vandy404

You know when first heard about this game I thought it sounded interesting but then turned my attention almost immediately to KOTOR. Gamespy just posted a preview and now I'm really looking to forward to this game.

The control system sounds particularly interesting and from watching the videos as well it seems to work really well. I get the feeling the Jade Empire could be a game that we will talk about of many years to come. Perhaps it could even satisfy my hunger for more Shenmue.

Darth Sidious

In addition, here's a fact sheet from the Consumer Electronics Show 2005.

Title: "Jade Empire"
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: BioWare Corp.
Format: DVD for the Xbox® video game system
ESRB Rating: Pending
Availability: Spring 2005
Pricing: TBD

Product Overview:
In this game set in an ancient, mysterious world inspired by mythical China, players train under their master's watchful eye, learning powerful martial arts and mystical powers. When danger threatens, players travel across the world, from the harsh mountains of the Land of Howling Spirits to the lush gardens of the Imperial City. In their adventures, players face powerful human and supernatural foes, learn exotic and magical martial arts, and discover the darkest secrets of the world. Only by mastering the greatest fighting styles and defeating the most powerful enemies will players earn their place as a master of martial arts in the world of "Jade Empire."

Key Features:

Innovative fighting system. As players journey through "Jade Empire," they can upgrade their starting combat style or learn entirely new styles, depending on their gameplay preferences. Gamers can learn more than 20 fighting styles, each with unique strengths and weaknesses, including martial arts styles (Legendary Fist, Storm Dragon), magic styles (Paralyzing Palm, Dire Flame), and weapon styles (Twin Axes, Halberd and improvised weapons such as chairs). Each fighting style has its own speed, power, multistyle combination and form that ranges from punches and kicks to weapon strikes, mystical powers and even transformations into supernatural monsters. Combat is fast-paced, and real-time martial arts action characterized by rapid style changes as players and enemies alike seek out their opponents' weaknesses.

Become a martial arts master. Players can jump into the story right away with a pregenerated martial artist or customize a character with specific play preferences. Each character has a unique appearance, individual voice set, and a powerful combination of fighting styles and ability scores. A player can focus on strength, speed or magic, or build a character with a balance of all three. As their characters progress, players can focus on a narrow channel of fighting styles and become dominant in these forms, or study a wide variety of styles adaptable to many combat situations. Players must choose whether to act for good or evil, and their decisions have consequences that precede them throughout the land, impacting their game experience.

Epic story set in the mythical Jade Empire. In an ancient, mysterious world inspired by mythical China, players train under their master's watchful eye, learning powerful martial arts and mystical powers. When danger threatens, players travel across the world, from the harsh mountains of the Land of Howling Spirits to the lush gardens of the Imperial City. In their adventures, players face powerful human and supernatural foes, learn exotic and magical martial arts, and discover the darkest secrets of the world. Only by mastering the greatest fighting styles and defeating the most powerful enemies will players earn their place as a master of martial arts in the world of "Jade Empire."

Developer Information:

BioWare Corp. is an electronic entertainment company that develops computer and console games. BioWare's developers are currently hard at work on the action-RPG "Jade Empire," a BioWare-created intellectual property to be published by Microsoft Corp. for Xbox

(http://jade.bioware.com). Two other untitled projects, both featuring original BioWare intellectual properties, are also in development for PC and console. "Star Wars:® Knights of the Old Republic,TM" published by LucasArts and released July 18, 2003, for Xbox and Nov. 18, 2003, for PC, is currently enjoying critical praise and great commercial success. "Neverwinter NightsTM: Hordes of the UnderdarkTM," the second official expansion for the critically acclaimed PC role-playing game "Neverwinter Nights," published by Atari, was released Dec. 2, 2003, and has enjoyed critical success. Previously published projects include the award-winning "Neverwinter Nights," the genre-defining "Baldur's GateTM" role-playing game series for the PC, "MDKTM2" for Dreamcast and PC, "MDK2: Armageddon" for PlayStation®2 and "Shattered SteelTM." Information about BioWare can be found online at http://www.bioware.com.

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