It always makes me shudder slightly when a game is announced as “a new franchise”. First of all, look at you, Mr Big Head. We’ll just see if it’s a franchise after you’ve made the first one, shall we? And secondly, God, have some passion… Oh, it appears that’s exactly what Codemasters had planned for the rest of the announcement for their new game, Damnation.
(Click on the pics for full size impressiveness. They really do look rather spectacular.)
The oddly peach looking game promises to be the evolution of the shooter, the next generation of gaming, and the future of the planet’s hopes for freedom and peace. Some of these statements are lies I’ve made up. But see below for quite how excited Codies are about this.
As the press release explains,
“Evolving the shooter genre with its unique and exhilarating combination of fluid action and combat, Damnation will feature huge, open environments, frenetic combat, daredevil acrobatics and high-octane vehicle-based stunts. Presenting players with an intense test of reflexes, quick thinking and rapid-fire conflict, Damnation will feature vast, breathtaking landscapes, each covering miles of distance and thousands of vertical feet.”
I really hope this is a great game. There’s no reason to think otherwise at this point. But you can’t write, “Evolving the shooter genre with…” and then just describe what all shooters already do. Right now I’m evolving the tuna sandwich, with a unique combination of tuna and the latest in mayonnaise, held together with two completely independent slices of bread, both buttered with high-resolution margarine. It will be served on a plate, and digested like never before in the human tummy. Also, you can eat it high up. Form an orderly queue.
Fortunately they remember the new thing next, but the melodrama doesn’t fade.
Billed as a ’shooter gone vertical’ and visually inspired by iconic elements of American history, these massive streaming landscapes will form the battlegrounds for a post-industrial conflict between humanity and an unstoppable arms dealer hell-bent on total world domination. Players will be able to choose their own paths and navigate the world by performing daredevil feats on the edge of human ability. However players aren’t the only ones with mind-blowing acrobatic skills; intelligent enemies will give chase and engage players in frantic gun fights and attacks that can come from any direction – in Damnation’s world there’s no safe place to hide.
So what this all is trying to say is that it’s a world that will go up and down, as well as along, and that’s a pretty decent feature. So few games are thinking this way, and it would be fascinating to play in a crafted world with some heights to explore. Especially if they can pull off the Prince of Persia athletics the screenshots imply. But flipping crikey, reading this must be what it’s like to be inside Michael Bay’s head. “And then the walls explode and they punch in mid-air and then the girl kisses the guy before they both catch on fire and there’s a giant robot!”
“With up to three hours of actual gameplay stretching out in front of them per level, players will need more than just muscle power to get across each level safely. Damnation will offer players a selection of awe-inspiring vehicles, from motorbikes capable of launching across seemingly infinite chasms, to huge, armour-piercing marvels that will induce mayhem with every huge shell.”
Breathe! For goodness sakes Mr Press Release Author, breathe! (Note, not just three hours of gameplay, but “actual” gameplay. None of your fake stuff.) See, I feel mean, because this does sound great. Bloody huge levels that take three hours to cross, and go up and down thousands of feet? Yes please! But for crying out loud, calm down. Someone was carrying the Big Box of Superlatives across the room when they tripped up, and spilled the lot. Spilled them, that is, like no mortal human has ever spilled before in the history of the universe, cascading the words in a planet-sized waterfall of cataclysmic terror and destruction, falling a near-infinite distance before shattering the very fabric of space and time on the desk below.
You want more? I know you do.
“The high action will be supported with an epic and in-depth story which, while focusing on the exploits of the hero character Rourke, is truly an ensemble piece. Players will meet and become involved in intricate story plots that reveal much more than the obvious.”
Fuck me, this is going to be THE BEST THING EVER! OMG TO THE ULTRO-MAX!
Help! It’s working! The enthusiasm… can’t… prevent… it… taking… over!
(It’s being developed by Blue Omega, who make films normally, I think, and published by cuddly Codies, currently slated for Winter 08. And admittedly, it looks a bit good.)
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I’m sold by the bowlers, personally.
He is far too smirky/smarmy in the one screenshot that shows his face. I second Schadenfreude’s comment.
As for woman’s outfit, I think her nipples must be superglued to the top. She’s about a quarter inch from softcore, without glue they wouldn’t have that vaunted T rating for a second.
I can’t believe there are so many here complaining about the female character’s costume in these screenshots. I think gravity-defying breasts are great! And it’s not as if we have been spoiled with female characters in games, lately (why are there no female characters in The Club, or in TF2, for example).
Cyber Cowboy Ninja’s and major underboob.
Looking kinda tacky there, Damnation.
Curious that in a game where someone drives a motorcycle along a wall while shooting someone else, it’s the outfit that gets cited for being absurd. You guys must’ve been real fun at “Ultraviolet” screenings.
What I find amusing about that outfit is that her pants, boots, even her shirt sleeves look suitably functional, yet it’s as if she completely forgot to cover her torso while assembling her wardrobe. Perhaps there’s a shortage of green fabric in the future and when she used it up on the rest of her clothes, she had to make do with scraps and lace?
Speaking of Steampunk Westerns, this game reminds me a bit of a UT2K4 mod also called Damnation. Wonder if there’s any chance they’re related.
Jesus Christ, I am so sick of women looking like they can’t dress themselves in video games.
Gee, women aren’t playing our games, I wonder why…
Ferrous Buller – No one had fun at Ultraviolet screenings.
And I think from now on all game companies should hire a woman to be their ‘bullshit lady’. If a concept artist hands in a picture of a buffed up guy in twelve layers of super space cowboy armour then shows his female equilvalent clad in a band-aid and a wry smile she should shout ‘bullshit!’ and shred the art ’til he learns.
@ Ferrous Buller:
From Eurogamer
Good point, FB: if the whole point of the game is defying gravity, maybe the boobs should too.
Of course following that logic to Portal makes male fears of a vagina dentata seem rather trivial.
In all fairness, she did have to go and get that back tat. That ain’t no tramp stamp or ass antlers: that’s a serious tattoo. From a design point of view, if the game is third person, you’re gonna be staring at her back far more than her front, so she would have been disrespectful to conceal that tat now, wouldn’t she? So will we be allowed to customize the tattoo to reflect our clan markings?
Still, you gotta wonder about a top that would be illegal to wear on most Californian beaches. (yes, I know, that’s why gentlemen vacation on the Riviera. But still…)
I mean, come on guys, you can be perfectly obnoxious and sexist without portraying women with the disruptive irreality of an inflatable doll. That’s just beyond the pale. And, yes, I have watched Barbarella, thank you very much.
ooh Damnation, I really really liked that.
You’re right tho, the style is kind of… well, it’s similar, probably because it’s drawing from the same western influences
I agree about the excessive bloom in the Unreal engine. I started Gears of War the other day and could hardly see for bloom. Look at that last picture, the guy’s gun is glowing like someones shining a film light at it from 5 meters away…
I don’t know about the game (looks good, if they follow through on all their promises then it’ll be really something) but that’s the best goddamn press release EVER.
It could be that the implants are themselves made of kevlar, and thus the whole thing is totally functional.
@Hieremias: I do wonder if the response of the average male (hell, I’ve talked to some females who are with me on this) to Half-Life’s Alyx may already be a hole in that argument. I mean, is there any figure in gaming you’d rather have for dinner and a movie? Let alone Alien invasion. You may point out the absurd geekiness (sp?) of this, but you know there was some small part of you that said “Hell’s yeah, it’s business time!!!” when you heard that the suppression field was down.