross game, Re-Volt features a custom track editor that can be saved to your memory card for even greater replay value. Developed by Probe (Extreme G-2), Re-Volt is scheduled for a Fall '99 release on the N64 as well as the PlayStation.WWF ATTITUDEAcclaim's sequel to last years mega-hit WWF Warzone, is going to make a lot of wrestling fans very happy. Boasting an unprecedented number of options and modes (lumberjack, corporate royal rumble, and so on), WWF Attitude also has an extensive create-a-pay-per-view mode that will replicate practically any championship from the WWF's entire history. In addition to an increased roster of more than 40 wrestlers, a dramatically improved create-a-player mode lets gamers customize the smallest details on a wrestler's face, add text to his clothing, and even choose a theme song and personalized nickname.

With all the potential wrestlers at hand, gamers can take their favorite wrestlers into seven different title-belt competitions, including European, intercontinental, tag team, and world heavyweight. Not content to rest on the success of WWF Warzone, Acclaim has raised the bar on wrestling games even higher with the upcoming WWF Attitude. With more than 15 different modes in single player (including king of the ring, survivor series, and more... ), and more than 22 different combinations in multiplayer mode, wrestling fans will be hard pressed to find fault with Iguana's latest offering.

While the gameplay is basically the same, there are additional subtleties that make the game more "realistic," like counters, interactive submissions, two-on-one moves, and better artificial intelligence. Each wrestler also has his own distinctive introduction. While the list of options is way too extensive to list here, rest assured this will be the wrestling game to beat in '99. Get ready to take Stone Cold and friends back into the ring one more time. Attitude will be available this spring.ARMORINESAt Acclaim's editor's day, one of the more interesting surprises was the announcement and demonstration of a new licensed property called Armorines. Based on the Acclaim Comics game of the same name, Armorines is a first-person shooter that utilizes the Turok 2 game engine, with some improvements in graphics and gameplay.

While the aesthetic improvements include improved lighting effects, and more-realistic enemy animations, the most innovative feature is the cooperative two-player mode. What this means is that two people can actually play at the same time, teaming up against the swarms of alien bugs that inhabit the game. For those of you unfamiliar with the franchise, the Armorines are a team of armored Marines (Duh!) whose duty is to protect the world from alien insects that are trying to colonize Earth.

Compatible with the 4-Meg RAM Pak, Armorines features hi-res graphics, high-powered weapons, and an onscreen weapons display that morphs as you pick up weapons. Due out by the end of '99, Armorines is making its way to both the N64 and the PlayStation.SHADOWMANBreaking into Tomb Raider territory, Acclaim is attempting a multiplatform assault with their upcoming game, Shadowman. Scheduled for release on the N64, PlayStation and PC, Shadowman puts you in the role of Mike LeRoi, who has been thrust into a world of voodoo magic and potential Armageddon. With a non-linear style of gameplay, similar to the Turok method of re-exploring earlier levels, Shadowman resembles the world found in Soul Reaver: Legacy of Kain. As a 'normal' human,' Mike LeRoi goes about his quest traveling the 'Liveside.' As Shadowman, however, he must enter the 'Deadside' and go about his mission of hunting down and destroying a legion of serial killers whose numbers include the legendary Jack the Ripper.

Using softskin-technology, Shadowman's characters look very solid, and the light-sourcing adds to the tangibly threatening world. With an impressive array of weaponry (the .50 cal. desert eagle, the violator, the shadowgun, the calabash, and tons more) and a substantial list of gameplay elements, Shadowman also offers more than 40 storytelling cutscenes that slowly reveal the epic nature of the plot. Depending on how you perform in the game, multiple endings also await. Acclaim and developer Iguana UK are aiming for a late summer release.VELOCITYThe most amazing looking game ever?

At Acclaim's recent editor's day we were witness to practically its entire '99 lineup; however, nothing could prepare us for the biggest surprise it had to offer. Although the game is currently scheduled for release on virtually every platform, Acclaim's game "Velocity", which is a working title only, is gearing up to be on of the Dreamcast's biggest US launch games.

Although the version we saw was running on a Pentium II with one Voodoo 2 board supporting it, producer Shawn Rosen assures us that the Dreamcast version, already well under development, looks exactly the same. While we've known about a large number of US games scheduled for the Dreamcast by a large variety of publishers, Velocity comes as a surprise since it's been so tightly under wraps.

Developed by UK developer Criterion, it's quite possible that Velocity might be the best-looking game ever. Visually more impressive than even the stunning Sonic Adventure, Velocity is a stunt-based racing game that comes off like a cross between Streak and Cool Boarders. However, it looks nothing like either of those two. In Velocity, you select from a well-designed variety of racers, who will then need to select from four different styles of boards: all-around, racing, stunt, and battle. While there aren't any projectile attacks a la Wipeout XL, battle is conducted hand-to-hand or, if you prefer, board-to-board.

Taking place in a cyber-tastic skate park called the Velodrome, you can select a number of different gameplay options, from cruising around a stunt-oriented half-pipe, to zooming your way through the most impressive environments you've ever seen. One track, for example, is a futuristic version of New York City. To say the detail and track design are astounding is to do it an injustice. Not only will you cavort through infamous Central Park, but you can take an alternate path through an intricately detailed subway system, only to surface downtown and hang a left over the Brooklyn Bridge.

Each track will have multiple paths and alternate layouts, similar to the track layouts in Ridge Racer. New York isn't the only amazing track, though. In fact, most of the major cities around the world will make a futuristic appearance.

Gameplay has a very good feel to it, with an impressive physics engine giving each racer a substantial "weightiness." Unlike the floaty controls of games like Streak or Psybadek, Velocity feels as if you're truly defying gravity, even if only by a few inches. The racers and hoverboards are all very cool-looking, resembling a cyber-punk version of something like the Justice League of America or some other diverse comic-book team. Even more impressive is the fact that the game moves at a steady 30-plus frames-per-second, no matter how complex the environments become, something not even Sega's own developers have done with as much consistency. While the recent announcement of the PlayStation 2's specs may have led some gamers away from the promising potential of the Dreamcast, it's games like these that will renew people's faith in Sega's mighty system. This game looks that amazing. Fortunately, it plays as well, too.

Whatever Velocity winds up being called, it has all the makings of a must-have game. Currently on schedule for a fall release, Velocity may or may not make the Dreamcast's launch. Whenever it does, however, this is one game you'll definitely want to investigate. Oozing a level of quality that raises it far above the rash of "X-treme" me-too games, Acclaim may be staking out an even bigger slice of the next-gen pie. Keep your eyes peeled for the first screenshots, coming soon.