Homeworld Bound

Vivendi might not be a household name, but most gamers know who Blizzard Entertainment is. Vivendi owns Blizzard��along with Sierra Entertainment, Fox Interactive, and a slew of others��and Vivendi��s future is in question right now while the parent company attempts to sell its gaming division. Rumor has it that Microsoft and Electronic Arts are not interested in buying it, which is actually good for PC gamers, because it��s less likely that Blizzard would become the next Bungie (and all of Blizzard��s games would only ship on Xbox).

Although Vivendi��s future is uncertain, the company��s line of games continues to grow. In addition to the upcoming Homeworld 2, Vivendi recently announced Tribes: Vengeance, Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring, The Hobbit, Lords of the Realm III, and more. Wil O��Neal and I had a chance to check out a few of the titles at the company��s pre-E3 event, so here��s what I learned while Wil flirted with Vivendi��s PR ladies.

The creators of Battle Realms are working on Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring, the first RTS based on the Tolkien saga. Players choose either the forces of good and fight for the One Ring��s destruction, or play as the forces of evil to claim control over Middle-earth. The game will introduce locations and characters not featured in the films, single-player and multiplayer campaigns, special abilities for the heroes, magic, and more.

Homeworld 2 is taking dramatic shape and is rapidly approaching its fall release. The game looks like an evolutionary improvement on the original space-based strategy game, with better graphics, lighting, and much more detail.

Mother ships are now customizable to let different players pursue different tactics. Fighters will no longer be useless against capital ships, because they can target the larger ships�� subsystems such as engines or weapon turrets. ��Now you can target the engine subsystems and that is enough to potentially cripple the ship,�� says producer Alex Rodberg.

But the big news was Vivendi��s signing with Irrational Entertainment (System Shock 2, Freedom Force) to create the next Tribes games. Tribes Vengeance, scheduled for late next year, will reportedly feature a story-driven single-player campaign in addition to its trademark multiplayer action. Irrational seems to be setting the bar pretty high in terms of graphics quality, with realistic facial expressions, vehicles that kick up dust, and stunning weapon effects��powered by a modified version of the Unreal engine. It should be one to watch, so next month we��ll bring you a special in-depth scoop on what this game has in store. Check it out!

Copyright © 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.