PAX East 2014: Hack 'n' Slash (Double Fine)

Spring has arrived, and with that, another PAX East has sprung up, inviting gamers and game developers from all over the world to Boston, all to show upcoming games and revel in what the industry has in store.  We at Third Rate Minion were there, and we got to try out a sampling of what was there on the showfloor!

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Gameplay:

 

Alex:

Just outside of the Indie Megabooth, both Capy and Double Fine shared a booth dedicated to upcoming games from each company.  One of those games was a Zelda-like adventure title with a programming twist: Hack 'n' Slash.  We have some gameplay footage for you all, and we also have some brief impressions on the experience.

Hack 'n' Slash is one of a number of projects created by Double Fine during a round of Amnesia Fortnight, a two-week period during which multiple teams work together to create new projects for development in the future.  While Hack 'n' Slash was not the top selected game from its respective Amnesia Fortnight, the game is still a fun and unique take on the typical overhead action adventure title, and so the team is bringing it out in full-force via Early Access.

In Hack 'n' Slash, players assume the role of a young hero who, after stumbling upon a broken sword, finds the ability to hack into particular objects, changing the fabric of the world.  For example, by stabbing a doorway, traits for the door appear, and the player can modify the locked status from TRUE to FALSE, allowing for easy opening.  What could not be immediately destroyed by the hacking blade could likely be modified by it.  Other items that could be changed included bushes (changing their contents and whether they were on fire) and rocks (how many pushes can be made as well as how big the pushes are).  These changes are necessary to solve particular puzzles in the world.

Unfortunately, I am not that great at programming nor Zelda puzzles and was not able to progress very far from the early demo. Either way, I did find it to be a neat idea with a fun artstyle.  The game has a look which seems comparable to old Saturday morning cartoons, fitting of the humor displayed in each of the game's conversations.  Meanwhile, the demo itself is exceptionally early, so it was fairly rough in its presentation and character movement.  Honestly, it will take further development to find out whether the game will be great or merely decent, but at the very least, it has great potential!  I can't wait to see what crazy puzzles the team at Double Fine concoct for this game later on!

You can try an Early Access version of the game now, so check it out here.

PAX East 2013: Dropchord

Alex:

This year, both Double Fine and Capy shared a booth at PAX East, and Double Fine's contribution was Dropchord, a music game which requires two fingers and a pair of ears to let in the hardcore techno beats.  We got to play the game and talk with Programmer and Project Lead Patrick Hackett about the title and how music game development has differed from previous projects.

Dropchord is a music arcade title in which you use two outstretched fingers to control the ends of a line which cuts into a circle in the center of the screen.  Moving a finger shifts the line, and eventually, abilities are unlocked to manipulate the line in more unique ways such as a quick spin.  Using the line, you must make contact with nodes that are placed inside the circle, but over time you must also avoid certain nodes which can do harm to you and the score.  All the while, a heavy techno beat pounds in time with the multitude of graphical effects present in the game.

The game uses a specific controller called the Leap Motion controller.  This controller consists of cameras which capture anything that enters their view, including in this case, fingers.  It took a brief moment to get used to having absolutely no direct input, but once the game really started flowing, movement became much more easily understood.  The music was truly fitting to the style of the game, and playing with just my fingers felt pretty great.  Of course, being a demo, it was probably one of the easier songs in the final game, but I really enjoyed what I experienced from the game.

Perhaps my only major concern with the game's design is how they can keep it fresh, but I am pretty confident they will have some more surprises in mind when the game finally comes out.  Also, the actual name selection screen was a pain to control in contrast to the game itself.  Hopefully they get that fixed for the final game.

Dropchord releases in May alongside the launch of the Leap Motion controller.

Double Fine is Stacking Releases (Not Really)

Double Fine Productions, developer of the recently-released Costume Quest, has announced its second downloadable title via THQ: Stacking, an adventure title involving Nesting Dolls and a setting in the Industrial Revolution.

Stacking is a unique adventure title in which players assume the role of Charlie Blackmore, a young chimney sweep who sets off on a quest to save his family from indentured servitude. In order to save his family, however, he must get his way through a number of obstacles and other people blocking his path.

