Let me start by saying a little something about Peter Molyneux. He has to be one of the greatest developers of our time. His titles from Populous to the recent Black & White to Project Ego and the title I will discuss now, B.C., represent some of the greatest achievements in gaming history. With that said one would expect, and rightfully so, that he would carry a head the size of a major Pop Star on his shoulders. I've had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Peter on several occasions now and I have to say he's been one of the most accessible and approachable people I've ever met. Peter's the kind of guy you wish you could run down to the pub with and catch a pint and simply talk games for the night. And he'd be happy to do it!

We caught him at the dead end of E3 and he delivered to us his 72nd demo of Project Ego and B.C. all while carrying a huge hangover. One would have thought we were in for a rough ride as E3 can literally sap any remaining ounce of life from those previously thought unflappable. But as Peter got himself in gear to deliver the final demo one would have thought it was his first of the show. When speaking about games his eyes light up and you can see the young child in him who can't wait to share his latest treasure with some newfound friends.

The title we were about to see, B.C., he somewhat humorously described as an 'Arcade-Action/Adventure'!?!? Huh? "B.C.", Peter explained, "is built on the foundation of the tools we've developed over the course of delivering Black & White and also Project Ego." So B.C. will gain the benefit of the time and research that went into those titles and not just rehash those features into a clone but, as Peter always does, try to take it a step further.

B.C., as you might have guessed, is set in the Stone Age. You play the part of a rather mentally challenged caveman [were there any other kind? –ED] and you have two other followers in your tribe. The ultimate goal of B.C. is to build your tribe, teach them to survive, and ultimately lead them to the sacred valley where they can live happily ever after. Along the way you must teach this slobbering bunch of goons to forage for food, to hunt, to work as a team to overcome obstacles and ultimately to survive in a world inhabited by Dinosaurs who would like to have them for lunch. Like a quest for fire you need to advance your tribe and help them overcome the biggest obstacle of all – becoming human.

The portion of the game we saw was set somewhere in the middle of your quest. We found our tribe had grown to a dozen or so members and we had made our home in a lush valley. The world was truly alive around us. Birds circled the waters of a nearby river. Passing through the river we felt the flow of the water around us as the fish in swam away in fear. Herbivores ate silently across the river and smaller creatures ran across the fields much like a flock of birds. Everything was dynamic and nothing was scripted. Like a Dinosaur Sim title taken to the nth power, everything in the world was truly reacting to everything else (more on this in a moment).


Game play was very simple to control. There were no meters, or gauges or other tracking devices blocking our view of the world. Interacting with your fellow tribesmen and women, was achieved with a simple point and click interface. Teaching your tribe how to forage for food was as simple as selecting a member, leading them to your lesson and then showing them how to achieve the task at hand. This person would then learn from you and eventually teach others. You could lead your people out for a hunt and they would quickly understand that to survive they would need to take part in the action.

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While you and your tribe are the only cavemen within the game, what pre-historic tale would be complete without Apes? Peter didn't show us, but he made clear they would play a major role in the storyline in later chapters.

What amazed us most was the depth of the world's intelligence and the AI of the creatures. For the first time we witnessed the power of AI truly driving the world and its inhabitants to their daily tasks with every ripple in the stream of life affecting those around. Thoughts of Jeff Goldblum's character in Jurassic Park, and his Chaos Theory, came to mind. If a butterfly flaps its wings on the far end of the valley, could the combined breeze from a flatulent Tyrannosaurus Rex at the other end blow down the house of some unsuspecting cavewoman? Hmmm…


Peter pointed out a grouping of herbivores near the river with the camera pulled way back above the valley. Every few moments the group would take off and run to another point far across the valley floor following each other rather like a flock of birds (as some scientists have suspected might have been the case). Peter explained that this behavior was not programmed and they had been wondering for weeks just what was causing them to act this way. Peter then zoomed in to the ground where we found a group of small beetle like bugs making their way through the blades of grass. Almost too small to notice, these bugs had somehow convinced the herbivores that they would eat them causing them to run for 'safety' whenever the beetles made their way around. Truly every creature within B.C. is a 'living' entity and learns from their experience.



It is for many reasons that we are compelled to give B.C. our Best Future Title award. While this game is early in development and one can only wonder how the final version will play out, it is apparent in every aspect of its detail that this game is indefinable and truly entering into new territory in terms of genre and entertainment. While Peter jokingly refers to it as an 'Arcade-Action/Adventure' we have to laugh, take note of this tongue-in-cheek categorizing of his own next master-piece and wonder, "just what genre is this?" When is the last time a game marked itself as indefinable? Sure, one would shout Sim and it does indeed carry many qualities of a Sim. But for us, in a year of nothing but rehashed sequels and so many FPS titles that you couldn't walk five feet without tripping over an MP5, B.C. truly stood out above the crowd as a refreshing, mind-altering and a truly ground-breaking title.

No, you're not running around killing dinosaurs with your bow and arrow. You're not battling the Apes with the help of Mark Wahlberg and you're certainly not leading a team of Special Forces soldiers to capture the last Rex. Instead Peter is taking the idea of manipulation, learning and experience – living memory within a game and applying it in a world in which everything is in constant chaos. There is no predictability. Literally everything in the world of B.C. will be made of discovery. Trial and error. While this type of game may not appeal to everyone, one cannot deny the fact that nothing of this magnitude has been achieved or attempted except perhaps with his own Project Ego running close behind.

I think what I enjoyed most about B.C. and furthermore Molyneux's approach to development is that he always pushes the envelope. He perfects a technology or technique to pull of one game. And when he gets it right he does not simply take the easy path and spit out a clone to rake in on the previous title's success. Rather he pushes forward and asks himself, "How can I take what I've learned and developed, build upon it and then deliver it in a format that is entirely new and previously unexplored?"

We were quickly ushered on our way by his PR rep, Cathy Campos, at the end of our meeting, but much to our surprise Peter stopped us. He asked us what we thought of the games. We thought perhaps he was simply referring to E3 and the millions of titles, which had just been shoved into our faces over the last four days. But Peter was asking about his games of course! Like a child eager for some validation, he wanted to hear what we thought. We spent the next few minutes talking with Peter, as if he were an old friend, about what we like to see in games and what we thought was missing from those already out there. This discussion was probably one of the most refreshing we'd had in the last days.


And like an old friend he continues to deliver to us great memories via his games. We look forward to the years and titles ahead that Peter will send our way. Like the Willy Wonka of the gaming world, it is my belief that as amazing and groundbreaking as Ego and B.C. may be, Peter will always have something just around the corner set to amaze us yet again.

And like so many small children anxiously waiting on the arrival of Christmas morning, we will wait, if rather impatiently, for his next gift.