Upcoming Games from Australian Developersby yug
Did you know that BioShock was partially developed by an Australian games developer based in Canberra? Or that Scene It: Box Office Smash was made in Brisbane? How about the fact that Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords was created in Melbourne? As gamers we all have certain titles we’re looking forward to in 2009, but did you realise how many of those games are created right here in our very own back yard? It’s something to be proud of, and that more Australian gamers should be aware of. So, with that in mind, in no particular order, I’d like to take you through a brief look at the upcoming list of games being released in 2009 that are being developed down under.
Stormrise Sega Creative Assembly This one is very close to my heart, as I’ve actually been involved in the creative process behind the game and the upcoming community for awhile now – so I’ll keep my enthusiasm in check. Sega Creative Assembly – based in Brisbane, QLD – were entirely responsible for the Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms expansion pack on the PC a few years ago. Many strategy gamers would tell you the Total War series is unmatched by any other game when it comes to large scale battles, and personally I’d be inclined to agree. The interesting thing with their upcoming game Stormrise however, is that it’s being developed for the console – not the PC. And it’s not a port of a PC RTS game. The control scheme, nicknamed ‘whip select’ is a new control method allowing consol players to flick around the screen and between units instantaneously, potentially solving the problem most console RTS games suffer by offering an alternative method to quickly select and command large groups. It’s also not a top down strategy game, featuring a more 3rd person camera, and also offering something else not seen in an RTS before – verticality, allowing units to hide, snipe, or fly into battle. With a suitable post apocalyptic storyline and fast and frantic multiplayer, it’s certainly one to look out for.
Heroes Over Europe Transmission Games Surprisingly, there aren't many flying games in general for the next gen systems, and those that do exist are usually your modern day fighter jet simulation. So it’s nice to see this game set in World War 2, as it’s the sequel to the original Xbox game Heroes over the Pacific. The battles take place during attacks on London, all the way to the destruction of Berlin. The main advantage of a flight combat game based in this time period is that aerial dog-fighting was alot more close combat orientated back then. No computer guided missile systems, it's all about the machine guns baby. Heroes takes this one step further, with an exciting new method I can only describe as 'lock on bullet time', where you get an enemy in your sights for an extended period of time, enabling you to enter this particular mode where time slows down, and you can target different weak points of your opponent. I thought I was well and truly over the bullet time effect, but it seems it's not the case as it makes the mid air dog fights that much more exciting. The story promises to adhere to the time period while allowing a certain amount of camp humour from the time period, and show offer up something vastly different from anything else we’ve experienced on the Xbox 360 before.
Infinite Interactive Available on Xbox Live – Early 2009 Possibly one of the most addictive puzzle games on Xbox Live in recent years was Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords – a ‘bejeweled’ type game that mixed in a healthy dose of RPG missions and stat building. While that game was based in the Warlords universe populated by dwarfs, orcs and elves, Galactrix has its sights set purely on the stars, as you travel around various planets, star systems, and the entire galaxy. There’s even said to be elements of diplomacy and ship building.
Edge of Twilight Fuzzyeyes Fuzzyeyes as a developer don’t exactly have an exciting track record, with their only previous game being a hot dog fast food store simulator where all the employee’s wore bikini’s. Apparently the game did well enough to allow them to spread their wings and work on an original I.P. third person action adventure game set in a fantasy steampunk universe. Edge of Twilight offers the protagonist a dual world scenario – in the day time the main protagonist is a gruff bounty hunter looking guy, with a big gun / take no crap kind of attitude, where as the night time scenarios have you nimbly jumping around the place as a skinny elf type thing. Graphically this one is shaping up to look very pretty, with the steampunk environments standing apart from most other games these days. Hopefully the full game can live up to what’s been seen so far.
Blade Kitten Krome Studios Available on Xbox 360 - ?
Krome Studios is the largest developer in Australia, with studios in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide. Although they have about 3 next gen unannounced titles in the works currently, the one they have announced is an original I.P. called Blade Kitten. Based on the comic of the same name created by Krome’s Creative Director Steve Stamatiadis (the creator of Ty the Tasmanian Tiger), the game will probably stay fairly close to the source material and be a cheeky action packed adventure game following the main character Kit Ballard, a human/feline bounty hunter. Early screenshots suggest a 3rd person cell shaded style of game play, although there’s not much more solid information to go on at this point.
So that’s what’s confirmed so far, however it’s only the beginning of the year, so who knows what else will pop up. Already there are announcements of untitled Xbox 360 and Xbox Live games from developers Big Ant, Torus Games, Dr D Studios, Figurehead Studios, 2K Australia and Halfbrick Studios. So support your local game developers and at the very least check out the above list of home grown titles – who knows, someday you may even be a part of creating one! |