Thankfully, Blackmore and all other residents in Stacking are Nesting Dolls. What does that mean? Well, if Blackmore approaches other residents and is not spotted by them, he can leap inside of them and assume their identities and special powers. Of course, that only applies if that person is one size bigger. Players will need to stack characters of increasing sizes in order to get to the largest characters and use them to complete specific missions.

Stacking is being directed by Lee Petty, the art director for Brutal Legend. Double Fine's previous game, Costume Quest, was directed by Tasha Harris, main animator for Brutal Legend.

Stacking is slated for an early 2011 release for PSN and XBLA.

Double Fine Productions is the development team headed by Tim Schafer, famous for creating adventure series such as Grim Fandango. This generation, the company developed Brutal Legend for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and earlier this year, the company announced it was making four titles at once. The first of those games turned out to be Costume Quest, released in October. Its expansion DLC, Grubbins on Ice, will be released in December. The company is working on two unannounced projects as well.

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SOURCE: Double Fine Action News

Costumes Quest Gets Cold as Ice

Double Fine Productions has announced that it is creating a new downloadable chapter to Costume Quest, its trick-or-treating adventure released last month.

The chapter, entitled Costume Quest: Grubbins on Ice, is an additional area that takes place following the main game's storyline. The adventure begins when Lucy and Everett, the two additional team members added over the course of the original game, explore around town to find evidence of the Grubbins. Lucy ends up sucked into Repugia, where Grubbins of all sorts live, and she is captured by Araxia, the current leader in the currently turbulent world. Filled with dread and panic, Everett gathers the twins Wren and Reynold to help save her (and the oppressed Grubbins) from the clutches of evil!

Rather than collect candy for the sake of trick-or-treating, the player collects candy from Grubbins in order to gain support from the oppressed and defeat the incumbent political rivals. The battle sequences are the same in style, but there are also plenty of new costumes to create in Repugia, including a Pirate and an Eyeball costume. Furthermore, the game is said to be larger than a normal area of the original game, spanning around five hours to complete.

Grubbins on Ice does more than just add a new game segment; it fixes aspects of the main game as well! Performance improvements in frame rate should be noticeable, and players will be able to pause during cutscenes. Perhaps a bigger addition is the ability to save at any time at specific phone posts (in the original release, a player needed to complete a mission in order to save).

Costume Quest is a trick-or-treating adventure released on PSN and XBLA last month. In it, players assume the role of either Wren or Reynold in an attempt to save the other from the clutches of candy-stealing Grubbins. The children can transform themselves into massive beings based on their costumes in order to battle, and besides that, there are plenty of small missions to complete in the simple-but-delightful role-playing game.

Grubbins on Ice should see release next month for XBLA and PSN. No price has been released.

SOURCE: GameSpot

Double Fine Goes on a Costume Quest

A few weeks ago 3RM reported that Double Fine, the development company which created Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, was working on four projects at the same time. [HERE]

Today, at his Develop 2010 keynote, Double Fine CEO guy Tim Schafer announced the first of those four titles:

Costume Quest comes from the creative mind of Tasha Harris, the lead animator for Brutal Legend. This comes as the first project from Double Fine that is not run directly by Schafer himself, but he has stated that he will be having supervisory roles in all projects he does not direct, so that should calm down certain worried fans.

The game takes place on Halloween night, during which players take the role of a young boy Trick or Treating with his younger sister (genders can be switched for the main character, for inquiring minds). Unfortunately for him, the sister is captured by a monster who seems to be mistaking who or what she is. Thankfully, the boy has the ability to pull monsters from his imagination and use them to fight off monsters in order to help save his sister and make it back home before his parents freak! He will have to take on more than just monsters, though; other children will come into play as both friends and foes.

The player moves around the suburban neighborhood, hoping to find his sister. Quests appear as porch lights at specific houses, and at each house, particular adventures await. One example provided was a special "theme party," in which players have to collect stuff in order to make an impromptu costume to fit the theme of a particular party. Once each mission is achieved, players get candy and information on where to go next.

There are other types of missions, as well, including battles with monsters, in which the children transform into realistic versions of the beings they portray. Sounds like something we all wish we could do as little ones.

Costume Party is set for release through THQ onto PSN and XBLA this Halloween. Another DLC title is slated for early 2011. Cavities are forming in my teeth already.

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