10-May-2005 Maybe it's a hangover from the space race, maybe not, but it seems like developers from the former Soviet republics always have to shoot for the moon. From Operation Flashpoint to STALKER, it's the same thing - a boundless, almost foolish desire to push the limits to their utmost.
The latest preposterously ambitious title from the region is Boiling Point (formerly known as Xenus), a vast freeform shooter-cum-role-playing adventure set in the jungles of South America. We've been putting the Beta code through its paces this month, and have to admit it's an impressive undertaking. The play area is massive, for a start - 625 square kilometres of jungle, river and scattered habitation, all totally open to discovery and exploration. As crazy as it may seem, however, it's the openness of the gameplay rather than the landscape that truly impresses.
FOR FREEDOM! The game begins in Puerto Sombra, the sleepy capital of the fictional republic of Realia. You enter the scene as Saul Myers, an ex-military thug on the trail of his kidnapped daughter - a journalist who was sniffing around the local crime lord. Your first couple of missions are pretty much laid down. You visit the editor of the local paper and pick up your daughter's car, then visit the pub to get some information - but from there on in you can take things in a staggering number of different directions.
If you want, you can just tear straight off into the jungle to assault the crime lord's jungle villa; but chances are you'll soon find yourself dead. If you're sensible, you'll build towards major objectives by completing a number of easier secondary missions for NPCs. Your aim, as in any RPG, is to build up your character stats and earn yourself some dough. With this you can buy and upgrade weapons and vehicles (including cars, motorboats, planes, helicopters and a tank), food and drugs.
On top of all this, there are seven factions in the game - the government, guerrillas, mafia, bandits, Indians, CIA and civilians - each of which becomes your friend or foe depending on your actions. Buy the local guerrilla boss a drink (and correctly answer a question about communist history), and hey presto, you've made your first alliance. Accidentally run over a pedestrian in the street and whoops - the entire civilian populace is against you.
There's a wild mix of gameplay here, kind of like GTA meets Deus Ex meets Far Cry. Certainly a fascinating experiment, though one that we're not yet totally convinced by - the combat and AI are deeply underwhelming in the current build. But if these can be brought up to speed, then Boiling Point could be a seriously hot property.
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
