LucasArts might be under the Imperial sway of Darth Disney these days, but that shouldn't put a bump in development on Star Wars 1313, a gritty, dark game based on the galaxy's city-planet of Coruscant.
What we've seen so far features two bounty hunters guiding their ship (which is carrying a secret bounty) deep into the bowels of Coruscant, and down to the criminal underground that resides on Level 1313. Suddenly their ship comes under attack by soldiers, their secret bounty is stolen, and they're forced to escape their burning vessel and take refuge in another craft nearby.
As impressive as it looks, none of what we've seen so far is final: the super-cool bounty hunter characters, seen fighting soldiers on a battered spaceship as it plummets into the centre of the planet, are both placeholders. However, the design of the game is nailed, flashing back to the style of Republic Commando, Knights of the Old Republic and Aliens. A world where nothing is smooth and nothing seems to work, where tech is dirty and takes blows to fix, where the old sits alongside the new.
"We don't want to see a happy bonsai garden popping up," lead artist Dave Smith told us. "It all needs to feel oppressive and heavy. A used future." Taking elements from different real-world cities and compressing them together, Level 1313 is a compressed sink-slum in a cave thousands of miles underground.
13 comments so far...
veedlemonster on 11 Feb '13 said:
those bounty hunters are placeholders hey?
sneaking suspicion one of them might end up with a certain green helmet and jetpack on... MASTERCHIEF! wait.. BOBA FETT!
CunningSmile on 11 Feb '13 said:
The Fett rumour as been bandied about so much it's probably no longer a rumour. I'm almost disappointed as I've always found Fett a bit over rated and would quite like a bit of new blood in the universe.
Either way I'll pick this up so long as I have a console that will play it. Disney have said that they want LucasArts to follow the overall plan of concentrating on iPad and iOS games, and I can't shake the feeling this is a plan born of the fact Disney games don't tend to do well on console. As consumer we need to send the message that Star Wars games will sell so long as you Disney continue to make them.
Johnbhoy69 on 11 Feb '13 said:
Completely off topic but wheres your Aliens: Colonial Marines review?
FishyGinger on 11 Feb '13 said:
I'd quite like to see a Katarn game before he was a yedi. I know this would essentially be dark forces again but I liked that game, snow cleats and all. Actually just an updated version of the first two games would help...
Gazisdaman on 11 Feb '13 said:
Is that some kind of Scandinavian Jedi?
OXM ETboy on 11 Feb '13 said:
It'll be on the site tomorrow. Stay frosty.
Johnbhoy69 on 11 Feb '13 said:
Doesn't bode well...been hearing rumors of a review embargo, any truth to that?
FishyGinger on 11 Feb '13 said:
Well are there any reviews for it before release date? Yes it is true and doesn't seem to bode well, but Ed has been giving away subtle pointers. In his reply he used 6 words, a full stop, then 2 words. So it's a 6.2 out of ten.
Yeah that's right, Sherlock comes to me for answers.
CunningSmile on 11 Feb '13 said:
Completely true. The embargo lifts tomorrow.
FishyGinger on 11 Feb '13 said:
Yes, yes it is. He's hairy and a jedi
OXM ETboy on 11 Feb '13 said:
All reviews come with embargoes. But some embargoes fall later than others.
Johnbhoy69 on 11 Feb '13 said:
Because the game is especially bad lol
GossipHound on 11 Feb '13 said:
Ha! Like the Phantom Menace reference. The force is strong with this one.