The Rest of the Show - Damnation and Jumpgate Evolution [NYCC]

Nicholas "bapenguin" Puleo February 10th, 2009 at 8:49 AM    


 

We've almost come to the end of our NY Comic-Con coverage.  With so many games on the show floor, we didn't have as much time as we wanted to to go in depth with everything.  But...we tried our hardest to play what we could.  There's two more games I wanted to briefly talk about,  both have cooperative play.  Both games also couldn't be anymore different.

On one hand you have this sort of steam punk western style shooter...and on the other you have this gorgeous space flight MMO.  I'm talking about Damnation and Jumpgate Evolution

 

Damnation

Damnation was a game we recently covered, coming from publisher Codemasters.  We got a small taste of what to expect from our preview, but we got a larger taste of the game at the NY Comic Con.  Unfortunately this game needed a lot more salt and pepper.

The first problem with the game was it was set up wrong on the TV, it was obvious it was set in a non wide screen mode and stretched to the TV, so that didn't help our impressions.  It looked like it could be graphically impressive, but it was tough to tell.  

Movement of the main character felt clunky, almost sticky as we navigated this alternate American history.  We were tasked with taking down some supports to build a bridge across a chasm.  The game play felt like a mix between Tomb Raider and Gears of War.  You could run and jump, grab onto ledges and shimmy around. 

With any western style game, the gun play should play an important role - unfortunately the guns just felt weak and useless.  I was shotgunning guys at close range with little to no feedback from the game as to whether I was actually hitting them.

With a supposed April release date, we hope Damnation stays in the oven a bit longer.  There's some potential here for the 2 player co-op shooter, but it definitely needs a lot more lovin.

 

Jumpgate: Evolution

Another game in the Codemasters booth that immediately caught our eye was a space sim called Jumpgate Evolution.  I saw caught our eye because the game is simply drop dead gorgeous.  If you thought games like Homeworld and Eve Online were impressive, wait till you see Jumpgate.

The game is an MMO, including subscription fees, that takes place in a gigantic universe.  Players can build and customize their ship and head out on missions with other players.  

Jumpgate controls with a mouse and keyboard, something akin to Freelancer, and it seems to work well.  I was having a blast trailing a target and firing away.  Explosions are gorgeous only to be further improved by a little XP increase notification.  

I generally have a no MMO rule, because the games tend to suck way too much time from my other gaming rituals, but I just may break it for this one.  Even though we don't cover them on this site, heck it would be a whole site unto itself, MMOs are inherently co-op.  

Look for a Jumpgate beta soon, you can hit the official website to sign up.  



 Tags: damnation ny comic con jumpgate evolution


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6 Total Reader Comments

roland at 06:12 AM on 2.10.2009
Damnation just looks so promising. I was wondering if you saw BattleForge while you were there. The 'stiq's post on it's beta had an intriguing (and promising) note

"Phenomic has found that approximately 70 percent of its beta players are only playing co-op maps."

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/08/nycc- ... stem-down/
 
Mrxknown_JG at 06:19 AM on 2.10.2009
Also, Jumpgate Evolution can be played with joysticks too. I'm not sure about gamepads.

The game is drastically different from the persistent world of it's predecessor. Instead of all players on one server, there will be multiple servers and even instance sections of space. But I'm hopeful.

Also, if you want to get in the Beta you need to register at the site ASAP. Otherwise your name will be basically at the bottom.
 
bapenguin at 06:26 AM on 2.10.2009


Good! I want something more like Guildwars in space.
 
txshurricane at 07:33 AM on 2.10.2009
No console Jumpgate, eh? Darn. The Xbox 360 needs a good MMO besides the ancient FFXI.

I'm still signing up for the beta. I'll have a new PC before then.
 
ShadokatRegn at 08:20 AM on 2.10.2009
That's too bad to hear about Damnation - it did look promising...Guess you can't win them all!

Perhaps the demo was still in really early stages, and even they(Codemasters) weren't done with it yet?
 
roland at 08:45 AM on 2.10.2009
Heh, because of ShadokatRegn's comment, I actually just read Nick's comments on Damnation above. I had just assumed it still looked promising. Here's hoping for a delay?
 


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Re: Image Wars 11/21 1:01 am
http://www.en-tek.org/Uploads/tire_fire.jpg
I never talk when I play online on COD. No one really says anything worth listening to, or no one talks whatsoever.
Part of me wants to crop the second picture you took, and add text. Something simple, like "Oh geez. . ." It's got the perfect f
BORDERLANDS! Hopefully finish my first playthrough! I'm on "The Final Piece" but I'll probably do side quests as well.
Did they make a remake on Gameboy Advance or something? I remember the name.

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