Less Retro, Same City Rampage: Shakedown Hawaii
Now with 16 bits!
After romping through '80s and early '90s pop culture in the 8-bit-styled Retro City Rampage, developers Vblank Entertainment are skipping forward a few years. They've announced Shakedown Hawaii [official site], a follow-up open-world murder simulator which skips towards a 16-bit art style and, I'd imagine, later into '90s pop culture. Presumably the Back to the Future references are now Back to the Future Part III references, and everyone's going on about whether they're a Rachel or a Monica (someone once called me a Phoebe and I was APPALLED). Look, here's the first trailer:
Details are slim right now, but here's what Vblank head honch Brian Provinciano says about it on the PlayStation Blog (yes, it definitely is coming to PC too):
"Shakedown Hawaii brings the Vblank open world universe into the 16-bit era, powered up with destructible environments and an arsenal of supercharged weapons. Taking place some thirty years after the events of Retro City Rampage, the game follows The Player as he comes out of early retirement to rebuild his neglected corporate empire."
No word yet on when Shakedown Hawaii will launch, but Vblank are showing it at some PlayStation thing next weekend so we should hear more soon-ish. For now, hey, go check out Wot Alec Thought of the original retro love-in. Maybe it's telling that this first Shakedown Hawaii trailer is lighter on references, aware they're not enough.