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Street Fighter X Tekken (ストリートファイター X 鉄拳 Sutorīto Faitā Kurosu Tekken?) (pronounced Street Fighter Cross Tekken) is an upcoming crossover fighting game being developed by Capcom. The game is set to release on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation Vita in March 2012. The game will feature characters from both the Street Fighter franchise and Namco’s Tekken series. As the game is being made by Capcom, with Namco being involved more in the licensing of the Tekken cast, the gameplay will be based on the 2D gameplay and will feature projectile moves such as the Hadouken. Namco is currently producing their own take on the crossover, Tekken X Street Fighter, which will follow their own style of gameplay.

Gameplay

Being developed by Capcom, the core gameplay is similar to that of the Street Fighter series, incorporating elements such as Super Combos, as well as EX Attacks from Street Fighter IV. Players each choose two fighters from the Street Fighter and Tekken series, both sets of characters are controlled using the “Street Fighter” 6-button system, however it has been revealed that the Tekken characters will be able to perform “Tekken” style combos using the primary four buttons in a similar fashion to the Tekken 4-button system. These fighters can be switched out normally, or during certain combos. As fights go on, players build up power in a three sectioned meter at the bottom of the screen referred to as the “Cross Gauge”, which allow the player to perform various techniques depending on how much of the gauge is filled, such as EX Attacks, Cancels, Super Arts and various Cross techniques detailed below. There is also a customisable set of gems used during fights between the same character, which enhance a fighter’s stats under certain conditions. As opposed to the other crossover fighting games released by Capcom, in which the player must eliminate all the opponent’s fighters to win, victory conditions are more similar to Tekken Tag Tournament, in which the first player to have one of their fighters’ health bars reduced to zero loses the round, the player who wins the most rounds winning the match.

The tag team element of the game is heavily emphasized, with players being able to switch between the two characters in their team in a variety of manners. Switch Cancel allows players to switch partners in the middle of a combo, whilst Cross Rush combos involve launching the opponent into the air before swapping partners and continuing the combo. Cross Arts, which require a full Cross Gauge, allows players to chain together each character’s Super Combo in one straight attack, whilst the Cross Assault mechanic allows players to simultaneously control both characters in their team until the Cross Gauge runs out. When a character on a player’s team has less than 25% health remaining, that character can be sacrificed in order to activate Pandora Mode, which gives the remaining fighter increased strength and an infinite Cross Gauge. However, this state has a time limit and the player will automatically lose if he/she cannot defeat the opponent before the Pandora state runs out.

The game will feature various online options. Two players can battle on the same team, one controlling each character, and face off in four player matches. Scramble mode allows four players to fight simultaneously in pairs of two. The game will also support online training modes which can be played competitively or cooperatively with two players, as well as support the Fight Request feature.

Characters

Street Fighter
Ryu, Ken, Guile, Abel, Chun-Li, Cammy, Sagat, Dhalsim, Poison, Hugo, Ibuki, Rolento, Zangief(Downloadable), Rufus(Downloadable)

Tekken
Kazuya, Nina, King, Marduk, Bob, Julia, Hwoarang, Steve, Yoshimitsu, Raven, Kuma, Heihachi, Lili(Downloadable)

System Exclusive (PS3/Vita)
Cole, Toro, Kuro

Developer : Namco (Project Soul)
Publisher : Namco Bandai
Director : Daishi Odashima
Series : Soul series
Platform : PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date : 2012
Genre : Fighting
Mode :  Single-player, multiplayer
Media : Blu-ray Disc, DVD-DL

Soulcalibur V (ソウルキャリバーV SōruKyaribā Faibu?) is the upcoming seventh installment in Namco’s Soul series of fighting games, and will be released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012. Namco has drawn back the velvet curtains on a new version of Soul Calibur. At its LevelUp showcase in Dubai on Mei 10 2011, the company announced that Soul Calibur V will tread the boards of destiny again next year, continuing the weapons-based fighting series famed for its mighty swords, sumptuous visuals and S&M tinged outfits.

