By Nathan Grayson on December 8th, 2012 at 10:00 am.
Mars: War Logs. Wars: Lar Mogs. Lars: Mor Wags. Yes, Mars: War Logs’ name may be easily transmutable into extremely silly sounding phrases (I like the last one because it makes me think of some upper-class so-and-so commanding their dog, Lars, to wag its tail better), but it actually looks quite intriguing as far as Captain Commando McSpaceBiff adventures go. In short, Lars: War Mogs tells cyberpunk-y role-playing to get its nanomachine-enhanced ass to Mars, and the result looks like a surprisingly stylish fusion of Mass Effect and RAGE. Moving pictures and moving words after the break.
And here’s a teensy bit more.
Right then, so what’s with all this war logging business? Well, at its heart, the Spiders-developed sci-fyberpunk adventure sounds like a fairly traditional action-RPG. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, mind you. Just probably don’t go in expecting genre-redefining mechanics.
“Mars: War Logs takes you to the red planet over a century after the catastrophe that threw the planet and its colonists into chaos. Water has become the most precious resource on the arid planet with a few companies fighting a perpetual war for its control. In the middle of this struggle, players take on the role of Roy Temperance, a renegade with multiple talents, and plunge into a thrilling cyberpunk RPG on the Red Planet!”
“Players develop Roy and his combat style by choosing among dozens of skills and perks, and fight for his life in dynamic real-time combat against the fearsome creatures of Mars. The crafting system lets players create and modify equipment to maintain an edge over enemies. Dialogue choices as well as actions and decisions made will influence the destiny of the people Roy crosses paths with… and perhaps the fate of all colonies on Mars.”
Spiders’ most recent output, meanwhile, was the spirited but ultimately middling Of Orcs and Men. Jim wasn’t the biggest fan of its stifling linearity, lack of depth, and general lifelessness, so there’s reason to fear that Mars could end up stuck in a similar mire. I’m crossing my fingers for this one, though. Spiders has shown quite the talent for dreaming up out-of-this-world settings, so I really hope they can deliver on all the promise this time around.
Murghalurghalarwogalogs is slated to war some logs in spring 2013.
08/12/2012 at 10:04 Dilapinated says:
Captain Commando McSpaceBiff made me laugh.
Obligatory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFHlJ2voJHY
08/12/2012 at 10:34 Disciple says:
Glad I weren’t the only one who thought of that as soon as I read it =D
Big McLargehuge
08/12/2012 at 12:49 Taidan says:
We’re all on the same page.
Punch Rockgroin!
08/12/2012 at 10:07 Kasab says:
Lars: Mor Wags sounds more like Leisure Suit Larry at the Yorkshire FC stadium There’d be some scruffy fellow named Lars, whom the narrator would shout at to steal yet more of other people’s wives and girlfriends.
08/12/2012 at 10:16 Moni says:
A silly name with the word ‘War’ in it, and a trailer full of staring eyes. It’s like they just know how to push the RPS meme buttons.
08/12/2012 at 10:18 Dowr says:
“Focus Home Interactive”… eh.
08/12/2012 at 10:29 Jimbo says:
WARLOGS!
08/12/2012 at 10:39 Rao Dao Zao says:
Oh my God JC, a log!
08/12/2012 at 15:31 The Random One says:
I used to log a war like Mars, but then I lagged a more in the arse.
08/12/2012 at 11:11 Gap Gen says:
In fairness devs who name their games so only have themselves to blame for this.
08/12/2012 at 18:54 Shuck says:
Given that English is a second language to the devs, I wonder what the original name is, and who gave it the English title.
08/12/2012 at 11:54 stahlwerk says:
Weblog! Spiderweb! Spiders from Mars?
08/12/2012 at 15:16 MrLakestream says:
Mars: Martial Timber
08/12/2012 at 16:38 Raiyan 1.0 says:
MARS OF DESTRUCTION
(If you watched that, I’m sorry, you’re never getting that twenty minutes of your life back.)
10/12/2012 at 09:16 Atrocious says:
Weapons of Mars Destruction?
08/12/2012 at 10:39 televizor says:
Hey, at least it’s got Rihanna in it
08/12/2012 at 10:43 karthink says:
Oh look, white protagonist in his 30s with a five’o'clock shadow.
08/12/2012 at 10:48 baby snot says:
… and daily botox injections.
08/12/2012 at 10:57 Davie says:
At least he’s got moderately middling sideburns!
08/12/2012 at 11:08 EPICTHEFAIL says:
And the cliche protagonist of the year goes to…
edit: “renegade with multiple talents”? I`m guessing that means crappy vanguard build played as paragade?
08/12/2012 at 14:19 woodsey says:
Doesn’t matter. His name’s Roy Temperance. Greatest protagonist of all time.
08/12/2012 at 10:44 Low Life says:
You went double colon on the headline. Never go double colon.
08/12/2012 at 10:52 Archipelagos says:
That’s about the funniest thing I’ll read this side of the year. Kudos.
