This year, Spike TV’s VGAs did a good job of not absolutely embarrassing the gaming population at large by showing a decent amount of respect. The awards show also showcased some absolutely stunning new trailers for some of next year’s biggest releases. Some trailers were epic, while others were mysterious, but none can compare to the hilarity found in South Park: The Stick of Truth.
Developed by Obsidian Entertainment in conjunction with South Park Studios, The Stick of Truth aims to fully recreate the look and feel of the beloved TV series. Not only that, it’s attempting to take the TV series into a game genre it has yet to conquer – the RPG. The gameplay appears to be more like Paper Mario, however, in that player is actively engaged during battle with timed button presses and the like.
The game looks to be coming along nicely, but we probably won’t see it in 2013. Troubled publisher THQ recently pushed the game back to a 2014 release as it seeks to recover from its past few years of financial disappointment. The company might go under by then, but many South Parks fans are assumedly hoping that won’t be the case.
The delay shouldn’t be that bad though. 2013 is shaping up to be one hell of a year for games. We’ll have plenty to play as we wait for what looks to be the best licensed game ever made.
Over the weekend, Spike TV hosted its annual Video Game Awards. There were few surprises outside of an announcement for Dark Souls II, but one trailer in particular is still causing fierce discussion and speculation across the gaming world.
On Friday night, an unknown developer called Moby Dick Studios revealed its newest game, The Phantom Pain. The trailer features an amputee as he is trying to escape a hospital while everything around him is going to hell. It also appears that the main character may also be hallucinating as he sees people and horses made of fire while a giant flying whale eats a helicopter. It’s kind of hard to explain so you should just check out the trailer:
Shortly after the trailer went live, speculation began to run rampant that this trailer is just a clever ruse orchestrated by none other than Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear Solid fame. Many elements from the trailer hearken back to previous Metal Gear games with the man in the fire looking a lot like Volgin from Metal Gear Solid 3 and the main character in question looking too much like Snake for it to be a mere coincidence. You can find out more about Metal Gear nods in the trailer by checking out the comprehensive thread over at NeoGAF.
Many speculate that The Phantom Pain is in fact Metal Gear Solid V. They note that the V in this case is not the roman numeral for five, but rather the letter “V” for victory. Some argue that this may be a prequel to the already announced Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, Kojima’s open world game that’s running on his studio’s FOX engine. We won’t know anything for sure until Konami or Moby Dick Studios spills the beans.
The VGA’s are seen as a pariah among many in the gaming community, rightfully so in many circumstances. There’s a lot of forced humor, and celebrity appearances from people who seem to really know nothing about the games they’re talking about. Oh, we got to see an actual real life tea-bagging take place (Skip to 2:45 if you want to see it), which I’d like to see implemented at the Oscars for actors/actresses who’s acceptance speech goes on too long.
However, what the VGAs do provide us is some game premieres and trailers for titles we’re excited to see release. This year’s VGA show seemed to really focus on these reveals as we saw very little awards being handed out, which is probably a good thing.
On to the trailers…
The Last of Us – Ok, so my educated guess that this would be Hideo Kojima’s next project was way off. However, considering this is a Naughty Dog development, I don’t mind being wrong.
It looks as though the game will be some sort of survival-horror, with a female character who bears a striking resemblance to Ellen Page, and a male lead who I believe looks like Hugh Jackman. Neither of which are actually involved with the project.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – I’m not sure about the whole mushing of revenge and vengeance in the title. However, with Platinum Games, the developers of Bayonetta and MadWorld on the project, they can call it whatever the hell they want.
Oh yeah, it’s Raiden, so again, who cares about the title?
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD – What do you do when a franchise has grown a bit stale, and one of the last releases relied on a gimmicky accessory tie-in? Give the original everyone, including me, loved way back when a complete HD makeover. The title is going to be a XBLA/PSN download, so we’re probably looking at a relatively cost friendly trip down memory lane.
