E3 2004: LucasArts Booth

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Xbox)
The sequel to the RPG game of the year will always be news, especially for RPG fans. Star Wars: KoTOR: The Sith Lords seems to build upon the already established formula for success that the original started. If you played KoTOR, you'll be comfortable with The Sith Lords, as almost nothing of the interface and graphics has changed, although considering KoTOR's success, that is probably a good thing. I did get a chance to note new force powers such as Force Sight and the mysterious Battle Meditation. There is also an option to change weapons during battle without having to pause the action and maneuver through the menus. Without a doubt, fans of Star Wars and of KoTOR will want to watch this one.

Star Wars: Battlefront (PS2, Xbox)
LucasArts had not one or two, but four Star Wars games at E3. This, however, may have be seen an inevitable. It's was also inevitable that the company would one day create an online Star Wars epic where Rebel and Imperial forces would battle it out for control of planets on both the PC and console. Star Wars: Battlefront boasts such squad-based battles and it blew me away in the process. It takes those blockbuster scenes filled with an army of extras, as depicted in the trilogy and subsequently acted out by Star Wars nerds all across the globe, but now you have control and don't look so dorky. A total of 16 players participate online and up to 32 in offline LAN matches. So, even though this game is going to offer a healthy amount of action for a single player, it's almost essential to own a PS2 modem or subscribe to Xbox Live if you haven't done so already. After all, there's nothing quite like an 8-on 8 online battle bwteen Rebel forces with rocket launchers and Imperial Walks as both sides attempt to take each others locations. It's surely a battle that Star Wars fans have fathomed for many years and can finally experience in September.

Star Wars Republic Commando (Xbox)
No, this isn't a Jedi mind trick. The third and final Star Wars game on a console is also a squad-based shooter called Republic Commando. Unlike Battlefront though, this Xbox and PC title stresses its single-player campaign, which consists of a squad of four elite Republic Commando units that act more like an army of one. Technically, they are one in that each is a clone according to the Star Wars saga. So, LucasArts created a simple control scheme to make them move as one as well. This reduces the need for micromanagement, but still allows players to use the squad as a weapon. While all of this is a newfound experience for the Star Wars franchise, it really acts a lot like any military squad-based game, only it's set in the vast Star Wars universe and revolves around completing Star Wars tasks. From the brief E3 demo, the Star Wars theme combined with the theme of a squad-based shooter is something fans of both will come to appreciate in the fall.

Mercenaries (PS2, Xbox)
Before trying Mercenaries, I had perhaps unfairly written the title off as just another action game. However, after actually sitting down and trying the title, I can actually say that Mercenaries has more than the traditional action title. Mercenaries is about a band of three heroes for hire that hunt terrorists. Each terrorist is represented by a playing card, which obviously makes 52 targets and 52 missions for the game. The graphics are incredible, and the environments are almost completely interactive, and everything on-screen is useable or destroyable. I was fascinated by the freedom that the game offered me. I could kill enemies and take their weapons, I could jack helicopters and tanks to aid me in my battle, I could even choose whether to kill or capture my intended target. The A.I. will even treat you differently depending on your actions, since all affiliations will remember if you cross them or helped them and respond accordingly. Mercenaries definitely seems like it will be an action title to watch.