Codemasters may have just eight new games on show at E3, but when you have titles such as Toca Race Driver and Colin McRae 3 to brag about, it’s a case of quality, not quantity. Here’s the full skinny, including new artwork and screenshots, from Codemasters’ upcoming games.
Club Football, initially for PS2 and Microsoft Xbox, is a series of games dedicated to specific clubs. Codemasters will produce an individually branded and badged game for each club, beginning with the following 15 footballing giants:
Arsenal (England)
Aston Villa (England)
Chelsea (England)
Leeds United (England)
Liverpool (England)
Manchester United (England)
Rangers (Scotland)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Hamburg SV (Germany)
FC Bayern Munich (Germany)
Ajax (Netherlands)
FC Barcelona (Spain)
AC Milan (Italy)
Inter Milan (Italy)
Juventus (Italy)
Club Football puts the gamer right in amongst the big-name players of these clubs – you even get your own name and squad number on the back of your shirt! Each edition of the game will be tailored specifically to each featured club and will include accurately modelled stadia to recreate the genuine match day experience. The Club Football series is due for launch in Autumn 2002.
Dragon Empires for PC is a huge advancement for the online gaming market and delivers a title that is hugely exciting in its scope. Not just for the MMORPG hardcore, its genre-leading landscaping and character graphics engine creates visuals makes it a world that is begging to be explored. Expect to see Dragon Empires on the shelves this Winter.
Autumn 2002 will see the release of LMA Manager 2003 for PS2 and Microsoft Xbox, with the GameCube release to be confirmed. The LMA series, much beloved of console football management types, hit a high with the release of the 2002 version, but the 2003 incarnation looks set to surpass it. The game will feature a whopping 722 European football clubs, complete with authentic strips, player details and stadia for the 2002/2003 football season. The reliable duo of Hansen and Lineker will also return for commentary duties, as leagues all over Europe simultaneously kick off.
Next month sees the arrival of Operation Flashpoint: Resistance, an expansion pack for the million-selling OF original. Enhancing the Flashpoint universe, Operation Flashpoint: Resistance creates an additional island complete with industrial-style buildings and original landscape scenery. Thanks to the use of high-resolution textures throughout, the visuals will be much more detailed and dramatic than ever before. The expansion also delivers a new campaign that forms a prequel to the original game’s plot and is set years before Operation Flashpoint’s Cold War hit crisis point.
In Prisoner of War, gamers will have the chance to put Colditz Castle's security to the test with its recreation as one of the featured camps in Prisoner of War, coming later this year to PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC.
The Bitmap Brothers’ World War II: Frontline Command will be the first action-RTS to deliver a true recreation of the battlefield experience and effectively portray the psychology of warfare, rather than the sterile theory of war gaming. While RTS games traditionally involve the player spending time concentrating on building, resourcing and preparation, World War II: Frontline Command’s authentic troops are fully resourced with equipment from the start, enabling the player to concentrate on the battlefield.
One thing you don’t expect from a motor racing game is an element of role-playing, and a game that begins with a death. All will be revealed once we get our hands on Toca Race Driver, coming soon to PS2 and PC. What we can tell you is that gamers assume the identity of Ryan McKane, an aspiring Touring Car driver as he prepares to enter his first season. As McKane, the player enters the real world of Touring Car racing, cast alongside the sport’s real world stars. It’s Ryan’s ambition that’s got him here, but it’s the player’s race game expertise that will see Ryan passing the chequered flag in pole position. So far, Codemasters have produced some fantastically playable Toca games. Suffice to say we can’t wait for Toca Race Driver.
And finally from Codemasters at E3 this year, a game which is possibly more sought after than Toca Race Driver – Colin McRae 3 for PC, GameCube, PS2 and Microsoft Xbox, the latter two versions due for release in September. In common with the Toca series, the previous two Colin games were immensely playable, achieving just the right balance of pure rallying enjoyment and gritted teeth, steering-wheel-punching frustration. CM3 promises even more. In a career-centred game, the pressure is on as the player takes on the role of Colin McRae as he’s given a three-year contract to win a series of championships for the Ford Rallye Sport team. This driving/role-playing lark is obviously catching on!