Ah, Superman by Goldfinger while shredding up the school stage. Have to love the memories.
The Amazing Spider-Man – Another movie tie-in game. Nothing to write home about, but depending on the developer you never know what might happen. In this case, it’s being developed by Beenox, the same team who brought us the last two Spider-Man games. So there’s a 50/50 chance of it being pretty good or complete crap.
Command & Conquer: Generals 2 – During the heyday of the RTS genre, there were two titles everyone had to play – Warcraft and Command & Conquer. These days, both series have veered off their traditional courses. Which is odd, considering we still have pure fighters and platformers. So why can’t we have pure RTS games?
With Bioware on the job, I doubt this game will be pure RTS enjoyment. However, it is BioWare and I’m a fanboy, so I can’t help but be giddy for this. 2013 though, think it’s a tad early for a reveal.
Diablo III – One of the series which spawned the isometric-view RPG movement on the PC, along with Baldurs Gate. One could argue Diablo is just as if not more popular than Blizzard’s other staples, Warcraft and Starcraft. They’ve always been great at producing quality cinematics, and the trend continues here with the game’s opening movie. Revealed for the first time at the award show.
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron – High Moon Studios seems to really know what to do with the transforming robot property we’ve all grown to love. Transformers: War for Cybertron was their first outing, and provided a solid showing for Optimus & Megatron’s crew. There’s definitely room for improvement, and they look to be upping the ante with Fall of Cybertron. The bots look even more like their G1 counterparts this time around.
Alan Wake: American Nightmare – This downloadable addition to the survival-horror game, Alan Wake, will add a new villain called Mr. Scratch. The original game made some great use of lighting physics in the gameplay, can’t wait to see what they do here.
Fortnite – I’m still not sure what to think of this game, mostly because they show so little of what will be in the game itself. At this point, we know it’s a tower defense game with a few twists. The trailer makes it seem as though the cycle of night and day will play an important factor. Considering the game is built around the undead, it seems like a pretty obvious system to implement. It’s Epic Games; I love Gears of War and Unreal Tournament so I’m curious to see what becomes of this.
Mass Effect 3 – We’ve known about Mass Effect 3 for quite some time now, so seeing a new trailer at E3 wasn’t much of a shock. Seeing a thresher maw take down a reaper most certainly hyped me up for a release, though. Here’s hoping BioWare comes through with their promises of blending the RPG elements of ME1 and the action elements of ME2 into a package we all can love.
Rainbow Six: Patriots – Not sure what to think of this trailer. It’s definitely eye-opening, and will probably stir up controversy on the news, which will give the game some marketing push. However, showing a corporate higher-up getting a bomb strapped to him and thrown out a window without any context comes off a bit awkward. Oh well, at least the Occupy kids will enjoy it.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 – The past few years has seen the reemergence of the fighting genre, which is perfectly fine with me as I’ve met very few fighting game series I couldn’t play or at the very least appreciate. Instead of going with Tekken 7, Namco-Bandai will be bringing us a sequel to the Tag format. Not much is shown in the trailer, but considering we all know what Tekken is, not a whole lot is needed.
Hitman: Absolution – The Hitman series refuses to quit. It seems like whoever gets their hands on developing duties always tries to change the formula up to try and bring in new players. Will be interesting to see what happens here with Agent 47.
Bioshock Infinite: I was a pretty big fan of the original Bioshock, which stemmed mostly from my love of System Shock 2. The creepy setting of Rapture perfectly blended with the fresh gameplay mechanics, creating a modern classic. With Bioshock Infinite, it looks like they’re really switching gears. Going for a more dramatic experience than scary, plus a design overhaul with a more cartoon-y art direction. It’s Irrational Games, so let’s see what they can pull off.
Overall, I’d give the game reveals at the VGA’s a solid – B. I didn’t see anything that made my jaw hit the floor, and rewind the DVR, but there looks to be some solid titles coming out. In terms of quality, I’d have to give Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and Diablo III the award for best produced trailers.