08/12/2012 at 11:09 EPICTHEFAIL says:
I`m afraid the colon cancer has metastasized. There is nothing more we can do.
08/12/2012 at 10:45 Spacewalk says:
Why log want war?
08/12/2012 at 11:11 GameCat says:
Revenge for thousands years where humans was killing his fellas in campfires.
08/12/2012 at 12:31 Gap Gen says:
A Warlog is like a wizarg.
08/12/2012 at 10:57 Gwilym says:
“The chances of any good punning on ‘Mars’ are a million to one,” he said
08/12/2012 at 11:53 Rao Dao Zao says:
I’m going to log a complaint about that one.
08/12/2012 at 13:22 mr.black says:
And I’m going to write a log about it.
08/12/2012 at 13:23 Saldek says:
Just this one pun mars what would otherwise be a pristine comments page.
08/12/2012 at 15:33 The Random One says:
Mars, a difficult word to make puns with? M’arse it is!
08/12/2012 at 17:22 Milos says:
Mars have been difficult to come up with that one.
08/12/2012 at 19:41 Skabooga says:
On how to make puns, some of the best advice I ever read: plan it.
08/12/2012 at 22:30 Mirqy says:
…but still they pun.
09/12/2012 at 14:06 Macaw says:
Bows and arrows against the lightning. They haven’t seen the heat ray, yet.
10/12/2012 at 00:26 Bart Stewart says:
But if one man can stand tall, there might be some hope for us all.
09/12/2012 at 05:03 DHP says:
Y’all mak’n me see red. Th-ares another name for mars ya know…
08/12/2012 at 11:11 John Connor says:
Well, Telltales games (that weren’t remakes) were pretty mediocre until they did the Walking Dead. Now they’re probably going to get GOTY from half the internet.
I wouldn’t write them off yet. At least they’re moving in the right direction.
08/12/2012 at 13:23 Shadowcat says:
What remakes did they do?
08/12/2012 at 15:43 The Random One says:
Either they did the Secret of Monkey Island remake and I am confused, or I didn’t and the OP is confused, or the OP meant to say ‘sequels to old franchises’ (i.e. he said that except for Sam & Max and Monkey Island their games were bad) and now we are all confused.
08/12/2012 at 11:13 N1kolas says:
Oh, look, another game trailer that has nothing to do with how the game plays. Plz, Focus Home Interactive, take my money now. In fact, take me, you sexy purveyor of pointless trailers!
08/12/2012 at 17:33 S Jay says:
Agreed.
Please Focus, Home Interactive.
08/12/2012 at 11:23 Angel Dust says:
War, war never logs. Except on Mars.
08/12/2012 at 13:24 mr.black says:
*snickers*
08/12/2012 at 11:28 Rosveen says:
Another white male protagonist? Really? When will game developers learn?
08/12/2012 at 11:39 SuperNashwanPower says:
Around the same time they will learn that people actually will buy games and movies that DON’T have american accents throughout.
Dunwall: Based on London. Its inhabitants: Based on anglo saxon features. Voiced by: People from Chicago.
NO ONE WILL BUY OUR GAMES IF THEY ARENT SPEAKING AMERICAW. Money is afraided of forren!
08/12/2012 at 12:48 Rosveen says:
To be fair, American accent is closer to original British pronunciation than modern British accent. I don’t think Arkane had that in mind when they decided to use it, though – and I’m not sure how true this is for the Victoria era.
Last time I checked – and that was long ago – CD Projekt dodged the question of gender in their upcoming Cyberpunk game. If it ends up with a male protagonist too, I might cry a little inside.
08/12/2012 at 13:35 ColOfNature says:
Ah, but which American accent? And which original British one, come to that?
08/12/2012 at 15:37 The Random One says:
I’ll cry if Cyberpunk’s main character is female after I’m done crying we can’t choose what gender he is.
Yeah, I know, CDProjekt’s most well known game has a strong story that would never work if we could be faffing about with the protagonists’ back hair lenght and stuff, but just because they have a big game like that it doesn’t mean every other game they make needs to be exactly like the previous one, BETHESDA
08/12/2012 at 19:20 Sardukar says:
Yeah, I’d hope we can choose the gender, look, and so forth in 2077.
Although that might mean I’d have to give up on a strong voice actor. Hmmm. Not really sure if I like that compromise.
08/12/2012 at 19:43 kud13 says:
make that “CD Project’s ONLY games”
09/12/2012 at 00:11 PopeRatzo says:
That’s why I hate third-person shooters. I don’t want to see myself. In an FPS I can be whomever I want to be (especially if I’m wearing gloves).
Well, that’s not the only reason I hate the third-person view in games, but it’s one of the top five. One of the others being that it puts the fact that the game was designed for consoles right in my goddamn face.
08/12/2012 at 11:31 lizzardborn says:
The scenery has some very Riddick-y feeling about it. And that is nice.
08/12/2012 at 12:27 spiritusinvacuo says:
Yeah, I was just thinking the same…
08/12/2012 at 13:24 Saldek says:
You took the thoughts right out of my mind.