Club Football, initially for PS2 and Microsoft Xbox, is a series of games dedicated to specific clubs. Codemasters will produce an individually branded and badged game for each club, beginning with the following 15 footballing giants:
Arsenal (England)
Aston Villa (England)
Chelsea (England)
Leeds United (England)
Liverpool (England)
Manchester United (England)
Rangers (Scotland)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Hamburg SV (Germany)
FC Bayern Munich (Germany)
Ajax (Netherlands)
FC Barcelona (Spain)
AC Milan (Italy)
Inter Milan (Italy)
Juventus (Italy)
Club Football puts the gamer right in amongst the big-name players of these clubs – you even get your own name and squad number on the back of your shirt! Each edition of the game will be tailored specifically to each featured club and will include accurately modelled stadia to recreate the genuine match day experience. The Club Football series is due for launch in Autumn 2002.
Dragon Empires for PC is a huge advancement for the online gaming market and delivers a title that is hugely exciting in its scope. Not just for the MMORPG hardcore, its genre-leading landscaping and character graphics engine creates visuals makes it a world that is begging to be explored. Expect to see Dragon Empires on the shelves this Winter.
Autumn 2002 will see the release of LMA Manager 2003 for PS2 and Microsoft Xbox, with the GameCube release to be confirmed. The LMA series, much beloved of console football management types, hit a high with the release of the 2002 version, but the 2003 incarnation looks set to surpass it. The game will feature a whopping 722 European football clubs, complete with authentic strips, player details and stadia for the 2002/2003 football season. The reliable duo of Hansen and Lineker will also return for commentary duties, as leagues all over Europe simultaneously kick off.
Next month sees the arrival of Operation Flashpoint: Resistance, an expansion pack for the million-selling OF original. Enhancing the Flashpoint universe, Operation Flashpoint: Resistance creates an additional island complete with industrial-style buildings and original landscape scenery. Thanks to the use of high-resolution textures throughout, the visuals will be much more detailed and dramatic than ever before. The expansion also delivers a new campaign that forms a prequel to the original game’s plot and is set years before Operation Flashpoint’s Cold War hit crisis point.
In Prisoner of War, gamers will have the chance to put Colditz Castle's security to the test with its recreation as one of the featured camps in Prisoner of War, coming later this year to PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC.
The Bitmap Brothers’ World War II: Frontline Command will be the first action-RTS to deliver a true recreation of the battlefield experience and effectively portray the psychology of warfare, rather than the sterile theory of war gaming. While RTS games traditionally involve the player spending time concentrating on building, resourcing and preparation, World War II: Frontline Command’s authentic troops are fully resourced with equipment from the start, enabling the player to concentrate on the battlefield.
One thing you don’t expect from a motor racing game is an element of role-playing, and a game that begins with a death. All will be revealed once we get our hands on Toca Race Driver, coming soon to PS2 and PC. What we can tell you is that gamers assume the identity of Ryan McKane, an aspiring Touring Car driver as he prepares to enter his first season. As McKane, the player enters the real world of Touring Car racing, cast alongside the sport’s real world stars. It’s Ryan’s ambition that’s got him here, but it’s the player’s race game expertise that will see Ryan passing the chequered flag in pole position. So far, Codemasters have produced some fantastically playable Toca games. Suffice to say we can’t wait for Toca Race Driver.
And finally from Codemasters at E3 this year, a game which is possibly more sought after than Toca Race Driver – Colin McRae 3 for PC, GameCube, PS2 and Microsoft Xbox, the latter two versions due for release in September. In common with the Toca series, the previous two Colin games were immensely playable, achieving just the right balance of pure rallying enjoyment and gritted teeth, steering-wheel-punching frustration. CM3 promises even more. In a career-centred game, the pressure is on as the player takes on the role of Colin McRae as he’s given a three-year contract to win a series of championships for the Ford Rallye Sport team. This driving/role-playing lark is obviously catching on!