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A SWIFT KICK IN THE TEETH
FOR THIRD-PERSON ACTION:
Bungie¹s Oni marks the dawn
of a new age in action video games.
CHICAGO
November 19, 1998
When Bungie Software set up a development studio in San
Jose in 1997 the news fueled much speculation among our fans about new versions of our
games "Myth: The Fallen Lords" or the classic "Marathon" series. |
| Instead,
the studio began work on a much more original and, in the Bungie tradition, revolutionary
title. In 1999, Bungie¹s game "Oni" will hit the shelves and third-person
action games will never be the same. Oni tells the
story of Konoko, an elite cop and one-woman SWAT team whose
approach to fighting crime is a devastating combination of rational calculation and
fighting fury. She is also a woman divided and haunted by shadows in her past, by oni
("ghosts" or "demons" in Japanese). Perhaps the most stylish of
Bungie¹s games so far, the game puts the player in a near-future anime world which can be
imagined as a blend of "La Femme Nikita", "Ghost in the Shell" and
"Fists of Fury." Konoko's attire, attitude and fighting skills evolve as her
world becomes ever darker and more dangerous.
Oni marks the first seamless unification of martial arts
and gunplay into a new action hybrid, "full contact action." When your gun runs
out of ammo, drop it and take out your opponents with flying kicks and neck-snapping
throws. If you knock an opponent¹s gun out of his hand, you can grab it and finish off a
roomful of them in a blaze of fire. If the action gets too hairy, kill the lights, prime a
concussion grenade and dive through a window while the room explodes above you. Action
fans will not be disappointed.
Complex technologies bring this world to stunning life.
Radiosity lighting paints the setting with natural light. Oni uses interpolation in its
animations, which means that Konoko can sprint forward, tuck into a dive roll, and then
pop up into a flying kick, all in one smooth, continuous movement, reacting
instantaneously to the controls.
All of this takes place in a multi-elevation 3D urban
jungle designed by architects for maximum realism and consistency. With art drawn by anime
specialists and code written by some of the brightest talents in 3D graphics, Oni is
another Bungie game which will challenge players¹ conceptions of what¹s possible in a
computer game. Oni is being developed for Windows 95 and MacOS and is expected to ship in
1999.
For more information, surf to http://www.bungie.com. |
