No game design concept is too bizarre for the PlayStation 3's downloadable game service, PSN, it seems. Today Sony has revealed to Multiplayer full details for the U.S. version of another strange one: "The Last Guy."
Word broke several weeks ago about a mad concept being hatched by developers at Sony's Japan Studio about a game that uses real aerial maps of major cities as its levels. "The Last Guy" populates those maps with digital characters -- a hero, people to be rescued, and rampaging spider and blob monsters. The goal is to run the hero past the people who need rescuing, absorb those people into a parade of followers and then lead that trail of people to safety zones without getting attacked by monsters. It's a melding of the mechanics of old-school games "Choplifter" and "Snake" -- sort of.
A demo version of the game was released today in Japan, according to a Sony rep who gave me a heads-up about the title
What's going to be in the full game, which is "coming soon" to the U.S.? There will be 14 different cities, including L.A. and Tokyo for starters…
The full fact sheet is below.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America 'The Last Guy' Fact Sheet
OVERVIEW
A fast-paced and highly addictive classic arcade style game with simple controls, The Last Guy uses real-life aerial maps of 14 cities around the world for its levels, including Asakusa (Tokyo, Japan), Los Angeles, and London. Within a set time limit, the player - who is the last hope for to save mankind from the zombies that are taking over Earth - navigates through the city map, gathering survivors hidden out in buildings along the way and leading them to a designated "escape zone." As the player rushes around the level picking up survivors, a line of nervous people forms behind him and follows his every move around the level, scrambling back inside nearby buildings if a zombie gets too close.
STORYLINE
Set some time in the 21st century, a mysterious purple ray hits Earth, turning anyone outside and touched by the light into a zombie. With zombies roaming the streets, unaffected people lucky enough to have been inside a building when the ray hit are anxiously holding their collective breath for someone to rescue them. As the Last Guy, the player is the survivors' last hope to survive this global crisis.
OTHER FEATURES
Real Cities – Each stage is brought to life with real aerial photography of the actual city, with multiple levels of zoom to get the best view of the area to see where the survivors, and zombies, are hiding out
Zombies and Bosses – The Last Guy features 10 types of zombies and 4 types of bosses to avoid and outwit as the player races around the city rescuing survivors.
Special Abilities – Utilize special powers such as dash to get away from zombies, thermography vision to see where people are hiding, a whistle to get your long line to huddle up and get out of zombies' paths, and the ability to surround a cluster of people completely with a line of people and instantly rescue them all.
Power-Ups – Take advantage of five kinds of power-ups to help complete each stage, including stamina boosts, freezing time, warping back to the Escape Zone, and temporary invisibility.
Extra Stages – Players can unlock Extra Stages to play with super high scores.
NOTE FROM STEPHEN: Actually, the fact sheet isn't quite full. Price and a more specific release date than "coming soon" were not provided.