Story

Set 17 years after Soul Calibur IV, the game represents a generational shift for the series. Siegfried is 39 years old and no longer wields the eponymous Soul Calibur sword. The lineage of power has instead passed to Sophitia’s son Patroklos, whose prominence in the new trailer suggests a leading role in the forthcoming brawler. In an unexpectedly phallic plot twist, however, the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur swords have been reduced in length to short swords. Apparently all will be revealed later. That, I’m almost certain, is the first time a game’s story has hinged on the varying lengths of a sharp instrument — let alone two sharp instruments.

Gameplay

The combat system is being overhauled to make it more reactive, while combos will be easier to access and perform. “Soul Calibur IV was a little heavy and there was often a delay between the button press and the action, especially online,” explains producer Hisaharu Tago. He refers to the new system as “much lighter, sharper and more elegant”.

Tago says there will be a mixture of favourite characters and newcomers and that we can possibly expect to see the children of other long-time cast members in the title (apparently, Patroklos’s fighting style is a more agile version of Sophitia’s so we can probably expect more of these inherited and adapted brawling styles). Personally, I’m hoping for the lovechild of Ada and Voldo – although I wouldn’t want to bump into this monstrous progeny in a dark alley.

Elsewhere, Tago has confirmed that the “create a character” mode will return from the previous game, and that the online modes will be updated and expanded. In a Q&A session at the end of his demo, there was even confirmation we can expect at least one surprise guest character, in the manner of Darth Vader and Yoda, appearing in IV. He also hinted that we may one day see a modern day setting for the series, which is currently set in a hazy 16th century timeframe. On a roll now, the producer, suggested that in the wake of the newly announced Tekken: Blood Vengeance animated movie, there’s a chance we’ll see a full-length Soul Calibur anime, possibly set in that 17-year gap between IV and V.

After much rumour and speculation, Sony has unveiled the new PSP, It’s actually codenamed NGP and will revolve around five key concepts: Revolutionary User Interface, Social Connectivity, Location-based Entertainment, Converging Real and Virtual (augmented) Reality. It will be compatible with the PlayStation Suite and is backwards-compatible with downloadable PSP games and content from Sony’s PlayStation Store.

The PSP’s replacement has a five-inch, 16 million colour 960×544 OLED touchscreen, twin cameras, twin speakers and a microphone. There are also twin analogue sticks and a ridiculously powerful quad-core processor based on the ARM Cortex A9. Expect four to five hours from the battery.

Games will come on “new media,” not UMD anymore, but we’re unclear on what sort of flash memory is being used. Sony’s rather proud of the fact it’s offering the world’s first dual analog stick combo on a portable device, though we’re more geeked about the quadrupling of pixel count from the original PSP.

Sony’s live event has been graced by demos of some pretty popular games, including Killzone, Resistance, Little Big Planet, and Uncharted — with the latter serving as a demo platform to show off how the NGP’s rear touchpad can be used to more intuitively climb up some vines. That touch panel on the back is the same size and positioned directly under the front OLED touchscreen, which allows for some pretty sophisticated controls when using the two simultaneously. The combination of a touchy front and back is fascinating – Sony talks about it enabling “touch, grab, trace, push and pull hand movements.”

The NGP doesn’t just have that nifty quad-core processor: it’s got a quad-core Imagination Technologies PowerVR graphics processor too. We can summarise its spec in one word: mighty.

Sony promises that the PSP2′s built-in GPS will mean some interesting location-aware games via the PlayStation Network, and an application called Near will let you know if your friends are, you’ve guessed it, near you. The PSP2 also includes a three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer and three-axis electronic compass for handheld-waggling motion-controlled tomfoolery.

The new console’s UI will be called LiveArea, which has a bunch of vertically navigable home screens and built-in social networking through PlayStation Network. You can jump between games and the LiveArea without losing your progress and comment on your buddies’ great feats of mobile gaming.

