DIRT - Origin of the Species Preview

Origin of the Species seems to have been in development for eternity. At E3 2004 a video preview of the game was on display which I wrote about here http://pc.gamezone.com/gzreviews/p24191.htm. After E3 2004 I never read anything else about the game, but I recall seeing the game on a couple of release schedules recently. This usually indicates the game is almost finished but after playing the game we might be better off waiting.

The preview copies of games we get a chance to play at GameZone are not always finished games and sometimes contain bugs/glitches. The demo of Origin of the Species was no different, but the bugs in the demo have me questioning just how soon the game will be released. Falling through floors, slow down and wacky sound effects and music made it very difficult to even finish part of the levels. One bug in the demo had the main character, Dirt, falling through the floor only to a point where the character would disappear. The only way to continue the game was to start over again.

The game itself is a third-person-perspective action game that is supposed to have some RPG elements included. The main character in the game, Dirt, is a sassy young girl that will remind some gamers of a younger, hipper version of Laura Croft. I controlled Dirt just the same as other third-person or first-person perspective games; the mouse controlled the camera angle and weapon fire, while the W, S, A and D keys controlled the movement of the character. Another glitch in the demo were the weapons for Dirt. Every weapon looked exactly the same in the on-screen display, while you changed weapons. It really didn't seem to matter which weapon was selected because the targeting always felt off and hard to aim. I always had to be standing right next to a creature in order to hit them with any consistency.

The animation of the characters in the game were choppy regardless of the action happening on screen. The creatures would just crumble after being hit instead of reacting to the weapon fire. The camera angle was adjustable but would stutter when trying to move the camera around. The rest of the graphics in the demo reminded me of a game from the late 90's instead of a game coming out in 2005. The textures were very bland, the character models looked extremely old compared to other games being released today. Really the only positive aspect of the graphics were the main character, which looked better than the rest of the characters and graphics in the game.

One interesting aspect of the game should be the special powers that Dirt possesses. There were several special moves available to play in the game, which ranged from telekinesis powers to a slow motion effect. The telekinesis powers seem to the new “hot weapon” to include in games nowadays. One special power allowed Dirt to create an flamethrower type of weapon out of her hands for some serious damage. The best special power in the demo was the slow motion-effect, which will remind players of the Max Payne and Matrix bullet-time effect. The slow motion allows Dirt to unleash a barrage of weapon fire while she is jumping backwards in slow motion. It was a great-looking effect though I never hit an enemy once with it.

From what I played of the demo I didn't find any RPG characteristics or elements. Maybe those elements weren't ready yet in the demo so I'm not sure how they will be implemented in the final version. The music in the game would drowned out all of the voice acting in the game, which made it almost impossible to tell what was happening in the storyline. It's sad that all of these bugs were in the game but even without the bugs the game doesn't appear to be the next great new gaming franchise. The video on display at E3 2004 looked great but actually playing the game really makes me wonder just how good the final version of the game will end up.