Beowulf

[vinitwins]

Beowulf

 

Published by: Ubisoft

Developed by: Ubisoft Tiwak / Ubisoft Shanghai

Genre: Action

Release Date: Nov 2007

Available On: X360, PC, PlayStation 3, PSP

[Amay]

Any details??

[vinitwins]

just started the game thread, will add details shortly or maybe you can add some snippets from previews carried by IGN, gamespy, gamespot, etc

 

 

V

[reaper]

Beowulf First Look

Making the epic poem's nameless author proud?

by Charles Onyett

July 26, 2007 - Assuming you actually read all books assigned in school, you probably read Beowulf. If not, we'll help you out with massive spoilers. Beowulf rips off the monster Grendel's arm, shreds Grendel's mom with a magical sword, becomes King of Geatland, later kills a dragon and dies from battle wounds shortly thereafter. Consider that the end of spoilers and the most abominable Beowulf retelling ever published. I mean it's not as much about the plot as it is the characters and the cultural paradigms they represent, as well as…ah you don't care. And seriously, if that plot synopsis really was a spoiler, well, you clearly hate history, learning, literature, babies, and peanut butter, and therefore deserved it.

 

Anyway, Ubisoft is bringing out the game based on the movie based on the epic poem this November. It's a third-person action title that's been in development since early 2006 at Ubisoft's Tiwak development house, the folks that put together Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. Beowulf the game is running on GRAW's YETI engine, though obviously has a different art style, and apparently uses a number of assets being implemented in Robert Zemeckis' all-digital film. We briefly saw Beowulf running on an Xbox 360 at E3 2007 in Santa Monica, California.

 

You play, as you might expect, as Beowulf. The game chooses to focus on his reign as King and the development of his realm. Your actions gradually determine how the game world develops, which can take on darker or lighter aspects. Tearing up enemies can be done with carnal powers, which represent wild instinct, reckless abandon, that sort of thing, or heroic powers, a more honorable set of attacks where you bust apart foes with weapons or use a group of thanes (controllable troops) to trample them. The carnal powers are a series of grab and smash moves and accompanied by lots of blood and screen-shaking, whereas the heroic moves are less gritty and, when controlling thanes, slightly tactical.

 

 

 

He's either thinking about arm ripping or Angelina Jolie.

If you're in a tough spot you can use the carnal powers to break out of it, since these moves seemed to kill foes rather quickly. A berserker mode can be triggered which grants you increased strength, but also mars vision making your thanes indistinguishable from enemies. If you inadvertently kill your troops while under the influence of this vile battle fervor, they'll come back as spirits to pester you. To counterbalance the increased strength, Beowulf gets briefly stunned after a berserker rage, leaving him vulnerable to enemy attacks. This period of time can be shortened by using carnal upgrade points earned from killing foes with carnal attacks.

 

Fallen thanes can be resurrected through warsongs, which involve a mini-game that hasn't been finalized. Your troops extend their range of usefulness by opening doors when commanded to and setting off environmental traps. During a fight up to 15 thanes can be present at a time, who can be broken up and controlled as groups of three. Using a glowing circle icon you can direct them around the battlefield and multitask as you break faces. You'll get a few other thane related mini-games, such as getting them to rapidly row oars on ships or sing louder and louder in Hrothgar's Heorot to taunt Grendel and prompt him to break through the door.

 

Beowulf's arsenal seems to be rather dynamic, as the shield and sword he brings into battle will break after a few smashes. He'll have to run around and rip weapons from foes to stay armed, or he can just use the variety of grab moves in the game to perform gruesome finishing moves. From what we saw, the battles seem pretty fast paced. In one area, a rocky arena under a red sky, around ten monsters were onscreen at once, Beowulf was able to dispatch them rather quickly with combinations of carnal grabs, weapon combos, and thane orders. Killing efficiency was increased even further when a heroic boost is initiated, temporarily buffering your thanes' fighting ability. If you prefer to rely on carnal moves, your thanes lose morale and become less of a force on the battlefield. As with carnal moves, heroic moves can be upgraded as well, but to do so you'll have to use them on the battlefield to gain heroic experience.

 

Had these monsters read the poem, they likely wouldn't be doing this.

Within each stage the grab button, generally used in battle to facilitate limb-crunching, can also be used to climb up onto parts of the environment and discover secret areas. For fighting, X and Y are used for weapon combos, which are specific to each weapon type. Thanes can be upgraded with spears and hammers, and it's actually important to keep them alive since if they all die, you lose the game. Certain enemies are weak to specific weapon types, so it's fortunate that during a fight you'll be able to switch the thanes' armaments on the fly.

 

Between missions you'll head back to your mead hall. From here you can talk to NPCs, upgrade your carnal or heroic powers, and check how your overall reputation is progressing. Depending on how you've acted during the game, if you've used more carnal or heroic moves, the NPCs present will berate you or fling words of praise. The hall's appearance will also shift, acquiring a more majestic décor if you favor the heroic style, or a depressed, dark age type of look after extensive carnal beatings.

 

The game's progression has Beowulf waking up at various points during his rule then setting out to solve whatever problems have arisen. He'll wake up in a bedroom at the beginning of each time period, and you can check in a mirror how your behavior has affected his appearance. You'll also be able to talk to Wulfgar on a balcony to get objectives and set out into the game world at large. Locations to visit are selected from a map that you can zoom in on to hear battle cries from locales experiencing some sort of conflict. So it seems there's a slight degree of non-linearity with how you choose where to go, but the world isn't open; it's still stage-based.

 

We'll bring you more details on how the gameplay actually feels once we're able to play ourselves. Beowulf is getting prepped to ship for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC this November. There's also a PSP version, but it wasn't shown at the time.

[reaper]

the screenies!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

looks like a game to look out for!!

[MarketTantrik]

Gamespy reviews Beowulf

 

http://ps3.gamespy.com/playstation-3/beowu...e/835083p1.html

 

_______________________________________________________

 

2.5 / 5 stars

 

Pros

Sometimes spectacular graphics;

voluminous supply of gushing blood.

 

Cons

Sometimes hideous graphics; terribly repetitive combat; too much mashing.

 

________________________________________________________________

[Tyler]

^^ Hasn't this game already come out before under the name of Conan (which already came out before as God Of War)?

[MarketTantrik]

Exactly.

[Tyler]

Well, at least Conan has a better combat system. You actually need to pull off combos and block/parry in order to defeat certain enemies, not just mindless mashing.

[nash]

Conan is fkin awesome.... I really enjoyed that game. Rescuing half naked maidens in distress FTW!

[Manu]

When will this game release in india?

[SastaGames]

I played this game for like 5 mins...and this easily has to be one of the most F***ED up games ever....its HAWWWWRIBLEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!