POD II For: Dreamcast Genre: racing Reviewed by: Brandon Developer: Ubi Soft Publisher: Ubi Soft Released:11.30.00   POD II Our quick look at Ubi's E3 demo mutates into full-blown impressions. Tons of new screens and movies August 25, 2000 UPDATE: 08.25.00 The last time I saw POD2, I walked away from the title thinking, "Boy, I hope they don't screw this one up, 'cause it could be pretty cool." Unfortunately, the demo we played was only one level and was, despite all its promise, looking very early, so the jury was still out on this sequel. Well, a tiny little package arrived today from UbiSoft that has the publishing giant turning in a firm "Not Guilty" verdict in the rushed games department. That, and it has this racing fan grinning ear to ear at the possibilities. POD2 has changed a lot since our spin at Ubi's Gamer's Day a few weeks back, and is now looking fast, detailed, and incredibly fun at this stage in the game, and with a November release on the way, things can only get better. The first significant change we noticed was the scope of this playable. We now had access to about 8 vehicles, and a total of five tracks. Each track had its own look, feel, and set of obstacles. Best of all, though, is the fact that each track was packed to the gills with shortcuts and random pathways. About every 20 seconds or so, we came across a choice between to directions, be it a jump into a seemingly bottomless pit that led us to a secret roadway below, or an alternate road that would take us around some natural disaster or the rest of the pack, split decisions were by no means in short supply during our playtest, and though the game is still a bit early, the tracks looked really awesome on the whole. This is thanks largely to the fact that the game itself has also been cleaned up a great deal. Visually speaking, the shaky framerate we spoke of at E3 has now been reduced to a rare wobble, and P2 is now coming very close to clocking in at a solid 60 FPS. Ubi has also added a ton of lighting effects, and the "Canyon" level featured in the first demo now looks less like a grainy sandbox we saw a few weeks back and more like the war torn desert wasteland we expected. Of course, we didn't spend too much time looking, as the increase in framerate has allowed the game to move much faster, and the landscape really flies by. The sense of speed is pretty slick, and the way these tracks twist and turn, POD 2 just may set a new standard for next-generation track visuals. More important than the graphical shot in the arm is the kick in gameplay. While we still aren't seeing signs of mutations on the cars themselves, the track's natural obstacles are in full effect, and seems quite willing to show us the full destructive force of the POD virus at every opportunity. Strange green goo covers the roads. Odd little creatures will crawl across your path. Big robotic dinosaurs romp through the big turn of one track, and an occasional plant creature will spring up and smash a car or two. Each obstacle seems to move around while you race, at least in temrs of its general damage area, so you never feel like it is a timed event, adding to the general feeling of suspense pod 2 is aiming for. The control so far is a little rough, but once you get the hang of things, the game is probably best described as somewhere between Psygnosis' Rollcage and the RUSH series. Most of the tracks are pretty narrow, too, so despite the crisp framerate, the game isn't always about high-speed shenanigans. We often found ourselves slowing down to make sure we caught an important shortcut, and the game uses a turbo system not unlike Hydro Thunder without the pick-ups (meaning you have the juice until your meter runs out, then you're done), so the key to success here seems to be speed in short bursts. If you try to go all out, it can be pretty to easy to go flying all over the road, and the game's AI will take advantage of your sloppy skills. You'll have a chance to brush up on your precision via the game's ghost mode, which pits you against your last lap in the race, and you can circle around 'till you're blue in the face, learning all the shortcuts and ideal speeds to avoid losing control. There's also a standard racing mode, with all the trimmings, as well as a "thriller mode", in which racing enthusiasts can compete without any weapons or power-ups in a more speed-driven race. Unfortunately, there's no word just yet on a league mode, but we'll keep you posted. Of course, we're sure you guys are most curious about the game's promised Online mode. The good news is, the build we've got comes complete with this feature, and we'll be taking a much closer look at it on Monday. I know, I know, but the social life calls. It is a Friday night, after all. You guys will survive though, as we've slapped down a ton of fresh new movies and screens of the game in action. Take a look, and check back next week for the full skinny on Network insanity. -- Brandon Justice, IGNDC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The original POD was really fast, and sported some seriously sweet visuals for its time, but the one thing it really lacked was a little weaponry. For a futuristic racer in a war-torn planet, it seemed only natural that these guys would resort to death-by-gadgetry, but for some reason UbiSoft abstained. Despite some areas of the game being worlds beyond what we were seeing at the time, in the area of car combat, Ubi lagged behind. Since then, track design in the racing genre has also managed to take a great leap forward, in terms of sheer size as well as