Liquid Entertainment wants you to lose yourself inside the world of Jason and the Argonauts. This action role-playing game is basically free of interface clutter -- there are no health bars, no commands that pop up to issue orders to companions, nothing to interfere with the cinematic experience. The game eschews a lot of traditional role-playing game conventions and the E3 presentation left us wanting more.
The story is a retelling of the search for the Golden Fleece. Jason's wife is dead and he goes in search of this magical trinket in order to bring her back to life. Along the way he picks up famous Greek heroes like Pan, Hercules and Achilles. These sidekicks are always controlled by the AI; you play as Jason as the game never removes you from that role.
Liquid is shooting for an epic feel and so the goal is for Jason to look heroic at all times. You're not going to slap a red helmet, blue cloak and green boots on him. All of the armor and weapons have a story attached to them and look the part. There are no +1 swords or anything like that; everything is epic.
Being a game revolving around ancient Greek myth, the gods play a crucial role in not only the telling of the story but how Jason advances in his quest. Jason has four patrons: Ares, Hermes, Apollo and Athena, and he can offer himself to these gods via the in-game dialogue. When presented with important decisions, Jason can choose a response that corresponds to the persona of one of the four gods. This is one of the ways he gains experience and earns favor from that particular god. The other way is by performing "deeds." These deeds are story objectives that also grant Jason powers depending on which god he offers them to. Ares, for instance, grants Jason more direct combat power while Hermes revolves around sneaky tactics.
Combat is fast and brutal and surprisingly realistic. If you impale an enemy with a spear they're most likely going to die or at the very least fall to the ground with massive internal injuries. Every item in combat is also "live," so if an enemy attacks Jason and hits his shield, the attack will be negated due to the shield's position -- Jason doesn't need to actively block, although that is an option. In addition, once swords start flying, whatever they hit takes damage be it friend or foe. We witnessed this first-hand in a battle with a Minotaur. As it whirled around with its massive axe, it chopped the head off of another minion that was attacking Jason and Hercules.
During this encounter we also saw one of the high-level god powers, called the Gates of Tartarus, which opened up a swirling vortex that sucked enemies into it if you could knock them off their feet. It looked impressive and extremely powerful but these god powers can only be used sparingly.
The combat portion of the demo climaxed with a boss battle against the one and only serpent-haired Medusa. This version of the accursed maiden isn't like the one in Clash of the Titans; this Medusa is enormous and kept elevated by gigantic serpents that lash out at Jason and his companions. This frenetic combat sequence also highlighted the fact that there are no health bars. The only way to determine the health level of an enemy is by looking at it. As Jason, Pan, and Achilles whacked away at the attacking serpents they became bloodier and bloodier until they finally succumbed.
The game packs around 20 hours of gameplay and there's no multiplayer or co-op mode. It's single-player or bust. Still, we can't wait to see more as the game nears completion. Codemasters and Liquid are planning a fall 2008 release.
