Reviews / previews
Picture this: You're hanging out with friends when your phone rings. You pick up and there's a stern voice on the other end of the line threatening you and your loved ones-by name. The menacing caller triggers your memory of a webcam recording you were emailed three days ago, which in turn ties into a hasty instant-message conversation you had with a stranger the week before. What's going on? You're just a pawn in Majestic, EA's episodic online adventure that spills over from the Internet and actually invades your privacy.
The Truth is Out There
Named after the alleged government group that covered up the Roswell alien incident, EA's "interactive suspense thriller" borrows from The X-Files, WarGames, and Michael Douglas' The Game as it entwines players in a dark conspiracy on the Web, then tracks them down in real life, outside of the anonymous safety of a web browser. Email, telephone calls, online chats, surreptitiously recorded conversations, and fax transmissions are all fair game, and they can arrive at any time. No fax? No fear-all communication will also be sent to your Majestic Alliance client program, so you can examine the complete evidence next time you log into your account (ditto if you miss a call). Depending on how fast you put the clues together (and how fast they're released-the game plays out in real-time), a typical episode of Majestic will unfold over at least two weeks. Also, the game will take into account real-world events and player feedback to further tailor the evolving experience.
The Truth is Everywhere
Obviously, if you thought The Blair Witch Project was real, you should stay far away from a real-time online game that you can't turn off. The goal of Majestic is to completely blur the lines between fantasy and reality. When a character tells you in a chat that they'll call you on Friday, they mean it-stay by the phone. As you scour the web for information, you'll find the game's crackpot Web sites are indistinguishable from real crackpot websites, right down to shadow companies on the domain registration info. Instant messages from the game's A.I. characters unfold just like those with live chatters, capable of intelligent Q&A. Was that part of the game? You may never know-and the paranoia is the point.
The Truth is No Fair
Majestic is set to launch on EA.com in February; the bold and potentially brilliant Mature-rated adventure will require a Windows-based computer and an as-yet-unspecified subscription fee (visit EA.com for details), not to mention a level of player commitment and cooperation never before demanded by an online game. Is the world ready for Internet games that leave the Internet? More importantlyare you?-- 0 / GamePro
EA.coms latest PC project, Majestic, is an ambitious online mind-bender of a game that will leave you wondering if youre playing itor if its playing you.
In Majestic, you take the role ofyou. You get to live your own X-Filescaliber suspense thriller, complete with wild conspiracies, secret government contacts, and all sorts of other shady dealings. The strangely circular premise? Youve just signed on to EA.coms new game, Majestic. Before long, the game will start reaching out, and mysterious allies will begin to drop you clues and information that things might not be quite as they seem.
Yes, thats right, Majestic will e-mail you, call you, fax you, and send AOL Instant Messages (yes, for real) at any time, day or night, 24 hours a day, seven days a weekmaking it the first PC game that you keep playing even after your computer shuts off. Your job is to follow the clues; Instant Message and chat with your A.I. allies; sort through conspiracies, murders, and lies on the World Wide Web; figure out whats real and whats not; and, in the end, uncover the truthbecause the truth, as Mulder once taught us, is out there.
If that sounds a little too creepy or invasive for you, dont worry: You dont have to give it your phone number; you can have the game send clues to you Majestic Alliance Inbox (a modest little application that runs on your Windows desktop) instead of your fax machine; and you can set things up so your phone isnt ringing at three in the morning on a work night. Even so, because of the particularly intrusive nature of Majestic, EA.com is requiring you to be 18-years-old to play the game.
The games structure will be episodic, with a trial Episode 0 and two full Episodes available at launch, and a new episode rolling out approximately once a month. Episodes 0 through 8 will make up Majestics first season, and EA.com already has a story arc planned for a second season after the first is through. EA estimates that most episodes will take 12-15 real days to unfold if youre playing at full speed.
Yes, Majestic is gonna mess with you a bit, but EA.com assures us that the game will not steal your car, use your credit card to subscribe to porn sites, or get you fired from your job. Thats probably you doing all that.
Its hard to capture screenshots of a sinister phone call, and pictures of AOLIM windows are pretty boringbut here they are anyway! Prepare to question your sanity when the first three episodes of Majestic launch with EA.coms subscription-based Platinum Service later this spring. The service will cost $9.99 per month, and will also include access to EA.coms Sports Service (EASS) and four other yet-to-be identified games. In the meantime, check out www.ea.com or http://majestic.ea.com for more informationor is it disinformation?-- 0 / GamePro
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