GameOver - 1999 E3 Coverage

Star Wars Episode I: Obi-Wan Announced

Date: May 13th

There was only one place to see LucasArts' newest Episode I game, and that was in a press conference held this morning to unveil the upcoming Star Wars line-up. After a remote-controlled R2D2 rolled onto the stage, LucasArts' Mary Bihr, director of sales and marketing, showed off two games that the industry already knew about - Phantom Menace and Racer - and then announced the game that's been kept secret until now: Star Wars Episode I: Obi-Wan, a first- and third-person perspective shooter.

All that was seen was a video of gameplay and of the motion capturing done for the game, but it gave a brief glimpse of this action game. Although Bihr called it a game in the first-person tradition of Dark Forces and Jedi Knight, the video we saw showed only third-person perspective gameplay.

You play a young Obi-Wan Kenobi in this game, and presumably you will learn force powers and lightsaber techniques as you travel to various locales in the Episode I universe. Some of the environments seen were a desert world that reminded fans of Tatooine, as well as the populated world of Coruscant, and the palace in Naboo.

The game uses a new 3D engine, although the early footage looks only marginally better than Jedi Knight's graphics. Motion capturing is being used for Obi-Wan's extensive moves, which include several twisting backflips and different lightsaber attacks. The only enemies seen in the video of the game were various droids, including the long-snouted STAP droids and transforming battle droids from the trailer.

Obi-Wan is slated for a late fall or early winter 1999 release date. Screenshots will be posted as they become available.

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