Previews

During E3 week, I had the opportunity to speak in great depth with Michel Gagne about the upcoming title Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet as well as pilot the demo for myself. The result was an entirely original experience from anything I have ever seen or played before. It was impossible to not be impressed.

The full story of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet starts nearly five years ago when Joe Olson, head of Fuelcell Games approached Michel about bringing feature quality animation to video games. Known for his unique style of animation Michel was a well-respected figure in the movie industry working on titles such as Prelude to Eden, The Iron Giant, Osmosis Jones, and Ratatouille. At the time, Michel was hesitant citing his lack of knowledge of the game industry. Michel informed me that before he started work on Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (ITSP) he did not know simple video game concepts like what a boss was. Joe was persistent and thankfully persuasive and eventually got Michel onboard under one condition. They would not make a game, but a work of art.

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Upon booting up Trenched, it’s quickly clear that this is a Double Fine game, as behind the quirky, machismo humor lies a title with some serious character. Trenched scraps the traditional formula and instead recycles the leftovers to create something entirely different and completely reinvigorating. Gone are the days when leaving a tower defense match in the middle to make a sandwich was acceptable. There will be no time to reach for the jar of mayo, as players will find themselves constantly engaged by the battles surrounding them.

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Eric Chahi, Creative Director for From Dust, talks up the game with Wired, describing the dynamic terrain, the importance of music in the game, and the real time evolution of …
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Bastion is a very unique game, and it is not easy to find one this hard to explain. Supergiant Games has made a game that will be built for the player, literally. While the player walks through the level, the walls, floor, items and creatures that populate every room and hallway are stacked in front of him. So, if you were to stop moving, there would be no new areas to go. You would simply see only what has already been laid out in from of you.
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The new dual stick action shooter Renegade: Ops from Sega and Avalanche Studios has it’s first teaser trailer. Although they don’t give us much what they do give us …
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What’s Chester you ask? Good question. Chester is a new and unique 2D platformer from indie developer Brilliant Blue-G. With completely hand drawn graphics that have been scanned into the game the visuals have a very personal and original feel. The uniqueness doesn’t stop there by any means,. Although hand drawn is how the art starts off  players will be able to unlock 18 different “styles” that can be applied to any level in real time. Styles range from blueprints to a LCD handheld system to 8-bit retro pixels.

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SNK and Bouken’s upcoming title Trouble Witches Neo Episode 1 Daughters of AMALGAM has finally been priced and dated. This new title will be hitting XBLA April 27, 2011 for a MSRP of 800MSP.

Trouble Witches Neo is 2-D side scrolling shooter meant for hardcore gamers despite its cute appearance. Players have eight maid-witches to choose from, each with a little bit different handling and shooting style. One thing that will set this game apart from the rest is the ability to perform alchemy. Each witch has the ability to cast a magic barrier that transforms bullets into gold which then can be spent at the pumpkin shops to buy magic cards. Each magic card can be used to unlock a special ability to help you through you battle.

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One of the beauties of being an indie studio is the ability to experiment; there is a freedom to development as there are no true limitations. The game can become a total fan service to the developers themselves. Brian Provinciano of VBlank Entertainment took the time to sit down with us recently and discuss this very fact. His title Retro City Rampage is a culmination of various pop culture references and game design mash-ups that merge into a totally unique game. We were given the opportunity to test it out and loved what we saw.

For the uninitiated, Retro City Rampage parodies the open-world action genre combining dozens of game mechanics into an 8-bit game. The game has a beautiful sense of humor, lampooning an entire era of movies, games and pop culture. Players take on the role of THE PLAYER, an anti-hero, who signs up as a henchman for a local crime syndicate. But things go chronically awry and he must soon defeat the EVIL GOOD GUYS, who will stop at nothing to end his RAMPAGE OF DOOM.

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The AAA titles are continuing to look for ways to make the player feel that they have an effect on the game world. We have seen the continued success of games that feature choice, as well as multiple endings. The only issue is that many games still contiue to tell the story through in-game movies, to help move along the narrative, as well as captivate the player. Most players do not like the feeling of losing control. They hold a controller for a reason. With Bastion, it is not the cutscenes or trailers that are capturing people’s attention, it’s the narration. This isn’t just some voice walking your through a tutorial. The dynamic narration in Bastion is telling the story that you are creating. The narration in this game is designed to react tho the actions of the player, and tell the story the player is creating. Having only seen a demo at PAX, I cannot say how well this is implemented throughout, but the experience certainly stuck with me.

I reached out to Greg Kasavin, Creative Director at  SuperGiant Games to delve a little deeper into the concept of dynamic narration; from how it came to be, to how it’s turning out. Read More

Want a cooperative game that has a similar feel and style to Shadow Complex, but the gunplay of Halo? Well then you want to play Fallen Frontier. The game is currently in development at Moonshot Games, a new studio which houses some ex-Bungie developers, and already it’s looking impressive.

Fallen Frontier is a 2D platformer that has a dark, cel-shaded art style. Moonshot also added a small bit of photographic art touches, like very subtle wall sections on the forefront. It adds something small, but it’s worth mentioning because it’s the little things that really sets this title apart from the others.

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