E3: Kemco displays Shadowgate 64, drops Shadowgate Rising

[05.14.99] » Changes afoot for classic series' return.

   One of the primary titles on display at Kemco's booth was the long-awaited sequel to the 8-bit classic Shadowgate, Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers. Confirmed by Kemco for a June 13th release, the game is already gathering a strong positive buzz as a worthy successor to the in-depth first person exploration of the original. Single screen rooms have now been replaced with a fully 3D environment, with plenty of NPCs to interact with and items to find. The item management system is easy-to-use and intutive, as the "hotspots" to pick up an item are generous and help avoid the frustration caused by items in many 3D titles.

   Shadowgate 64 also manages to avoid inflicting constant death when the player doesn't get everything right the first time. Developer Infinite Ventures has forsaken this annoying gameplay mechanic in favor of a more exploration-based method, which frees up the gamer to try things without fear of one mistake always meaning death. "We wanted to emphasize the player being in a fully 3D world", noted Kemco, "the development team considered that a very important objective".

   In other Shadowgate news, Kemco has officially dropped Shadowgate Rising from their publishing line-up. Although they chose to commission two titles in their quest to revive the Shadowgate license, Kemco has decided to no longer pick up the second in the series, also developed by Infinite Ventures. Tentatively titled "Shadowgate Rising", there is no word yet on who is now publishing this other project.