Metalocalypse: Dethgame Preview

More Game Info (Print This Article)

 

 

Scheduled release date:

Q4 2009

Publisher:

Konami

Developer:

Frozen Codebase

Number Of Players:

1-2

Genre:

Action

Release Date:

Q4 2009

Screenshots

If you’re at all familiar with the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup, you’ve certainly heard of “Metalocalypse,” an off-the-wall animated headbanger-fest for hardcore fans of the music genre in question. Now, if you’re a fan, you’ve likely been asking yourself, “gee, I wonder when they’re going to make a game based on my favorite cartoon?” After all, they’ve already done it several times in the past, and they’ve even gone so far as to give an Internet comic strip (Penny Arcade) their own downloadable video games. Well, Konami is stepping in and giving developer Frozen Codebase a chance to appeal to all you metalheads out there with Metalocalypse: Dethgame, which is slated to release later this year on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace. Now, we’ve scrounged about and dragged up as much information as we could, but we have to warn you that those who have gone hands-on with an early build haven’t come away impressed. We like to give every game a chance, though, so…

In Dethgame, you will assume the role of a random Klokateer, one of the common minions in the TV show and according to IGN’s play test, the start of the game is definitely going to turn some heads. It’s a little random and plenty nasty, but while we’re typically intrigued by games that push the envelope, there doesn’t appear to be any purpose to the introduction. It seems the game starts with your character peeing at a urinal…and if you move the left analog left to right, you can pee wherever you wish. Now, perhaps this is all in the spirit of the Adult Swim theme, which is to provide viewers with senseless insanity that rarely has any real message or value. Granted, some of it funny, but it’s my opinion that much of what is aired is only bizarre for the sake of being bizarre. But hey, this may be right up the fans’ alley, right? After you’re done doing your business, you apparently just wander into the next room and start beating on everyone in the vicinity. Why? Who knows? Does it matter? The Klokateer doesn’t need a reason to get all crazy Type-A on everyone, does he?

During combat, you’ll be able to utilize regular and heavy attacks and better yet, you’ll also get a chance to use a variety of weapons. You’ll also be able to use the environment to your advantage; we turn your attention to a game like The Bourne Conspiracy, which allowed you to use objects in the background when locked in a fierce one-on-one confrontation. We distinctly recall smashing someone’s head into a table… Well, the same theory applies in Dethgame. Blades on a wall? Take a foe and shove him into the deathtrap, ala “Fargo.” Or, if you’d rather humiliate your opponent, you can always knock them down, kick them a hundred times in the groin area and pee on their face. We didn’t make that up; it’s apparently a major staple of the gameplay here, and while we almost want to laugh, we’re closer to gagging than we are to cracking a smile. But maybe the overload on gore and grossness is exactly what the fans want; just about any obstacle you face in this game can be solved with grisly deaths, and the addition of urine embarrassment is definitely…unique. As we always say, you have to cater to the fans if you want a licensed game to do well in the marketplace, and maybe the designers are doing exactly that.

But even so, what part of peeing on someone and destroying everyone you face in the midst of a bloodbath is found in “Metalocalypse?” Is it merely assumed that fans of the show are into that type of thing? Granted, there isn’t much going on in the cartoon, but we fail to remember the last time some dude started randomly kicking people in the groin. All metal fanatics aren’t out for blood, though, despite some of the abrasive lyrics that populate death metal and hardcore metal songs. The music should be somewhat decent, at the very least, and we’re hoping there’s more to this downloadable title than what has been described in this preview. Unfortunately, if there is, we can’t find any other info, so we’re a trifle concerned. We enjoy some violence and controversial content as much as anyone, but there’s a slight difference between something like this and God of War III. Let’s just hope Konami’s offering isn’t solely centered on depravity.

Metalocalypse: Dethgame is set to release during the fourth quarter of 2009.