Demigod in action: A look at the Demigod trailer
Thursday, July 31st, 2008As you probably already know, Gas-Powered Games has released the Demigod trailer for public consumption. What was once speculation—based on concept art and the few previously-released stills—has solidified into a breathtakingly beautiful, undeniably action-packed glimpse into the world of Demigod.
With over 80% of the trailer concentrating on combat and gameplay, Demigod fans have a lot to digest. And the game certainly looks ready to deliver to the power hungry: whether you prefer nature, magic, sci-fi and tech, or even if you just want a show of brute force, Demigod has it all. Smash up your enemies as a giant stone colossus (the towering behemoth known as The Rook), command armies of treants and vines as a Fairy-type goddess, or burn your enemies to a crisp as the warlord called Torchbearer. The trailer features gameplay footage showing both general and assassin styles of play, with spectacular powers and troops for each. While this is only a tiny preview of what we can expect from the final game, it certainly seems that no one will be left out in the cold.
The action sequences alone are enough to wet any one’s appetite. But, just in case you’re still craving more—and we know you are—four of the game’s demigods grace the trailer with their divine presence. With no official word yet on the number of demigods to ship at release, the trailer clearly demonstrates four archetypes so far: The Rook, who has become a bit of an icon amongst the game’s fans, shows off his sheer force; a tech-oriented demigod, leading waves of futuristic-looking, artillery-wielding android warriors into combat; the Torchbearer shows off his tele-, cryo- and pyrokinetic abilities with devastating precision against his enemies; and a being I like to call The Naturist, a fairy/druid type creature who seems to wield the mystical powers of plants and animals (is it just me, or does she bear a striking resemblance to Poison Ivy?).
The environments are also finely showcased. Both particle and physics effects seem to come into play as we watch the Rook smash his mighty hammer into the earth, sending enemies, debris and hurricanes of dust in a myriad of directions from the point of impact. Waves of etheric energy appear to literally pour off of the Torchbearer as he focuses his telekinetic attacks against his opponents. The elements used to make up the environments themselves have such a fantastic style to them, it’s almost like watching a graphic novel come to life.
And just to clear up any possible misgivings about the renderings shown in the trailer, Nate Simpson, lead artist for Demigod, came forth on the Official Demigod forums to say:
We have been enjoying the ongoing debate about the authenticity of the trailer. Yes, every shot in the trailer was taken in-game. We made no custom animations for the trailer. The footage was run through After Effects to apply certain atmospheric effects and film grain, but by and large, what you see is what you’ll get. Steve Thompson, our lead animator, sat down with Jessica Snook, one of our designers, and the two of them camped out inside the game like wildlife photographers. Steve managed to capture some great moments at some very beautiful angles, and then Howard Mostrom composed some gorgeous music to go with it. If you still doubt that it’s actual in-game footage, look closely at some of the shots late in the trailer: we managed to immortalize a bug that was generating persistent splats in midair when angels got shot down by towers of light. That bug has been fixed, so if you could all kindly return the video to us, we’ll go ahead and fix that.
There’s no doubt that Demigod, which is being developed on a variation of the Supreme Commander graphics engine, is poised to be one of the most visually-enthralling games of 2009. With it’s intense action, unique style, and fast-paced gameplay, this trailer has everyone eagerly anticipating more.