In closing its presentation, Sony trotted out Hideo Kojima to show off a cutscene from MGS 4 rendered in real time on the NGP. It was pulled directly from the PS3 version of the game and ran at 20fps, which looked very smooth indeed to our liveblogging eyes. Videos and Sony’s full PR are now available below.

Developer Slant Six Games
Capcom
Publisher Capcom
Director Adam Bullied
Producer Masachika Kawata
Series Resident Evil
Platform PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
Release date Q4 2011
Genre Third-person shooter
Mode Single-player, multiplayer

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is an upcoming 2012 third-person shooter video game for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, co-developed by Slant Six Games and Capcom, and currently scheduled for a release in late 2011. It is part of the Resident Evil series.

Plot

The events of Operation Raccoon City take place between that of Resident Evil 1 and Resident Evil 2, and is set in Raccoon City, whose residents have been turned into zombies after an outbreak of the T-virus, a biological weapon illegally developed by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella. The story is a reinterpretation of the events occured in the original games, changing certain facts in the series. Players will take the role of either an officer of the Umbrella Security Service (USS), or a member of a United States Special Operations task-force. Both have vastly different objectives: Members of the USS are tasked with destroying evidence of Umbrella’s illegal activities, including killing survivors of the outbreak, while the Special Operations team has to expose the actions of the company. Operation Raccoon City will allow the player to make decisions that could have major repercussions on the series’ storyline, such as causing the death of Resident Evil 2 protagonist Leon S. Kennedy

Gameplay

Capcom first shows us the game’s story campaign, which can be played with up to four players or “alone” with AI in tow. It’s a campaign based on cooperation and if you’re thinking, “Oh, it’s Capcom’s Left 4 Dead in third person” then you’re not that far off. That parallel is easy to draw, and while it’s certainly a reasonably conclusion to come to, it’s not entirely fair.

Operation Raccoon City introduces us to four mysterious Umbrella operatives, each with his or her own abilities. Vector is the game’s stealth-based character; he’s the recon class of the team, and can use a “mimicry” ability to assume other human shapes. Bertha is the game’s female character, the medic class of the team; like the rest of team, little is known about her, but she carries some pretty sharp tools (is that a bone saw?), if that tells you anything. Beltway appears to be the tank of the group; he enjoys blowing stuff up, so he’ll bring frag mines alone for the ride. Finally, Spectre is the team’s Sam Fisher, with Splinter Cell-like goggles with different vision modes and access to more detailed map information.

While Capcom didn’t have an actual chunk of story to show us, the small demo area gave us a good idea of what to expect. The city streets are littered with zombies, and the game’s fast, third-person action encourages aggressively taking them out. Head shots will see undead skulls exploding like melons; there’s even a limb-specific damage mode that had arms flopping to the ground.

Melee attacks are also encouraged, and as I found later in the game’s multiplayer mode (which I’ll get to in a bit), are surprisingly useful. The melee action is all mapped to a single button, but tapping it rhythmically will unleash a string of combos. At certain points, you’ll have the opportunity to launch into a finisher maneuver, and will be prompted on screen for a quick button press. If you want to stab a zombie in the neck and then kick them down to the ground with a big boot, or to stomp on a zombies skull, this is the way you’ll do it.

The streets of Raccoon City aren’t just flooded with zombies, either. At one point, opposing military enter the fray, and the poor zombies are caught in the cross fire. What this means is that you’re not only facing undead creatures, but heavily-armed opposition as well. Oh, and don’t forget the typical Resident Evil Bio-Organic Weapon creatures that intend to make your life miserable, as well.

While there’s a clear emphasis on third-person action, the game’s producers claim the scares are still there. It’s not full throttle action all of the time; if you pass any windows, brace yourself for dogs to jump through them, I guess.

