The Westerner archived preview
Although Revistronic Media probably isn't the game developer that has raised the most attention in the gaming industry, many adventure gamers would recognize them from their previous western-based title, 3 Skulls of the Toltecs. The game was released in 1996, and was the first Spanish computer game to be distributed worldwide. Translated into seven different languages and published by Warner Interactive, the game sold 180,000 copies in Europe.
Now, Revistronic Media will yet again put you in the shoes of Fenimore Fillmore, as they plan to release The Westerner in the second quarter of 2003. This time around, we will guide Fenimore in his quest to help a lonesome farm in their fight against the powerful cattle raiser of the place. Fenimore has to use his wits, talents, and a whole lot of bullets and dynamite to restore peace. And, as in any good story, there's also a beautiful girl involved...
This could have been the story of any run-of-the-mill action game, but The Westerner is in fact a point & click adventure in full 3D. Players will use the standard mouse interface to move Fenimore around, and when the mouse pointer is over an active object, the name of the object will appear in the bottom of the screen. As the game is entirely in 3D, the camera can be controlled at any time, even when you are having a conversation with a character. The game also includes several movie sequences, most of them in-game.
The Westerner will feature six main locations, including the town of Starek with a general store, bank, the sheriff's office, etc. Revistronic has put a great effort in trying to give the game the look and feel of a western movie. Fenimore Fillmore will meet over 30 main characters in his quest, and since The Westerner is a classic humorous adventure game, Revistronic promises that the conversations will be both funny and helpful.
At this moment, the graphics seem pretty promising. Although Revistronic has chosen to use 3D graphics for their game, they have managed to capture the “cartoony” feeling of a 2D adventure. The developer promises that PICTuRE, their in-house developed graphics engine, is giving them an unique possibility to create an emotional depth to the game, with visual effects such as depth-of-view and highly detailed facial animations. All this will bring a movie-like feeling to the game, as could be seen through the many screenshots, where the characters bear a close resemblance to the ones seen in movies such as Toy Story.
The Westerner is scheduled for a Q2 2003 release in Europe. Currently, the game hasn't got an American release date, but Revistronic is hoping to reach an agreement with a publisher soon. Be sure to keep checking in with Adventure Gamers as we will watch the development of this title closely!
