Breached

Breached was built from the ground up to be more than just a collection of 3D and fully 3D gameplay. Rather than feeling like you're doing a somewhat mediocre 3D conversion of an existing engine, Infogrames (still in the middle of development) has opted to go with the massive world of technology. The graphics are obviously spectacular, and many of the textures are more detailed than you may have realized at this early stage. Each location has its own details, and your sword attacks will have a nice variety to them, too. There's even an attack system that makes weapons and blocks drop, making the game more like the PS2's Katamari Damacy. In addition, the enemies you fight are somewhat ferocious, including wyverns and zeppelins.

The Infogrames version of Breach actually resembles the original but with bigger effects. As you might expect from an Infogrames game, the sound and the visuals are almost identical. The game is quite large, though, and the audio has come a long way since its inception. Even though the main difference between the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions is the game's graphics engine, it still uses the same engine as the Xbox version. Breach includes more than 30 new visual effects, many of which are exclusive to the PlayStation 2 version. These include a combination of realistic lighting and particle effects, environmental effects like fog and fire, and weapon effects like lasers.

But while many of the same assets and gameplay features remain the same, Breach features a couple of unique aspects. The game is designed to be extremely addictive and will be easy to pick up and play, but not so easy that you can be lost in the game's complex but challenging gameplay. You can choose to play in first-person or third-person mode, and the game will allow you to take control of both types of troops, with differing camera angles. The field conditions are highly varied, and each level is full of detail, but you can also choose to play in first-person or third-person. You can also choose to play any combination of forces, and there's a whole suite of multiplayer options. The game will feature a healthy dose of mod support, allowing you to create your own battles and alter the landscape.

The visuals in the game are suitably impressive, and for those not yet used to third-person, they're quite a sight to behold. Breach will play like a typical first-person shooter, with detailed environments, impressive effects, and animation. The game features highly detailed 3D environments that are actually deformable, though there are a couple of instances where the game appears to veer too far from the traditional first-person perspective. Though the game doesn't seem to be in any way quite as complex as some of the Xbox Live-enabled first-person shooters, the impressive level of detail is hard to ignore. Breach will support real-time particle effects, in addition to a number of other graphical flourishes that will be sure to impress players.

One of the other new features in the game is the "repetitive fire extinguisher" ability, which lets you extinguish objects with just a single click. This allows you to fire in both barrels and bodies, although the water is a bit more prone to getting blown up. If you want to use the extinguisher to extinguish a few fires, you'll need to use a thermal torch on the car or perhaps a thermo-sensitive object on the vehicle. Grenades, of course, will also be able to extinguish cars and other objects. This is a great option for cleaning up the mess of the world. The game will feature a number of different camera views for each level, which will include a first-person perspective, as well as an alternate third-person perspective for the driving sequences. You'll also be able to use a spray-and-pray feature to distract enemies, which seems to help you to be able to take them down more quickly than in the standard first-person view. You'll be able to use the enhanced firepower of your weapons at any given time, as well as the "special-effect" technique that's actually a grenade-recovering device that will let you see through smoke and obscure objects.

The levels in the game are set in the same varied locales as those in the previous Rainbow Six games, with varying levels of detail. The outdoor level has a clear look, with long grass and trees swaying in the breeze. The urban level has a bit more detail than the first-person views, with assorted buildings and buildings that will gently sway and sway when you're in view. The hospital level has a more abstract look that serves to show off the expanded geometry of the game. You'll see thick concrete and overturned cars, clear pipes, and even more moving parts strewn throughout the level. The action will also shift from a third-person view to a first-person perspective that shows off your character's weapons' scope.