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Sega Releases First Ever Voice Chat Console Game for Alient Front (Dreamcast)
Using a microphone peripheral, "Alien Front Online" is the first console title to take voice-recognition onto the Internet, enabling up to eight players to chat with team members or deride opponents online - all in real time. Whether online or off, "Alien Front Online" is an action-driven team-based combat game in which players can either defend Earth from invasion as a tank commander or attempt to colonize the planet as a member of the enemy Triclops Guard.
"Alien Front Online" gives gamers the option to choose their fate. Aliens have invaded Earth and taken out all air forces with their destructive orbiting motherships, and it's time to choose sides. Gamers can enlist in the army and take control of powerful tanks, using advanced weaponry to protect highly destructible cityscapes and countrysides. However, gamers with an evil streak can chose to play as the enemy, joining their three-eyed brethren to blast humans from either an anti-gravity Hov Craft, or from the heart of a two or four-legged bio-mech. Whether players decide to control the aliens or soldiers, the game's land-marking voice-chat feature allows them to converse with their comrades in order to create real-time strategies and conquer the enemy.
"Throughout Sega's 40-year history, we have consistently raised the bar for console game development firsts, including the first 3-D fighting game, the first online multiplayer game, and the first game to use voice-recognition technology" said John Golden, director of product marketing, Sega of America. "In keeping with our plans to be the top third party publisher, Sega is raising that bar one notch higher with 'Alien Front Online,' the first console game ever to utilize voice-over-IP technology." Although strategic thinking is beneficial to winning battles, having the right artillery is also an important factor. As Earthlings, players operate army vehicles such as the lightly armed but speedy Merkava, the slow but hard-hitting M-109 or the moderate M1A Abrams. Power-up weapons include flamethrowers, grenade launchers, or a flavorful array of missiles for every launching taste, including the hellfire, homing and guided varieties. When desperate times call for desperate measures, a full-scale nuclear strike can be unleashed upon the enemy. As the Aliens attempt to take out the human race, they are armed with high-level sci-fi weaponry, including such Earthling-purging items as the Gravity Ball, Seeker Wing, and the devastating Meteor Shower.
For extensive gameplay, "Alien Front Online" has a many modes for both on and offline missions. There is the Fortress mode, in which the offensive team must eliminate four enemy fortress gates, while the defensive team must guard against their destruction. In Arcade Mode, players take part in a timed match to eliminate as many opponents as possible. Scores from Arcade Mode are automatically ranked online the next time players log on. The single player Tactics mode offers 30 missions for each side, a branching storyline and multiple endings.
SOURCE: Sega USA Press Release.
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