Jade Empire

An orphaned child, spirited away from an invading army, raised in a martial arts school in a remote area of the world by a mysterious teacher … destiny is reaching out and a new path is about to be revealed.

Life at the school in Two Rivers was almost sedate. The training was intense, but for Zhu Ming, also known as Furious Ming, it was a world in which he could display his gifts. Little wonder he was the top martial arts student at Master Li’s school, which was tucked away in a remote corner of the Seat of Heaven.

But the world evolves and not all of the changes are for good. There is a rumor of spirits unable to cross over to the celestial plains of the ancestors, spirits driven mad by their entrapment, and wandering the land.

And then, one day, a pirate ship arrives in the harbor, and brigands wander into the village. They are looking for something, or someone. The captain of the pirate ship is one of the Lotus Assassins.

Ming is sent to head off the attack while Master Li rushes to aid a fallen student, brutally attacked.

It is at this moment that destiny reveals the first steps to the new path.

Jade Empire is a BioWare-developed, Microsoft-published title, exclusively for the Xbox console system. Microsoft arranged for a media tour of BioWare’s Edmonton studios and afforded a hands-on look at the first hour, or so, of gameplay in this pending title. GameZone was invited along for the trip, and had the opportunity to delve into the world.

The game set-up in the previewable portion was somewhat linear with a musical score that drove the intensity of the action and hinted at more to come. While there were five playable avatars, bridging four central styles of play (speed, strength, magic and balanced), during the opening  chapter of the game, there was little to distinguish between the classes. Male or female, the action and combat played out the same at this stage.

The story is deep and involves a world that was on the brink of disaster. Drought had ravaged the land and Emperor Sun Hai was watching his world fall apart. But just when it seemed the Empire was lost, the Emperor suddenly brought water to the land. Rivers rose and rain fell and the world was revitalized. But something else happened as well. The Emperor became more reclusive, and ever by his side is Death’s Hand, a formidable masked warrior who heads the Lotus Assassins and is the general of the armies. Spirits seem unable to cross from the world of the Jade Empire to the ethereal realm, and corruption is raising its head in many ways.

It was in the Land of Howling Spirits that a child was found and spared the sword, spirited away with Master Li and raised in the martial arts school. The child was found at a monastery (the Temple of Dirge), and though clothed in mystery, it seems as though this child has a role to play in the world, and in the ultimate destiny of the Jade Empire.

Players are able to choose from one of five different avatars – two females and three males.

The game begins with a sparring match, which serves as a tutorial to the combat and movement system. As players gain combat styles, they are displayed in while tied to the D-pad. Select a skill and punch the corresponding trigger. The A is a quick attack, X is a more powerful attack (which can break through defenses, but powers up and leaves the player susceptible to attacks), the B is to block, and the Y button is a focus button which slows the world down while you move at seemingly regular speed for as long as your power bar allows it.

You can combine attacks effectively, use both weapons and martial arts styles, and should the game be too tough, you can pause, change the difficulty setting and resume. There are three difficulty settings in the game. Along the way, you can collect drops from NPCs and mobs to replenish your health or ability bars. You can transfer chi over into health points, or power up your attacks with chi.

The game begins in the village of Two Rivers, but quickly expands beyond its borders. After the pirate attack is foiled, and its true purpose revealed, there is a brief encounter with a fellow student, which seems to have repercussions waiting down the road, and then Master Li tells you more about yourself, and sets you on the path.

It was shortly thereafter that the gameplay available came to a halt. But the taste was tantalizing enough to create a hunger for more.

Graphically Jade Empire is stunning. The combat animation is superb and the character development is well done. You will gain money, which you can use to buy skills. As you fight, you gain style points, which can be used to level skills. The array of skills you receive is very good, and while this early glimpse failed to really distinguish between the classes, it is apparent that each will be capable of advancing through this fantastic world.

As you journey, you will pick up followers. The followers are essentially an NPC that goes with you and helps. You can interact with them and they have full histories, which may have some bearing on what you are getting in to. When you speak to NPCs, you do have dialogue choices, which seem to run from kind to somewhat arrogant. These choices are likely what determines whether you will follow the Path of the Open Palm, or the Way of the Closed Fist.

The AI of the game was very good on the part of the follower. In a fight with multiple targets, the follower was more than able to hold her own, avoiding falling cannon fire and engaging the enemy.

BioWare stated flat-out there will be romantic characters in this world, and in the hand-out book, the Emperor was listed under the villains and monsters category, which means that from the humble beginnings in the remote school, there will be an intense and challenging path to walk to the endgame.

The music of the game, in the area opened up to the media, seemed to always border on an urgent tempo. It worked during the combat, when it was easily ignored by the challenge of the action, but was a touch intrusive during the scenes leading up to the fights.

This is a game that is big on action, and you will have to be smart during combat, otherwise you may find yourself on the losing end. You can save at virtually any point in the game, and the game also has auto-save points. There are side quests and mini-games sprinkled throughout the levels, and the load times were minor.

Jade Empire is a single-player experience. While one hour of a game that is likely to have more than 30 hours of gameplay is somewhat limited, the core of the game was presented and it looked terrific. BioWare refuses to be stagnant and always seems to push so that its next developed project is better than previous works. With the body of work behind it, Jade Empire is definitely following very tough acts, but even this early look was enough to show that it may indeed realize expectations, and be an amazing adventure.