E3 Oni Demo, Part II
Some more information on Oni following another few rounds of playing with it.
The third person aiming is a bit difficult, but the laser sight on the guns (which doesn't project a laser line, just the red dot) actually works fairly well once you know to watch for it.
One of the Bungie guys, who apparently has CHET CODZ, was playing as the elite striker, a big bruiser with some terrific armor. Part of the demonstration he was doing revolved around grabs and holds, something I missed yesterday. All characters appear to be equipped with their own throws and holds, which probably double as disarming moves (need to check on that). The evironment makes these even more fun--don't hip toss your opponent, hip toss him into a wall. Or off a building...
Another interesting addition to the ability to interpolate between different animations was demonstrated by Bungie's Allen Turner. Not only does a character have different punches if they are standing or crouching, but they actually have different moves for when they are halfway between the two. If you're crouching and release the crouch button to being standing, and hit the punch button before Konoko is finished standing, she rockets into an uppercut instead of standing up and then punching. The combat engine is phenomenally flexible--different attacks can be assigned to the two attack buttons depend on the direction your character is moving in, the proximity of your enemy (punches and kicks may turn into a throw instead), chorded buttons, jumping and crouching, AND changes between any of those states. The result is a lot of possibilities without a ton of keys--anyone who could play Marathon with a keyboard can easily handle the Oni controls.
As for the newly arisen issue of no netplay, that deserves an article in itself. However, it's worth pointing out that Oni was LAN playable at MWSF, and the primary reason for no LAN netplay is because of the time and effort required to create netmaps and netgames. These are, however, things that could be added at a later date--the priority right now appears to be on creating a superb solo game, and doing so on time for the PS2's North American launch, when it is widely believed Oni will be launched.
Certainly looking forward to the possibility (and it's only that... no promises have been made), since this game definitely has the genre-buster quality to it. Rolling a 3D action and fighting game together hasn't been done yet, but Oni does exactly that. Don't wrinkle your nose at there being no netplay--the solo game will still not be one to miss.
Originally posted May 14, 2000