Majesco has impressive line-up at E3

Majesco has entered E3 with a selection of games that are sure to provide some good amusement to both console and handheld gamers alike-including one particularly surprising and interesting release as well. WarCry was able to take a look at several of their upcoming titles, including Jaws Unleashed, MechAssault: Phantom War, and Guilty Gear Judgment.

Jaws Unleashed

Jaws Unleashed is a game under development for the Xbox and PS2 based on the popular movie series. The game takes place 30 years after the events of the films and the players are given a chance to take control of the man-eating terror of the seas.

The game features a series of missions with various objects for the players to complete. For example, the shark will be captured at one point in the game and placed into an aquarium exhibit (think Jaws 3). The player will be able to take control of the shark and proceed to break out, completing a series of objectives as they clear the exit, which finally leads to a boss battle with a large Orca.

However, this isn't the only style of player offered up by the game, and players will be able to move freely about the ocean, feasting and wreaking destruction. Majesco has opened up a sandbox of a world with their shark simulation. In fact, it wouldn't be to far off to consider it a shark-based version of Grand Theft Auto-there are even police boats and the like that'll come out to hunt you if you start causing to much damage. The player can also access a number of side quests during this part of the game.

The game features an interesting health system with the 'hunger bar', which constantly lowers during the game play (at a fairly reasonable rate from the looks of it), which can also be lowered from combat with numerous creatures of the sea and humans out to get you. To fill this bar, the player needs to eat. And do they ever have a nice buffet to choose from, including Humans and a wide array of sea life.

A little RPG flavor has been placed into the game as well. As the player progresses they can choose to upgrade different attributes of their shark: health, hunger, speed, accuracy, and power. Each of these attributes gives an improvement to the shark in various ways. For example, increasing hunger would provide a larger hunger bar for the player, allowing them to take more damage and go longer without eating.

The game does feature plenty of blood and gore, so the feint of heart might want to tread carefully with the title-but there is a lot of guilty pleasure to be gained from it as well.

Jaws will be released for $29.99 in the near future.

MechAssault: Phantom War

In the year 3134 an abrupt attack has resulted in a loss of communications after 60 years of peace. Based off the Battletech series of novels, MechAssault: Phantom War, allows the player to take on the roll of a MechWarrior during the aftermath and confusion on the Nintendo DS.

The game features over 20 different vehicles, ranging from Mechs, tanks, and the player has access to battle armor as well. The player will be able to hijack various vehicles during the game play and gain control to them.

The player will also be able to upgrade their mechs as they progress through the game. Weapons are all upgradeable, much like MechAssault: Lone Wolf, and the player is able to obtain various defensive modules, which give abilities such as invisibility, and shields against different damage types found in the game.

Majesco has taken advantage of the touch screen interface that the DS allows in it's game-play and UI. Hacking is done via the stylus, and the player can interact with the warbook, objectives screen, tactical view, and field view, all through the stylus. On top of this, aiming in several vehicles, such as tanks, is done in a first person mode.

The game ranges over four different planets and 24 different missions as the story progresses through single-player mode. On top of this, the game features three different multiplayer modes for up to four players.

MechAssault should provide players with some Mech-based fun on the DS this December and will retail for $29.99

Guilty Gear Judgment

This is first game of the popular Guilty Gear franchise to be released on the PSP-although in reality, it is actually the first two of the series. Guilty Gear Judgment, a side-scrolling fighting game, also comes with a ported version of Guilty Gear X2 Reloaded, a more traditional fighting game, which was originally released on the PS2.

Multiplayer-an ever-popular aspect of fighting games-is found for both games. Reloaded features a versus mode form of multiplayer, while Judgment features a Co-op style, allowing players to progress through the story of the game.

Each character has their own moves, and according to Majesco, between the two games, they couldn't even fit all of the different moves into the manual. All of the moves are accessible in the game, however, as well as on Majesco's website.

When starting the game, the player is given five core characters to play through the storyline with. As they progress through the story of the game, they will run into other characters, each with their own reasons for being there, which allows them to be unlocked. Further player as other characters through the story unlocks even more characters, and provides much more insight into the story of the game. In fact, Majesco promised that Judgment would feature new insight into characters that were unknown before in prior games. There is up to 20 different characters in Judgment, and 23 in Reloaded.

Guilty Gear should appeal well to fans of the series. It will be released in September and retail for $29.99

Cooking With Mama

One of the more surprisingly entertaining games that Majesco was showing was a game called Cooking With Mama, a cooking simulation that takes advantage of just about all of the Nintendo DS's features. While a cooking simulation might not sound like a particularly interesting game, Cooking With Mama features a ton of various mini-games-over 200-that look pretty entertaining.

The player cooks by using the stylus to perform each individual step of the cooking process-each one governed by a different mini-game. The stylus acts as a master cooking tool, changing based on the particular need of the video game. Players are able to spread butter over pans, chop up vegetables, sauté, cut meet, and much more.

Interestingly enough, the game even gives a use for the microphone feature of the DS. When needed during certain video games, the player can blow into the microphone to 'cool' the foot as they cook it, making sure to create an impressive dish.

As the player cooks, they are scored by Mama, which is an anime-esque woman, whose expressions range from eye-twinkling delight, to fiery-eyed disappointment. In fact, not only will she judge your dish based on how well you cooked it, but also how well you laid it out on the plate.

When starting the game, the player has access to 15 different recipes-all of them very real-as they begin to cook. However, as they play, they can unlock up to 75 different recipes in total. Not only this, but as players learn recipes they can begin to combine them. For example, if you know "fried recipe" and "dumplings", you can create "Fried rice and dumplings." You will also be able to trade recipes with up to four different players.

While a surprising game to find, Cooking With Mama looks like a fun treat for the casual gamer on the go. It will retail for $19.99 and release in the fall.