08/12/2012 at 11:31 Shadrach says:
VO: “Roy Temperance, a renegade with multiple talents – but Temperance is not one of them.”
08/12/2012 at 11:55 phuzz says:
Anyone know what the music is in that first trailer? It’s quite nice (and shockingly, shockingly I tell you, not wubwub)
08/12/2012 at 12:10 TomxJ says:
Bradley / Sanchez / Dymond / Wassall – Feel The Sunshine
(*ahem* says at the end of the trailer)
08/12/2012 at 12:02 dethtoll says:
Standard Template White Guy aside, this looks interesting enough.
08/12/2012 at 16:25 Fluka says:
Yeah, could be potentially interesting, but I am left wondering “Why can’t I be playing that lady in the weird looking headdress for a change, instead of Mr. Generic Brunette Dude?” (Similar Feelings: BioShock Infinite)
08/12/2012 at 12:09 Dxaniz says:
somehow i thought “Spiders-developed” was a reference to Ziggy stardust and the spiders from mars, but i realized it was too far fetched..
it would’ve been great if it was tho.
08/12/2012 at 12:12 Iskariot says:
This might be a game I am interested in if it has a true cyberpunk vibe with lots of tech and mods and gadgets. I would like it to be in a city-like environment and not another brownish wasteland.
Oh… and of course… large open levels in general with lots of choice about how to approach a problem.
08/12/2012 at 14:05 phlebas says:
Goodness, I haven’t played a cyberpunk game set on Mars since EYE. Will this be more comprehensible or anywhere near as good?
08/12/2012 at 18:47 malkav11 says:
Wait, E.Y.E. is set on Mars? How do you know this?
08/12/2012 at 18:51 Ich Will says:
There was a very long level set on mars, the level where you make that choice…
08/12/2012 at 14:06 Solidstate89 says:
I’ll keep this on my watchlist, but what the hell kind of name is “Roy Temperance?” Sounds like something from the prohibition era.
08/12/2012 at 14:50 BathroomCitizen says:
Phooooi…
I was getting worried about being the only one that thought that name was quite weird.
08/12/2012 at 15:39 The Random One says:
Maybe born-again Christians become much more numerous in the future.
(Wait, they wouldn’t change their family name if that was the case.) Uh, and also they adopt saying the family name first. Because Mars was colonized by the Japanese. And the Italians. So his name is actually Temperance Roy.
(I think Temperance is a female name) AND ALSO HE’S A WOMAN.
08/12/2012 at 16:02 Citrus says:
I have no idea wtf is going on in the trailers. I don’t even know what kind of game this is from watching the trailers. Infact, watching crappy character models close-ups and a unrealistic white protagonist pissed me off.
………………..
DEAR GAME DEVELOPERS,
Stop trying to copy Hollywood movies. Your games have shitty stories (except Torment and anything Obsidian makes..) and action is good only in trailers. So might as well stick to showing us gameplay.
Regards,
FU for wasting my time.
08/12/2012 at 16:32 Eclipse says:
seems like the “war logs” words in the logo uses the same font as Pink Floyd’s The Wall.
Yes I like to know my fonts, yes notice this kind of stuff, yes don’t make me start about comic sans and papyrus please
08/12/2012 at 19:37 Zenicetus says:
For cryin’ out loud, if you’re going to bother using a Mars setting, why not take advantage of the fact that your’e actually on Mars with your character animations!
Mars has less than half the gravity of Earth, so people wouldn’t run like that. We can cut some slack for movies with limited budgets, but there is no reason to use Earth gravity in a videogame. Check out this gravity simulator project (skip to halfway through the clip, to see what running would look like):
http://vimeo.com/23024940#
Drove me nuts with Mass Effect 3′s Mars mission too.
/science nerd
10/12/2012 at 04:11 Geen says:
Yeah! Why don’t games like Red Faction have stuff like that?
08/12/2012 at 20:33 RizziSmoov says:
Spiders are mainly a company that deals with ports and the only game they seem to have fully developed themselves is a game called Faery: Legends of avalon which I play the demo of and the game seemed average.
But I have a trickle of hope for this game with Mars being an action RPG and therefore being nothing like Faery.
Someone in the comments section of the trailer mentioned seeing the game at Gamescom and said something about non-linearity and Witcher 2-like combat before adding a link to his preview.
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=sk&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=sk&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.centrumher.eu%2Fmars-war-logs-do-detailov-sedeli-sme-u-vyvojarov%2F lol this is the address.
08/12/2012 at 20:39 hypercrisis says:
“Water has become the most precious resource on the arid planet with a few companies fighting a perpetual war for its control”
Nobody saw that coming? On Mars of all places? There was a time when it wasn’t the most precious resource, what did they have then, naturally occurring ice cream mines? Come on, at least try to put some real sci in your fi.
09/12/2012 at 01:23 Bfox says:
Captains warlog stardate etc etc
09/12/2012 at 22:31 wodin says:
Sounds like something a recruit does under fire fighting Martians..a mars War log..
Worse name ever.