Some games claim to be revolutionary, but very few actually can live up to that claim. However, whenever Peter Molyneux lends his hand to a title, it usually turns out to be an excellent example of game design. We have the opportunity to sit down with the master has he presented Lionhead Studios' first satellite project to us, and after we picked our jaws off the floor we managed to type out these impressions.

Developed by Big Blue Box in the UK, the game is currently known as Project Ego, but it has also been known as Heroes and Fable as well as many other names throughout the course of it's development. At the core, it's a RPG, but the classic description of that term as it is applied to videogames can hardly begin to describe what this game is ' it is that revolutionary.

While the core of the game is a role playing game, it gets very unique right at the beginning. You play a single character that begins the game around age fifteen and can be either male or female. Throughout the game it will age and at the end of the game they will be seventy or eighty. And when I say age, the character literally ages. Wrinkles appear, hair turns gray, and the guys will grow facial hair that will need to be cut if it gets too long for your tastes.

Not only will your character age, but also their appearance will change depending on your actions and choices in the game. Stand in the sun for too long, and you'll get a tan. Swing heavy stuff and work out and your character will become buff. Get a cut on your arm, and it will heal to become a scar. You can also cut your hair however you want, and those who use magic and become very wise will begin to get receding hairlines.

There aren't set character classes in the game as you make your character exactly how you want it via your actions in the game world. You can do whatever you want. If you see someone wearing clothes that you want, you can knock them out or kill them and steal their stuff and you can do that to absolutely anyone in the game world. However, doing that will vilify you and turn your character down an evil path of life. On the other hand, if you are noble and heroic you will eventually become a beloved knight type character. Those descriptions sound more structured than the game actually is, as every single experience in the game will be unique to each person. Also, people will react to how you are dressed. They will look at you in a better way if you are in shining armor as opposed to torn rags.

With the game set in a world that is a complete and on going simulation, things that you do will also affect the game world. If you drop an acorn on the ground, it will eventually grow into a tree that you are able to use for shade or defense. Also, as your fame (or infamy grow) people around the world will begin to admire you or fear you. As you go from town to town, people will be singing songs about your exploits in pubs and even children will begin to wear their hair like you in admiration. Speaking of children, you are able to pick a flower, woo a person, get married, and have kids that will actually grow up and age throughout the course of the game.

Graphically the game is already impressive, hell, just look at the screens below. Individual blades of grass blow in the wind, the sun casts incredible shadows, people go about their lives in the background, it has unbelievable draw distance, and the character models are incredibly detailed. What we saw was still extremely early, but we were told that we would see at least a 100% graphic improvement upon how the game currently looks. And judging by the screens below, we can't imagine how the game could look even better than it already does.

Project Ego is not yet due until Fall of 2002, but from what was shown today, and if the game continues down the path it is headed, we can possibly be looking at Game of the Year 2002. And it is only on Xbox.

We'll be looking very closely at this incredible game and will bring you new details as soon as possible.

--Jeremy Conrad, IGN Xbox





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