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Torn at E3 2001

The Specs

This is an RPG built from LithTech 3.0. Torn is set in a new fantasy world created by the developers at Black Isle Studios who created Planescape: Torment. The game uses Fallout's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. roleplaying system (nee GURPS), in which characters are developed by their skills rather than according to a specific class. There will be different realms of magic, different races (the standard elves et al., along with some original races), and a non-linear storyline with multiple arcs, which can be played through as a multi- or single player game. Your character is a wanderer with a mysterious background who may be either the fulfillment of a prophecy or the pawn to it.

The Speculation

Mark's Comments: I think I was sleeping when I saw this game demoed at E3. I don't remember much about it besides LithTech and the Fallout system. Maybe it was just that cliché was piled on cliché. The world's been torn into three planes blah blah blah: Good, evil, and the place where the action takes place, what for lack of a better term I'll call "the regular world." Your character doesn't know much about his past or destiny or something and Christ, I'm tired of mystery characters. Good fights evil in this game I'm pretty sure. You can be good. You can be evil. For all I know you can be an evil armadillo who wants to turn to the side of goodness. It's real-time with pausable combat. Looks ok.

Tom's Comments: Unlike Mark, I was paying attention. Besides, whether you use amnesia or a shipwreck, you somehow have to account for the fact that you're introducing the player to a new world, so he can't very well play someone who's familiar with the area. And the basic premise here is more of an amoral order vs. chaos rather than good vs. evil. But no matter -- there are still a lot of elves and stuff running around. For a game set in an original world, Torn does look an awful lot like other fantasy RPGs. And to be honest, it didn't make for a very spectacular demo. The quality of the final product will rely heavily on storyline and writing, two rare commodities in the business of game development. But this is precisely what's exciting about Torn -- it's being created by the same guys who did Planescape: Torment, one of gaming's finest examples of writing and storytelling. After Torment, I honestly couldn't care less if those guys do a fantasy world with hackneyed plot elements. After all, at its basic level, wasn't Planescape: Torment just another game about a guy with amnesia?

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May 22, 2001