Kessen Screenshots

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Publisher: Electronic Arts Inc.
Developer: Koei
Ship Date: Fall 2000
Category: Real Time Strategy

Description:
The ancient storied battlefield lies before you. At your command are 100,000 troops including archers, infantry, riflemen, and the powerful cavalry. Kessen, or "strategic battle," is a real time strategy game designed for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system that gives players strategic command and control over huge armies during epic battle sequences from the Warring States period of seventeenth century Japan.

Players begin by taking the role of Ieyasu, one of Japan's most fearsome warlords and commander of the Tokugawa Shogunate as he engages 100,000 loyalists who stood with the Toyotomi family in a decisive battle at Sekigahara that will declare a new shogun with power throughout all Japan.

Kessen takes full advantage of the new and powerful Agent Technology capabilities of the PS2, which lets players command their armies as a group, allowing hundreds of soldiers in full 3-D to battle in real-time across varying terrain, guided by the tactics and strategy of the player.

The tactical battle control over battalions is the centerpiece of the game. Although standard RPG elements such as obtaining new weapons and resting to restore energy will also be a significant part of the strategy, now the challenge will be even greater due to the sheer number of characters that the player commands.

Players guide their men, as would a real Commander of the time, by responding to reports and to what they see. Players will be able to watch as their battle develops, deciding strategy and issuing commands to officers, as they deem necessary. Players will have the ability to issue commands to their officers including attack, move, hold, rush attack, and messenger. Each officer will then take the command issued and act according to individual characteristics and tendencies, yet maintain his role within the group. The outcome of the game will depend on the player's skill as a tactician, the right Commander and unit at the right time could save your force from defeat and change the history of a nation.

Key Features:
· First DVD title for the PlayStation 2.
· Kessen boasts over 100 move segments that deeply immerse the player in the game's storyline.
· Amazing graphical quality.
· Based on actual battles from feudal Japan.
· Battlefields have full 3-D terrain, with realistically rendered fields and hills.
· The first console game to allow over a hundred 3D characters on screen at one time.
· All of the characters have separate animation routines, so they come to life on screen. In total, Kessen contains thousands of individual animations.
· Meticulous detail has been applied to everything from warriors' faces and helmets to their horses and armor.
· Three types of views, from a main view that allows players to take in the entire battlefield, to a middle view that allows you to see the movement of all units at once, down to a cinematic view that brings you into close contact with the battle as if you were really there.
· Ambient sounds, from the cries of the men, to the sound of the wind created by the cavalry racing across a field, serve to further immerse the player in battle.
· Released in Japan with the launch of the PS2 platform, the game has been a consistent, overall, top-five hit.