From Warren Spector (System Shock, Deus Ex) is a new game that… I don’t even know other than the concept art are going to haunt my dreams. It appears to be set in a steampunkish post-apocalyptic Disneyland.
Well, okay, the verdict is “looks not bogus,” so it could still be a hoax, but still, damn.
I suppose at least it’s not another Hannah Montana-like tween sitcom… though I’m debating the use of “at least” in that sentence. This is at least 10 times more twisted than American McGee’s Alice.
Steampunk Mickey… mmmMMMMMMMMmm. I never thought I’d love anything Disney, but this is just so warped…
Gwaaaaaaaarsh.
Seriously though, I don’t know how kids would react to seeing Goofy zombified. I mean, there’s seeing your favourite cartoon character in a video game, and seeing… that.
This is Warren Spector, the chances of it being under an M rating are approximately nil, so no kiddy trauma here (though I weep for the parents who see a creepy Mickey on the front and think “Mickey, my kid would like that!” without checking the rating).
Read around and found the last little bits of info I could form various places. It appears to be a platformer starring Mickey (source is apparently Spector’s blog, which has an entry some time back about making a platformer to complete with “the plumber himself”). It will rely on the pointer to draw, erase, and alter parts of the level, and the story may have something to do with old forgotten Disney (or Walt-created) characters like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (seen on the decal on the spaceship) attempting to get revenge on Mickey because he’s popular and they’ve been cast aside.
ETA: And more art!
I suspect that if the game gets released (always a big if this early on) that it’ll be much more toned down. We’re probably only seeing the really extreme stuff like that killer Mouseketeer.
I’ve got my fingers crossed that this will finally be a good new game from Warren Spector. The last good game he made was Deus Ex and it’s nearly ten years old at this point.
I thought Kingdom Hearts was a hoax before it came out. Maybe the success of the KH franchise has convinced some Disney higher-ups that shaking up the franchise conventions can be a *good *thing? I really, really hope this game makes it into production.
I officially want this more than I’ve ever wanted a game that I’ve only seen the concept art for. AND I ACTUALLY OWN THE CONSOLE THAT IT’S FOR! That’s a rare combination.
I usually think this kind of genre-blending and fracturing of fairy tales is lame but something about this just screams awesome. I hope it’s real and real good.
See also: Lego Star Wars. That game was assumed to be a joke right up until it was released because no one thought that making a Star Wars game out of Lego characters (up to that point, there had never been even a passable Lego game) was the craziest thing they had ever heard.
If this is accurate, and if this is close to what it actually comes out like, then i’ll drop any and all of my complaints about Disney ever.
The weird thing is it’s Warren Spector, so if it is dystopian weird Disney, then it’s likely going to be pretty damn good. And Disney have already shown they can work with video game companies to make good spin-off affairs.
I have doubts that it will actually get made. I mean, this is pretty much all just concept art, and even as “dark” as Kingdom Hearts was, it was nowhere near this level. If it does get made, I expect it to get toned done a lot.
But damn, that wall-climbing elephant is the creepiest to me. For some reason, anytime I see an elephant that isn’t “normal,” it creeps me out. Regular ol’ elephant with skin and such is fine, but a skeleton, or those paintings with the tall, skinny-legged elephant things? Creepy as fuck.
Hope springs eternal. I, too, am pessimistic about this game hitting the shelves even close to as designed, but I will keep my eyes on this as more news becomes available.
There is no better feeling in the world when a movie, comic, video game, etc. is announced and it seems you were the only person they thought about in the creative process.
