Deep Silver brought their impressive 2009 line up of games to New York City on August 5th, and I was lucky enough to be in attendance. The titles included were; Cursed Mountain for the Wii, Risen for the PC/360, Fritz Chess for the DS/PS3/Wii, and Mytran Wars for the PSP. The event was reasonably crowded, with Cursed Mountain and Risen drawing the most attention, and with very good reason.

After muscling my way through the crowd of people in awe of Cursed Mountain’s creepy, yet remarkably engrossing environments I was able to get a first hand look at the game, and found myself thoroughly impressed by it. Cursed Mountain follows the story of Eric Simmons, our protagonist and top tier mountain climber, on his quest to find his brother, Frank. Eric’s journey takes him to Mount Chomolonzo in the Himalayas, where he encounters various ghosts and spirits inhabiting the mountain.  Players will use the Wii Mote and Nunchuk to assist Eric as he attempts to release the spirits haunting the mountain, who’s souls are trapped in “Bardo” which is Tibetan for Limbo. The game has a rich, cinematic feel too it supported by it’s influence of mysterious Tibetan and Buddhist legends and religious beliefs.

The games developers were interested in creating a truly frightening experience for gamers by putting the emphasis back on survival in the game’s genre, survival horror. Rather than mowing down enemies with assault rifles, players will find sacred artifacts to free the souls of enemies, while burning incense to recover HP. I really enjoyed the boss fight we had the chance to play. After Eric wanders into a small valley on his way up the mountain, and lights a triangle of torches, a large vulture like idol swoops in and attacks him. The game strikes a great balance of puzzles and combat, as displayed by the boss fight where players must take certain steps interacting with their environment to overcome enemies.

Through Eric’s journey to the peak, players will not only be treated to mountainous environments, but through areas like abandoned villages and cryptic monasteries  as well. The game has a seamless, sand box style world with minimal loading times, while pushing the Wii to it’s graphical limits.

I was also given the opportunity to try Deep Silver’s RPG for the 360/PC, “Risen.” The game, similar to Oblivion stylistically, opens with our protagonist shipwrecked on the Island of Faranga, in a post cataclysmic world. Players will be able to interact with an extremely wide variety of objects/items they find throughout the world and the environment itself. While you’re not able to create your own character, you’ll be given a good deal of freedom with the protagonist as he explores and the island, making decisions that will impact the flow of the game, and joining various factions and groups our protagonist encounters. Depending on what choices the player makes, the perspective of major plot events in the game will change.

Not wanting to focus simply on combat, the game’s leveling system will be tied into every facet of the game. Players will receive experience points for completing quests, exploring the terrain and meeting various other conditions while roaming the beautiful environments. The developers took a great sense of pride in Faranga’s environment, which is lush, elaborate and stunningly rendered. I found myself fully engrossed while playing, and felt compelled to explore every inch of I could. While roaming across the coastline with the first character you meet on the island, Sara, I was particularly bemused when wandering too far out in the water, a large sea worm leaped out of the water and devoured me whole. Fortunately for the game’s auto save feature, I was able to pick up right where I left off, and had saved any combat and skill progress I made.

The game’s interface is simple, and easy to pick up. Players can loot enemies they defeat around the island and will gain statistics and “learning points” which can be applied to learning and improving skills and abilities. The open world the game presents you with gives you surprising sense of freedom; Joining one faction, while dressing up in the attire of another, and being able to complete their quests. Other sections of the island will begin to unlock  for the player after meeting various objectives, as they guide the protagonist through Faranga on their own terms.

Next, I was able to try Mytran Wars for the PSP. Which is very artistically pleasing to the eye, with cell shaded, comic book inspired cutscenes. The game takes place in futuristic, 23rd century earth. Our natural resources have been depleted, players must fight for the rights to them in fully 3D turn based strategy. Strategy games have a huge audience  on the PSP, and Mytran Wars certainly won’t disappoint.

Finally, I played a round of Fritz Chess for the DS, which will also be available on the PS3 and Wii.  The game should be enjoyable for beginners at Chess and skilled players alike. It offers a wide range of difficulty settings, color coded move guides for beginners, and over 2,000 historically famous Chess matches for die hard fans of the table top board game.

Deep Silver boasted a diverse, enjoyable line up for a variety of gamers. When you’re too scared from an intense boss battle in Cursed Mountain, you’ll be able to relax and enjoy a riveting game of Fritz Chess suited to your skill level. All games listed will be released in 2009, keep an eye out for them throughout the year.

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