E3 2009: Preview: Fairytale Fights - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 10 June 2009 / 3,570 Views
Jacob Mazel
Fairytale Fights is simultaneously the most twisted and entertaining title I had the opportunity to see at E3.
The game designers at PlayLogic opened their demonstration of the game by noting what the game was about, and where their inspiration for the art style came from. According to PlayLogic, fairy tale characters are actually quite cruel if you look at their motivations and so they decided to make a hack and slash platformer with a cutesy style. Whether it’s Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, or the Three Little Pigs there is always something a bit sinister lurking beneath the surface in a fairy tale and the art style in the game allows PlayLogic to effectively mock fairy tale stories while playing these classic characters. As you can see below the developers used the theme of the game, a distopian world of fables to build a visual experience similar to a Tim Burton movie. The game is running on the Unreal Engine 3 to pull off the look. At one point in our session, the excessively violent Itchy & Scratchy cartoons from The Simpsons were cited as inspiration by the developers.
In Fairytale Fights the story goes that each fairy tale character wants to restore the fame he or she has lost. Apparently alot of fame has been lost, as PlayLogic told us there would be over 20 levels in the final game. The game has a lot of jumping in addition to the hack and slash action, so at its core, this is a title with solid platformer elements that has a sick sense of humor and a beautiful style to it, a formula we have seen previously in games like Conker's Bad Fur Day. One example of the sick sense of humor is the excessive display of cartoony blood which remains on screen and mixes with other liquids until the level is finished. The developers could have easily made the blood disappear to make the level look ‘clean’ after the initial splattering but there is something to be said about constantly being forced to remember who you killed or maimed before. While the jumping is a key element to the game the most interesting feature of the game is the weapon system.
Since this title is for Xbox 360 and PS3, there was a dual control stick set up in the demonstration. One control stick handled movement as you would expect. But the other control stick controlled the direction of the weapon in hand. PlayLogic calls this system “dynamic slicing”. It allows you to attack enemies with your weapon in multiple ways. You could slice off a cute bunny’s head, cut him in half so that you get a left half and a right half, or you could cut him diagonally. A picture in picture window appeared on the right side of the screen to give us a detailed look at the critter about to get severely maimed.
Beyond the slicing and jumping the game also features robust online features. First of all, Fairytale Fights utilizes a two player co-op mode over the internet. Amazingly the “dynamic slicing” system applies to your friend as well. You can cut your ‘friend’ up any way you want and expect the same to happen to you if your 'friend' gets bored. The developers claimed that there is always some one who plays co op games to be a jerk so they intentionally left the friendly fire in the game. There is also a four player co-op for local play, but it is currently not online-ready. It may be added to the final build of the game though. In the co-op mode players are free to jump in and jump out at will. PlayLogic also told us that Fairytale Fights would have downloadable content.
Fairytale Fights is set to release in the USA during the October to December quarter for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. If you like platformers with a sick sense of humor, its a definitely a title to watch.
Contact Vgchartz at jmazel@vgchartz.com
