Somehow in the madness of San Diego Comic-con 2009 I managed time to check out THQ’s booth and the goodies they were sampling.
If anyone remembers a post way back when, I did motion capture and voice overs for THQ’s Juiced 2, and yes, that was a shameless plug. Anyhow, their sweet little booth had lots to offer gamers of all ages.
First up was Marvel Superhero Squad on the Wii. Cutesy little versions of Wolverine, Silver Surfer, Spiderman and over 20 of their friends in either adventure mode or battle mode. The gameplay looks similar to Ultimate Alliance but a lot less complicated. In adventure mode, the playable characters vary depending on which campaign you choose. Using both the Wii-mote and nunchuck, you fight your way through each adventure in a beat-em-up style and have up to two players. The gameplay is simple and easy enough that the whole family can join in on the fun. In case you forget what you need to do, Ms. Marvel will guide you to your next task at the bottom of the screen.
Battle mode plays a lot like Super Smash Brothers, in which you can have up to 4 players pit against each other in an arena. In this mode, more characters are playable than in the adventure mode. Marvel Superhero Squad will entertain the kiddies, but will still be enjoyable for the tall Marvel fans as well. Pick your copy up on the Wii in October 2009!
Dragonica Online follows suit with its super-deformed anime style cutesy character designs. This MMO is totally free to download and play, with options to buy items to improve your characters.
You can have a party of up to 4 players in this 2D-ish side scroller, and in addition to the normal adventure mode, you can opt to complete mini sidequests as well.
You ready to play? Get your friends together, and head over! http://dragonica.thqice.com/
My favorite of the three games at THQ’s booth would have to be Darksiders - I know, I know, you all thought it was one of the cutesy games. But the dark imagery and detailing of Darksiders totally drew me - and I fell in love. You take on the character named War, one of the four horsemen of the apocolypse. At the time of gameplay, the apocolypse came and destroyed the world, leaving War to mingle with the fighting angels and demons. Although both sides are trying to kill you, you still need to befriend a few here and there in order to trade and continue in the game. The gameplay of Darksiders is so smooth, and the design of the overall game is brooding but beautiful.
Be ready for War on the 360 and PS3 coming January 2010!
Me? I think I’m already in love…!
July 31st, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Who did you mocap for in Juiced 2? I mastered that game and had to sit through the intro video about 200 times!
July 31st, 2009 at 9:07 pm
THQ has a pretty solid lineup, if not entirely AAA. Still looks like a fun bunch though.
Wasn’t Tila Nguyen in Juiced 2, too?
July 31st, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Why, because it was Hot Import Nights it has to have some scantily clad Asian models?
I did mocap for Keiko. It was ssooooo weird seeing/hearing the final product! But it was a lot of fun. Here’s my post about it: http://www.girlsentertainmentnetwork.com/jinxie-the-motion-capture-experience/
August 1st, 2009 at 10:30 am
I love that Ms. Marvel is your guide in Superhero Squad
I am most excited for Darksiders also. I love games that have some sort of twisted biblical lore. Don’t ask me why
And how did I miss that giant War figure?!?! That’s awesome!!!
Thanks for the info!!
August 2nd, 2009 at 1:07 am
I saw the trailer, etc., for Superhero Squad at the Marvel Games panel, and it looks fun—in that cutesy sort of way.
August 2nd, 2009 at 11:16 am
That War statue was HUUUUGE!! How could you NOT miss it?!