COMPANY CONTACT:
Alain Pakiry
514/490-2000
apakiry@ubisoft.qc.ca
http://www.ubisoft.com	

MEDIA CONTACT:
Lauren Finkelman
S&S Public Relations, Inc.
312/266-8469 or 800/287-2279
lauren@sspr.com

UBI Soft Entertainment U.K.
Contact: Keith Sloan
Telephone: 011 44 181 944 9000
Fax: 011 44 181 944 9300
E-mail: k.sloan@ubisoft.uk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HOLY PHARAOH! TIME-TRIP WITH 
D. JUMP (Working title), 
UBI SOFT’S REAL-TIME 3D ACTION/ADVENTURE GAME FOR THE PC 
Modern Hero Transported to Ancient Egypt Fights to Return to 20th Century

ATLANTA- (May 28, 1998) E3, Booth #7116—What do you do when you’ve become unstuck in time and find yourself inexplicably transported to a civilization resembling ancient Egypt?  Unless you’re prepared to live without cars, calculators and computer games, you fight your way back, of course!  And that’s the time-tripping trick you have to perform as a suave, skirt-chasing, skateboarding jack of all trades in D. JUMP, a new real-time 3D action/adventure game for the PC from Ubi Soft Entertainment.  

Featuring irreverent humor, total immersion gameplay, shifting camera angles and the constant element of surprise, D. JUMP stars a street-wise young buck who has been transformed by his time journey into a man of wood with the unusual ability to explode and recompose the various segments of his body when the need arises.  The game places its time-challenged hero in 20 different environments ranging from Egyptian palaces and villages to the desert, an oasis and the banks of the Nile, allowing him to move through each as if he were truly there. 

Driven by plot and dialogue, the game requires the protagonist/player to collect objects and elicit information from the 60 characters he meets along the way, including villagers, a priest-magician, fantastical monsters and the pharaoh himself.  He is aided in his quest by two Egyptian gods who talk to him in dream sequences interspersed throughout the game.

The hero uses his exploding body parts, torches, and everyday objects like stones and fruit to ward off swarms of termites or mosquitoes, aggressive mummies and other enemies.  He can also perform never-seen-before feats such as turning vertically around horizontal bars like a gymnast, water-skiing past obstacles, torpedo-swimming to attack enemies underwater, and surfing on surfaces ranging from mud to his rump. 

As the game unfolds, the player also acquires magical powers such as the ability to control objects with his mind and transform into different animals.  This makes it possible to clear a caved-in desert well or finish building a pyramid via psychokinesis, slither between rifts in walls as a snake, or fly for short distances as a goose.  At the end of the game, these powers culminate with the ability to turn enemies into animals as well, giving the gamer a potent new tool for neutralizing his foes.

At each encounter, the player must select a particular attitude to adopt, with choices ranging from worried or polite to mocking or conniving.  The decision not only determines the hero’s dialogue or action, but it also provokes a specific reaction from the character he’s speaking to.  This ability to vary the scenarios, the availability of multiple action options or sequences within each game map, and the periodic dreams or nightmares that take players to surreal sub-maps make for a rich variety of gameplay.

Also adding to the variety are several unusual actions the player can use to his advantage.  In addition to the “stress” mode that causes the hero’s body parts to explode and that can be used as a weapon when he learns to control it, there is also a  “love” mode where his heartbeat becomes audible, enabling him to track his lady love when she is out of sight, and a music-inspired “groove” mode that transforms his actions into dance figures he can combine in a special sequence to charm the gods.

D. JUMP is scheduled for release in early 1999. 

Ubi Soft Entertainment is a European-based producer, publisher and international distributor of interactive entertainment products.  The company has offices in 13 countries including France, the United States, Canada, Germany, England, and China and sells its products in a total of 47 countries.  

The company is best known in the U.S. for Rayman, a blockbuster action/adventure game for all ages that debuted in 1995, and POD, a revolutionary online multiplayer racing game that enables up to eight players to compete directly over the Internet. Products are available through a nationwide network of resellers and distributors.  For more information, call Ubi Soft at 514/490-0887 or 800/UBI-SOFT or visit the company web site at www.ubisoft.com.

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