Okay, I kind of feel bad since glue works at Fox Interactive and after graciously
accepting the offer to write for this site I brutally slam them in my first
article. However, do quote that I feel kind of bad. Emphasis on
kind of. Hey, even I have a sense of humor. I may rip into people,
but I can joke too. But enough bantering on about me, this article is
about Fox and no I will not be Fox bashing this time. I mean, yeah I
do this for free but enjoy writing these articles so I’m not trying to get
myself removed from the site, however, I will always be honest and if need
be, do anything to report the truth. I will not tolerate censorship and
will not bend to it. Well, I guess I rambled on a bit longer than expected
but I just want those that actually care about what I have to say that I will
always report the truth. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. This
article is about Fox Interactive and the transition that the company has gone
through. I am fair and after bashing the company a little the last time,
instead of showing everyone what they did wrong, I plan on talking about what
they’ve been doing right.
For a while Fox Interactive was notorious for bad games. It was
practically common knowledge that any game with a Fox Interactive label sucked. Pretty
much in the ranks with Time Warner and other publishers that no one really
hears about these days. People may think I’m bashing again but before
anyone starts accusing me of anything, let me explain the purpose of all this. I
am going to be talking about what Fox has done right but first I had to talk
about what Fox Interactive did wrong in order to understand the huge significance
in change.
It was practically a 180 turn around. Things started changing
when Fox Interactive released Aliens versus Predator onto the PC. This
game was fast, hectic, suspenseful, innovative, unique, and most of all, fun. The
game did have its flaws but it represented a major step in the right direction. Aliens
versus Predator was very unique in the sense that it took a good story and
plot line and then told the story from three different perspectives: The
Alien, Predator, and Marine (actually humans…Marines aren’t really a species,
although actual Marines would probably like to think so). The game got
especially intense when playing as the marine. Walking around in a dimly
lit corridor with a pulse rifle containing about 60 rounds while the motion
sensors ping intervals get closer and closer can get rather nerve wracking. Playing
as the marine is very, very suspenseful as your vision sucks. They give
the player night vision goggles and flares to help the player see in the dark
(it may sound really good but it really isn’t) and pretty cool weapons but
not that much ammo to put in them. Oh, and did I also mention that the
marine moves really slow?
The playing styles is another aspect that sets this game apart from
a lot of FPS games. All three species’ styles are so completely different
from one another that it adds a lot of diversity in playability. I absolutely
loved playing as the predator. Playing as the predator was like playing
as God or something akin to it. People only lived because I allowed them
to live. In an instant I decided each potential victims fate, which usually
ended with them dying. The alien on the other hand is very fast and hectic. When
faced with multiple targets the alien moved so fast it was usually just best
to run like mad while flailing away with the claws, dismembering anything in
my way. AvP2 was an even bigger improvement on the original as it corrected
some of the things wrong with AvP and established a very tight and well written
story. Fox Interactive did a ton of things right with this game one of
the best things they did was to use and modify the Lithtech engine that was
originally used in No One Lives Forever.
As far as FPS games go, one of the smartest things Fox did was use Monolith
to develop the graphics engines. This started with No One Lives Forever. This
was one of the first blockbuster and just absolutely solid games to use the new
and very capable Lithtech engine. Amazing gameplay, stunning graphics and
visuals, all wrapped up into a neat, well developed and gripping story line easily
made this a major blockbuster for Fox Interactive and established them in the
industry as being capable of producing stellar titles and earning the respect
of developers and publishers around the world. After a few trials and new
management, the ball is in Fox Interactive’s hands as to where the company goes
from here. The groundwork has been set and the road paved with gold is
easily within grasp.
