Our controversial one-word review of 2007's Sequel says it all: "What?" How else to describe a game that starts you with two-thirds of your health gone, fighting a giant robot lobster that takes only one hit to defeat? The ambitious title left confused critics and gamers with a host of burning questions: Who is this dude I'm playing as? Why does he have no head? Where am I supposed to go? And how the heck do I control him? Thankfully, at this year's E3 Sequel developer Perplex Games gave us a behind-closed-doors look at their new game, Sequel 2: Ark's Beginning, which promises to answer everything.
"I'll be honest with you," says Sequel producer Montgomery McFate as soon as we shake hands. "I'm ready to eat some humble pie."
"The concept behind the first Sequel game was simple," he continues. "What sequel hasn't been bigger, better, and more badass than its predecessor? So we thought, 'Why not just go straight to the next game in the series?' And that led logically to our next revelation: games tend to be better near the end, when you're an ass-kicking machine, than in the beginning, when you're spending precious game-time powering up and fighting weak minions." McFate smiles sheepishly. "Maybe we went too far."
Maybe is right. The first Sequel dropped players into the game mid-fight, with no tutorial on how to play or reason given why you were fighting. Diligent players swapped discovered combos on message boards, but even the most dedicated fans couldn't tease out the indecipherable story. So how will Sequel 2 be different?
"When Ubisoft approached us about doing a sequel to Sequel, we knew exactly what we wanted to do: a prequel," McFate says. And that means backstory. [*Spoiler alert!*] Turns out the protagonist is named Ark. As a boy, Ark lost his head when he was decapitated in an industrial accident. So that explains that mystery. [*End spoilers*] But why does he fight?
"I don't want to give away too much here," a coy McFate answers. "Let's just say there's a wrong that must be righted, and he is humanity's last hope to save the world."
Good enough for us. But enough about story -- how does the new game play? McFate boots up a level that takes place in a derelict city. We immediately notice the scale of the game has been increased, with a new sense of verticality. And even at this early stage, the textures and lighting effects make us blink twice to be certain we're seeing the real thing. Ark runs up to a smoldering car (fire in this level pervades), and a button prompt appears that allows him to -- surprise! -- take cover.
"We realized after the first Sequel shipped that there was considerable room for improvement," McFate explains. "We now have an extensive cover system. Ark can fire blindly or aim with precision at the expense of exposure. He can also now jump over small objects like curbs and shrubs."
On screen, Ark fires at a red barrel, which explodes spectacularly. "Exploding barrels are another innovation," he says. "We think gamers are going to have a lot of fun with these. Get a few barrels close together and you'll start a chain reaction!"
Ark has now reached a cul-de-sac. The pounding orchestral score fades away, and all one can hear is a dull rumbling in the distance. As the rumbling gets louder, the screen starts to shake. Suddenly a giant robot starfish appears!
And the screen goes black.
"Got to leave something for the sequel," McFate says with a sly smile.
Sequel 2: Ark's Beginning is scheduled to release in Spring 2010.
[Intermissions is a series of silly little posts on games that may or may not exist. For more Intermissions, click here. Find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bbretterson.]