design. So naturally, between these two concerns, my biggest questions upon stepping to the plate with POD II at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo was simply this: Would UbiSoft’s second effort in the series shows its age, or its developer’s desire to bring the series into the next generation? Thankfully, it seems they are on the right track, figuratively and literally. The first thing I noticed is that the game is certainly looking to keep up with what made it so appealing in the first place, and that is its sense of speed. The game was obviously rather early, with only one available track, and will obviously benefit from further development in the frame-rate department, but the game is already moving at a fairly fast clip. If they can get it up to 60…oh, man, this game will be hot. I say this because the track design has indeed managed to evolve with the times. After that brief yet satisfying playtest, I want nothing more than to blaze through each course with reckless abandon. Tons of shortcuts littered the track we witnessed, as well as multiple paths, random “acts of god,” and a ton if killer jumps. It was basically a desert environment, and not only could you tear through canyons, but there were a ton of bridges that ran alongside or over top of these canyons, and even after several races, we were still finding new ways to run through the race. And thanks to my favorite new addition to the POD series, the AI-controlled cars were also pretty big on “helping“ us find new paths via a little destructive behavior. POD II features a host of strange weapons which, despite the fact that I couldn’t really tell what I was picking up, turned out to be pretty cool. If they manage to tweak the AI level of awareness, it looks like the game may balance out as a cool mix between Wipeout and RUSH. Personally, I hope they can pull it off. We expect to get a much closer look at POD II a bit later this summer, where we should see much more on additional cars and tracks, as well as the implementation of the game’s Online elements, which should be a big boost for SegaNet this fall. Expect new details as soon as they become available, but in the meantime, take a look at our footage snagged from the show floor at E3. -- Brandon Justice, IGNDC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SegaNet’s debut is just a few months away, and while some key companies have forsaken Internet play in favor of an early release or easy conversion, one of Sega’s most crucial Third-Party developers is hard at work on a racer that just may fill a huge gap in both the console’s racing line-up and its upcoming Online gaming network. That game is UbiSoft’s POD II. Now, I’m not sure how in tune you are to the PC gaming scene, but this speed demon is a follow-up to the super-fast futuristic Windows title POD. Though it laked the vehicle-on-vehicle mayhem of Psygnosis Wipeout, the game had a distinct visual style and moved at an incredible pace. Not only has Ubi decided that us Dreamcast gamers could make use of such a title, but the sequel will feature a host of additions that should make this game superior to its predecessor in nearly every way. The sequel picks up on the original game’s story, which told the tale of the Planet Io and its infection by a mysterious substance known as Pod. Apparently, the infection has spread to a mining colony on a planet called Damethra, and is causing machines to mutate and spread the deadly virus. You play the role of a colonist who must race for your life to escapes the clutches of this mysterious plague. Not too bad for a racing game, eh? But the thing is, your vehicles aren’t the only thing in danger due to the virus’ current rampage on the landscape. To help keep with this storyline, POD II will benefit from some major changes in the area of track design that directly correspond to this idea. The game will play host to ten new futuristic tracks, each of which will feature interactive elemtns and “mutating” elements that promise to keep racers on their toes in every single lap. Not only this, but the Pod virus will also effect the games vehicles. The game will offer up 8 completely new vehicles in four distinct vehicle types, but so far, Ubi has offered no hint as to whether or not we’ll see the return of any cars from the original. Visually, the game promises to severely up the ante from the original, and Ubi is looking to push the game to a blistering 60 FPS on the Dreamcast. Early screens show the engine has not only picked up an affinity for insane turns and extremely curvy tracks, but a keen eye for visual effects as well. Expect a look that mixes the best parts of comparable racers in the genre. While we’re all for this game looking the part, we hope the gameplay is once again up to par. One key element to this end will be network play, which will apparently support up to 8 players across SegaNet. Ubi promises multiple modes to take advantage of this new advancement in console gaming, and considering steps taken by the original such as downloadable cars and tracks, the ability to upload and download ghost races from other POD owners and more, we’re hoping that at least some of these goodies find their way to the Dreamcast sequel. Though POD II is still a ways out from its September release, we expect to get a much better look at this one on the show floor, so look back over the next few days for a more detailed report on one of our most anticipated racers of the year 2000. -- Brandon Justice, IGNDC 8.24.00   click on the above images for screenshot for the larger image images from ign