TGS 09: WarDevil Impressions

WarDevil was announced way back in E3 2006 (or was it E3 2005?) as a PlayStation 3 exclusive but after that, it sort of vanished from the horizon due to certain financial issues. Now with UTV backing the game, developer Ignition have gone back to the drawing board to come up with a brand new game and engine from scratch that should hit the Xbox360 and PS3 sometime later next year.

WarDevil is basically a 3rd person action adventure that fuses hack and slash elements and stealth with conventional platforming. Jim Phillip, the game’s producer referred to WarDevil as an “Interactive film capable of breaking new grounds” and true to the “interactive bit” the game seamlessly transitioned from cut-scene to gameplay and back to cut-scene again.

WarDevil takes place in the distant future and we aren’t too sure of what the plot’s all about but I’m sure it’s the same post-apocalyptic war scenario we’ve seen umpteen times till date. We saw a bunch of humans locked in a battle with robotic creatures and I couldn’t help but shake the whole Killzone 2 vibe I was getting with the game’s art style and overall visuals.

Anyway pretty soon we were introduced to the WarDevil himself and true to this name he proceeded to kick some serious ass. It lacked the sheer brutality we’ve come to expect from games of this genre but his animations were fluid as he moved swiftly from one enemy to another stabbing them in different parts. The game’s AI didn’t seem all that interested in living since they never bothered returning fire or saving their teammates. Once I pointed that out I was told that the AI wasn’t up and running and the characters were just placeholders.

I do see a certain amount of potential in WarDevil but it requires tons of work before it can hit stands. The game is a single player experience all the way with no co-operative or multiplayer modes present in the game so Ignition have to make the campaign really spectacular if they want people to hold on to the game for a while.

Either way we’ll get to know how it all plays out when War Devil releases for both the Xbox360 and PS3 sometime next year.