[wii u] killer freaks, Upcoming Wii U title to introduce ‘spacial’ controls
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Killer Freaks from Outer Space is one of the first FPS titles to be demonstrated on the system and will use the console’s tablet-controller to provide interactive aiming and movement. Set in a warped vision of London, players must hunt down bloodthirsty aliens to try and restore order to the ramshackle capital.
Killer Freaks’ producer, Guillaume Brunier, claimed that Ubisoft’s ambition is to “bring the first person shooter to the next level”. He then used Iwata’s “deeper” and “wider” analogy to describe how this would be achieved.
“How do you go deeper in FPS design? Our answer is the controls.”
The team then provided a live demonstration of the game, in which protagonist Darren Boyle had to face off against hordes of rabid alien creatures. Rather than controlling the player’s viewpoint with the right analogue stick, the demonstrator was able to move around the game space by moving the whole controller.
“This is what we call spacial gameplay. You have this sort of spherical dimension to the gameplay.”
Brunier explained that the accelerometer inside the controller would make it easier to perform difficult manoeuvres such as fast 180 degree turns. According to him, this hardware feature, along with the inbuilt gyro, will help track player movement more efficiently.
“It gives more accuracy, when needed, and it gives more immersion.”
But the game won’t just be about the single player experience. Head of Ubisoft France Studios, Xavier Poix, insisted that Killer Freaks would draw a large focus on multiplayer. Poix lauded the benefits of local multiplayer, referring to the experience as “living room fun”. Two of the Ubi panel then faced off in the game, in order to demonstrate its Real-Time Enemy Director, or RED, feature.
Using the controller’s touch pad, one combatant placed enemies on the game map, while the other had to blast them using the various weapons on offer. Again, only one tablet-controller was used during the demonstration, meaning that the other person was restricted to using a Classic Controller.
Although little is known about the range in which the Wii U controller can operate in, much of the gameplay seemed to take place on both screens simultaneously. This raised questions as to whether the game could be played entirely on the new controller. Sadly, the Ubisoft panel weren’t able to confirm if this was true, but it certainly seemed like a possibility.
Killer Freaks is set to invade homes next year.