Of course, nothing shown here beats Shigeru Miyamoto accepting the award for Legend of Zelda, which got inducted into the VGA Hall of Fame. Just stick Miyamoto anywhere, and the venue instantly becomes better.
Uh, so it looks like PS3 owners will be playing through a post-apocalyptic world in the upcoming exclusive – The Last of Us. Will the apocalypse be caused by ants or plants? Maybe all of this is to simply throw us a curveball, and the game will be a Ratchet & Clank sequel and this is just a practical joke being played by Kevin Butler.
Let’s look a little deeper.
There are a few things we do know about the game. First, we know it is a PS3 exclusive due to an initial report of a billboard in Times Square, teasing a PS3 exclusive being announced at the Spike VGA 2011 Award Show. The game was later to be revealed The Last of Us. On the website, the date 12.10.11 is shown, strongly hinting at the show reveal.
The teaser trailer that has all us PS3 owners sweating in anticipation is this:
There’s a long list of take-aways from the teaser. First, we know this game is going to deal with the violent aspect of humanity. Considering most of the clips involve riots, and acts of violence. Also, we’re going to be dealing with an infection of some sort as there’s plenty of medical masks and quarantine zone signs in the video as well.
While all of these aspects of video are readily apparent, there are a few things to take note of while watching. First, the YouTube channel that hosts this video has been around since 2006. Meaning, this game has been in development for over six years or they paid a YouTube user for the account. My initial guess is the former, which would mean the idea for this has been around for quite some time. Also, the narrator has a gruff and sad sounding inflection in his voice. Perhaps telling us all of the events leading up to the game have taken place.
Along with the first trailer, we have two screenshots we can salivate over. Each looking crisp and beautiful, especially if you look at the textures for the forest wallpaper screenshot.
(Click to Enlarge)
The first screenshot is the most revealing and interesting, showing a paper reporting on events which have left millions dead or “infected”. There are two news headlines, “Texas, New Mexico Quarantine Fails” and “England Latest To Declare Martial Law“. These could perhaps be hints at possible locations in the game; if true the game might take us around the globe for gameplay locations.
The second screenshot doesn’t provide as much, but looking beyond the obvious there are a couple of details to note. First, is how well rendered this screenshot is for a game that has zero presence, and one where the developer is a complete mystery. Also, it’s an odd choice for a background considering the teaser trailer has shown us urban locations.
The final piece of the puzzle, as of now, is a second teaser trailer which is even more abstract and head-scratching than the first.
It’s a clip of an ant that appears to be suffering from a rare, and real life zombie fungus. The clip shows the beginning stages, but it has been confirmed that the clip is from an actual BBC special.
All of this speculation leads us back to the initial question; what the hell is this game? Will it involve crazed zombies, who eat away at flesh? Will it be a shooter or more of an adventure game?
What I find most interesting is no developer has been attached to this, which is odd. Many times, vague teases will be announced but companies will still attach themselves to the teaser. However, the site doesn’t have any copyright information and there haven’t been any whispers as to who’s behind this.
In conclusion, I’d like to submit my own theory; I believe we’re looking at Hideo Kojima’s next project. The game developer who brought us the likes of the Metal Gear Solid series, and Zone of the Enders. He has expressed interest in moving away from the MGS series, and hasn’t been a director for any MGS game since Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. He really likes to keep his games a secret, and surprise his fans as much as possible. He is no stranger to the apocalyptic setting as well; he developed a series which sounds extremely close to this, titled – Snatcher. Also, this game is being revealed at the VGA’s which has grown in popularity, and Sony would really need some heavy ammunition to impress viewers. What better ammunition is there than Hideo Kojima?
All of the mind bending like tactics seem to have Kojima’s distinct style attached to them. If you’ve ever played a MGS game, you know your mind is going to be messed with on more than one occasion. What other developer do you know would use an ant related zombie fungus video to tease a game?
We’ll know the truth Saturday, sometime between 8 and 10 PM.
