By Jesse Wingert and Mitch West
At E3, the GamerNode staff got to view a preview for the new game based on the Christoper Paolini’s novel, Eragon. It is the first book of the Inheritance Trilogy and has spent over 60 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list. Because of the popularity and fan base of the book, Fox 2000 (a division of 20th Century Fox) has decided to bring the book to the silver screen, and in turn, it is being developed for multiple game platforms.
The story follows a young man named Eragon as he finds a polished blue stone in the forest. Thinking it is nothing but a lucky discovery, the farm-boy tries to sell it to earn money for his family. But when the stone gives forth a dragon hatchling, Eragon becomes conscious to an empires-old legacy. In a blink of an eye, Eragon’s world is completely turned upside-down as he is jostled into a land of magic, corruption and power; a world that was only known to Eragon though ancient folklore.
Now Eragon must pursue a wicked King who knows no limit of evil. The only thing he has is the might of his dragon, a sword and the counsel of his hometown storyteller. Now, you can take control of Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, as they both struggle to bring an end to the evil Empire and travel in the foot steps of the ancient Dragon Riders.
Eragon is an action adventure title, which promises great combo-based action. The combat is deep, and punishes button mashers with difficult enemy AI. The environments are absolutely stunning and rendered in beautiful 3D; every tiny detail is rendered right down to tiny ridges in a cliff wall. Combat will feature a wide variety of different magical moves, combos, and finishing attacks to perform, the animations for these attacks ranges from gruesome sword stabbing action to simply pushing someone off of a cliff, but nevertheless it looks good. As a Dragon Rider, Eragon can call in his trusty sidekick Saphira when things are looking a tad bit overwhelming.
Eragon will feature constant drop-in two player cooperative gameplay which will allow for intense action moments where the two players must strategize to best their opponents. There are also flying levels in the game, in which Eragon takes control of Saphira and the two work together to achieve their goal. This mode will also make use of the two player drop in co-op, in which one player can control Eragon and target enemies with his bow while player two controls Saphira, clearing the path using her fire breath and nasty tail whip.
Eragon will be released on all current gen consoles and PC as well as the Xbox 360, which will feature two extra levels. Different versions of the game will also be released on the PSP, as a flight sim, the Nintendo DS as an action RPG, and a turn based RPG on the Game Boy Advance. All of which are currently slated for a release in December.
For fans of the novels, this game is shaping up to be a definite must buy. Also, for anyone looking for a fun adventure title should look no further, Eragon looks to sport a beefy combat system as well as intuitive cooperative gameplay, and tackling a game with a friend is always much more fun than alone. Unfortunately the game as of now doesn’t look like it will support any online gameplay, but we can always hope.
