A Giants Step for Planet Moon (Page 4)
- January 01, 2000 00:00 AM PST
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We don't want to take anything away from Giants: Citizen Kabuto's refreshingly bright, almost pastel locales, nor downplay its technologically advanced engine and great sound-effects. But what really brings this game to life are the colorful characters that interact with one another (and you) in ways you're unlikely to have seen before. Here's a roll call of this delightfully quirky cast.
The Meccs
These wacky little guys have personality, and it?s watching them grow and interact both with each other and the environment that will be one of the game?s main pleasures. They?ll be the ones you control for about 40 percent of the game.
"The idea is that you?ll feel like you?re playing the game with four others around you," says Tim Williams, creative director. In the beginning, squadmates won?t really be much help?Gordon and Bennett are too busy partying to pick up a distress signal in the beginning of the game, for instance. But as you progress, so will they. Instead of bumbling along behind you, they?ll be running for a strategic position and lobbing grenades at foes. Rather than always fire at what you?re targeting, they?ll evaluate the biggest threat and gang up on that.
Baz, the leader, is always trying to organize and motivate the motley cockney crew, with varying success.
"Baz is good for a kick in the pants. He?s a ?get the job done, then go for a pint and cigarette? kind of guy," says Tim. "While Gordon and Bennett, whether there?s a job to do or not, they?re in the bar having a pint. They?re the two flakes, and together they make one giant ball of flakiness."
Tel and Reg are the followers, though it?s their curious side that gets the group involved in The Island?s affairs. Tel?s also a bit of a romantic, and he?s clearly smitten with Delphi.
Smarties
Smarties play the role of tech upgraders in the game. Keep ?em happy by feeding them Vimp meat, and they?ll build you presents that could range from jetpack upgrades to different vehicles and weapons. But at heart, they?re the most hedonistic group in the game.
"You?re doing 100 percent of stuff for them, getting them pieces of meat and so on, and 10 percent of these items go into making stuff for you, while the rest goes to different upgrades [of their lifestyle]?from a pub to a harem to a swimming pool." You?ll go away on a mission and come back to find them lolling by a newly built pool sipping a nice, cool drink.
But next time you come back, they might present you with a giant gun. "It?s a visual reward thing," Williams says. "You?ll always see something interesting with the Smarties."
Citizen Kabuto
The Sea Reapers used their magic power to create Kabuto, but made one fatal mistake: He became self-aware and grumpy. He decimated the Sea Reapers and kicked them into the ocean, then built his own land and learned how to create the shepherd creatures that tend to his flocks of Vimps. But he?s unhappy. He has an existentialist dilemma: "Where did I come from? What am I doing?"
Williams and the rest of the team are coy about whether it?s actually Kabuto or a comparable giant that you get to control for about 30 percent of the game. Nevertheless, the King Kong?like attacks are a blast to see?picking up Vimps and tossing them at attackers, or swatting at Meccs buzzing around him, or grabbing and throwing them into his cavernous mouth, or slamming a creature onto one of his dreadful spikes to save for later should he get a bit peckish.
Delphi and the Sea Reapers
Delphi is the only Sea Reaper with a conscience. While the rest of the Sea Reapers intend to take back the land and are willing to enslave Smarties to do so, Delphi becomes sympathetic to their plight. She commands powerful spells, like the amazing tornado and a shadow spell that makes a creature?s shadows attack its caster, and the ability to summon sea creatures to do her bidding.
