Previewed: August 2, 2003
Previewed by: Aaron Daigle

Publisher
Diversions Publishing/Tri Synergy

Developer
Diversions Entertainment

Release Date: September, 2003
Genre: Fighting
Players: 16
ESRB: Teen

View Screenshots (26 Images)

If you’ve been cruising PC gaming message boards anywhere on the net odds are you’ve heard a lot of excited chatter about Diversions Entertainment’s upcoming robot brawler One Must Fall: Battlegrounds. The neat part is that most of the prerelease buzz is being generated by fans of OMF: Battlegrounds predecessor, One Must Fall: 2097.

This is fairly awesome in that it shows some serious fan dedication to a series that hasn’t seen a new release in going on ten years. As I said last time I got to sit down with this title, there’s a lot to love here; over 50 pilots to chose from, each with unique backgrounds and skill levels and 8 different robots for those pilots to command as they enter the game’s combat arenas to slug it out both off and online with battles featuring up to a whopping, 16 players.

The game plays from a third-person, over the shoulder perspective and while it differs in that respect from most console 3D fighters, this view seems to work very well with the style and pacing of this title. Aside from the camera angle and the majestic scale of the fighting arenas, the main way that this title differs from your typical console fighter is the way it allows you to string together blows throws and projectile attacks to create your own combos. While other titles have boasted about this sort of gameplay in the past, OMF:Battlegrounds is the first I’ve seen to truly attain this goal.

Each robot or HAR has a few super attacks that can be used to punish multiple opponents at once, factor in the battle arenas that are full off lethal hazards like lightning emitters, mines and devices that can call in an air strike, just waiting to be sprung upon unsuspecting fighters definitely adding another layer of strategy to the game. And speaking of strategy, Choosing your pilot and HAR is more picking a cool looking avatar, the various skill categories actually mean something in this game for instance, let’s say that you prefer a fast attack strategy, you will probably want to select the Jaguar HAR now for you to be effective you will want a pilot with a relatively high agility level. In a heavy hitting mech like the Warlord you need look for a pilot with Good Power and endurance ratings.

One thing I like about the game’s AI is that in battles involving more than two HARs, the computer controlled HARs don’t just relentlessly attack you, so using a little strategy you can play the AI combatants off one another and then swoop in to claim the lead.

Visually, One Must Fall is no slouch. The game’s HAR models have some neat reflection effects that look none-to-shabby, and the special effects used for the Super Attacks are pretty snazzy. Don’t expect Half Life 2 splendor, but OMF:Battlegrounds is still a good looking title that will only be more polished come September.

I know there are a lot of fighting fans out there who have been waiting for an online fighter to arrive on the PC and One Must Fall: Battlegrounds is definitely something you will want to check out. The word is that Diversions will be releasing an editing package for the game and there have already been rumbles from the "mod community", so expect to see some notable action on that front like new HARs.

With its fairly unique take on 3D fighting combined with 16-player combat, One Must Fall: Battlegrounds is shaping into what may be September’s big release now that Half Life 2 has been delayed till the Holidays.

Blazing new territory is a good way to describe the upcoming release of One Must Fall: Battlegrounds. As the first 3D fighting games for the PC to support networked multiplayer it should make a big splash when it ships later this year. The game’s developer, Diversions Entertainment recently delivered a preview build to us, and I gotta say, One Must Fall is shaping up pretty well.

Features:

• Unique 3rd person point of view
• Extensive multiplayer mode supported via LAN and internet
• Interchangeable cast of pilots and robots
• First-rate 3D graphics and amazing physics
• Fully moddable engine with AVI recording capabilities
• A Dynamic soundtrack, accompanied by fast paced action

Even in this early build the battles are fast and frame rate is fairly fluid. It’s tough to say anything about the AI due to the fact the Diversions isn’t through with the balancing process just yet, but from reading through the provided information it looks like this is being worked on as I write this. Perhaps the biggest obstacle, one thing that hopefully will be looked at, is the game’s default keyboard control set up. A game pad accessory would definitely be recommended for anyone interested in this title.

On a more positive note, the game looks pretty fantastic. Flaming projectile attacks, speed blurs and coruscating electricity are among the superbly produced effects. Even though it isn’t fully implemented, the animation is fluid and has an authentic feel to it. The more refined looking robots glide and capper with near human grace while their brute force based counterparts stomp about the arenas with lethal authority.

And speaking of arenas, what I’ve seen so far looks super sharp. While I didn’t notice any that were destructible, for the most part they are interesting, well designed and provide plenty of distractions like hovering lightning emitters that can zap you at an inopportune moment.

The news that the tools for the game engine will be made available to mod makers definitely boosts my interest in One Must Fall: Battlegrounds. Even though this is becoming a fairly typical move after the release of a game I’m still glad every time I hear a developer/publisher planning to release their tools. I’m very anxious to see more emerge about this title as its release approaches.

While we wait for more details on this exciting new game, check out the amazing new screenshots in our Preview Gallery.