Preview
QUAKE 4
I
t’s been way too long since we kicked
some Strogg ass, so we were totally
stoked about the opportunity to romp
through a bit of Quake 4’s single-player
mode. Quake 4 picks up where Quake II
left off, during the invasion of Stroggos.
We dig the guns-a-blazin’ gameplay in
the latest edition, and encountered a
number of plot twists that should breathe
new life into the franchise.
The game is in development at
Raven Software, and will use the Doom
3 engine—a choice that leaves the game
looking a lot like, well, Doom 3. The engine
has been tweaked, however, to allow
for expansive outdoor areas and orgies
of mayhem and destruction—a marked
departure from the cramped, indoor, one-
on-one battles that Doom 3 offers.
Gameplay is straight-up Quake -style
and will appeal to anyone with an itchytrigger fi nger and a hankering for “shoot
fi rst—and then shoot again” fi rst-person
action. Expect a squad of fellow soldiers
to battle the Strogg alongside you, with
an occasional solo or vehicular mission
involving hover tanks and mechs.
The offi cial line is that the game will
be released “when it’s done,” but our
Spidey sense tells us we’ll be hip-deep in
Strogg blood this holiday season.Quake 4 and Call of Duty 2
Activision recently invited Maximum PC in for an “eyes-only” briefing and
some hands-on play time with two of the hottest games due out this year:
Quake 4 and Call of Duty 2. Now we’ve been given level G14 clearance to
share the intel with you.
—JOSH NOREMThe Strogg are still cranky as ever.CALL OF DUTY 2
C
all of Duty has become the de
facto standard for WWII-based
shooters, and based on our hands-
on play test, we predict the sequel
will be even better. The developers at
Infi nity Ward are intent on keeping the
sphincter-clenching gameplay intact,but from what we saw, they’re improving
practically everything else.
The game’s most signifi cant
enhancement comes in the form of
an all-new “made from scratch” 3D
engine (the original game was built on
the Quake III engine). The new engine
is equipped with a wicked particle
system that makes smoke
and explosions look incredibly
realistic. Call of Duty 2 will move
away from being a linear “on
rails” shooter in favor of multiple
objectives you can tackle in any
order; you’ll even be able to
jump between campaigns.
As brief as our experience
with Call of Duty 2 was, we
pushed away from the desk
with racing hearts and sweaty
palms: The action was loud,
bombastic, and nerve-racking—
CoD 2’s new 3D engine looks spiffy. just the way we like it!MINI PREVIEWS
NEW VIDEO GEAR
Camcorders with hard drives;
projectors that light up blackboardsDIRECT-TO-DISK CAMCORDERS
In Hollywood, “direct to disc” denotes a movie
unworthy of theatrical release. With JVC’s new
Everio G series of camcorders, “direct to disk”
denotes the ability to record video directly to a
built-in hard drive.
JVC’s Everio GZ-MG20 ($800) features a
0.680-megapixel CCD and a 20GB hard drive that
provides up to seven hours of recording time at
what the manufacturer describes as “DVD movie-
quality video” in MPEG-2 format (the actual bit rate
is 8.5Mb/s). The model GZ-MG30 ($900) bumps
storage up to 30GB and recording time to 10.5 hours.
The higher-end models GZ-MG40 and GZ-MG50
($900 and $1,000, respectively) feature larger
image sensors (1.33 megapixel CCDs), which
allows them to capture still images at resolutions as
high as 1152x864 (JPEG fi le format).
Video and still fi les can be transferred to PC via
a USB 2.0 port. Analog video can be output to a
television or dubbed to a VCR. All four models are
equipped with a 2.5-inch fl ip-out LCD and weigh
just 14 ounces.SUPER-BRIGHT PROJECTORS
When you want the big picture, nothing’s better
than a video projector. The devices have one major
drawback, however; they need a big screen to proj-
ect on. But Sanyo claims its new line of portable
LCD projectors offer such high contrast that they
can project onto a blackboard.
According to Sanyo, the Blackboard mode
on its new models PLC-XU70, -73, and -76 will
automatically adjust the image’s white balance and
gamma correction to project an intelligible image on
almost any surface. While it’s unlikely you’d enjoy
watching a movie projected on a blackboard, the
promise that you can see any image at all on such a
dark, nonrefl ective surface is intriguing.
All three models deliver a native resolution of
1024x768, but are also capable of handling HDTV
modes up to 1080i using component video cables.
They also feature a new lamp technology that
doesn’t require a cool-down period: You can transport
the projectors as soon as they’re powered off.r & d BREAKING DOWN TECH —PRESENT AND FUTURE
60 MA XIMUMPC OCTOBER 2005