Players won’t only get points for killing opposing team members in typical deathmatch style, though. Points will also be rewarded for killing zombies, with more points being awarded for headshots, and larger creatures are worth even more. Another twist: when you’re “bleeding out” and near death, undead creatures will “smell” it and swarm you because you’re an easy target. Shooting opposing team members to the point of bleeding out and then allowing them to get ravaged can also earn you big points, as well.

Out this year, the core of Operation Raccoon City is there, and there’s potential for a fun third-person action title based in the Resident Evil universe. It looks great, probably the grittiest game in the series to date. But it also doesn’t feel anything like a Resident Evil game you’ve played before, and while that may upset long-time fans who abhor change, it’s not the worst thing in the context of what Capcom’s trying to do with Operation Raccoon City.

Control- and feel-wise, it’s closer to a third-person shooter like, oh I don’t know, let’s say Sony’s SOCOM series. Not too shocking: Capcom is working hand-in-hand with Slant Six Games, whose previous experience includes working on Sony’s popular third-person military shooter.

Oddly, not a single member of Slant Six was on-hand to talk about the game. Instead, the game’s Japanese developers presented the title and answered all questions. When asked about Slant Six’s input, it was made to sound like Capcom Japan is responsible for the bulk of the creative decisions on the game, making sure it remains true to the Resident Evil vibe. But the fact that the game feels like a Western-shooter seems to indicate Slant Six’s involvement is more on the game mechanics side of things.

Official Gameplay Trailler

Bonus: Operation Raccoon City is in the running for “Best Loading Screen in a Game” for 2011. The screen in question featured a close up on a severed zombie arm, lying in a pool of shiny, fresh blood. The fingers on the arm’s hand twitched intermittently, and flies could be seen buzzing around a wound on the forearm. Yummy.

Developer Square Enix 1st Production Department
Publisher Square Enix
Director Motomu Toriyama
Producer Yoshinori Kitase
Artist Tetsuya Nomura
Isamu Kamikokuryo
Series Final Fantasy
Fabula Nova Crystallis
Engine Crystal Tools
Platform PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date
JP Q4 2011
NA Q4 2011/Q1 2012[5]
EU Q4 2011/Q1 2012[6]
Genre Role-playing game
Mode Single-player

Final Fantasy XIII-2​ (ファイナルファンタジーXIII-2 Fainaru Fantajī Sātīn Tsū?) is an upcoming console role-playing video game published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, and currently being developed by the company’s 1st Production Department.

During a Square Enix 1st Production Department event in Japan, producer Yoshinori Kitase revealed the direct sequel to last year’s Final Fantasy XIII, which is to be directed by Motomu Toriyama. The game is due to be released in Japan in late 2011 and in North America and Europe in either late 2011 or early 2012. Square Enix Europe has stated that the game “exceeds Final Fantasy XIII in every aspect” and that it has an evolved battle system of the original game.

Gameplay

The principal setting of the game will be different from the original game but the original game’s world will still be in the game. The game’s battle system will be a further evolution of the “Command Synergy Battle” (CSB) system first used in the original game. It will fix and address issues and make areas that were already considered good even better. There will be a feature that allows the player to control the difficulty of battles.
The development team is also investigating the possibility of giving something to players who have save data from Final Fantasy XIII.

Story

The story of the game takes place directly after Final Fantasy XIII and follows on from the -Episode i- novel which was released with the international version of Final Fantasy XIII. Unlike Final Fantasy X-2, which had a more cheerful and humorous feel than Final Fantasy X, the overall tone of the story of Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be darker and more mysterious than the original. Director Motomu Toriyama said that considering Vanille and Fang are gone and the world is in a state where Cocoon had fallen, there’s no way for the new story to be totally peaceful. Yoshinori Kitase, the producer, has said the story will have the serious feel of a true numbered entry in the Final Fantasy series.

The actual story will delve deeper into the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology and this time focus on the goddess Etro. The game will once again feature Lightning as the protagonist. The personality of Lightning will be the same as it was in the original game and not experience a change like Yuna had in Final Fantasy X-2. The game’s story will continue to value the refined and noble qualities of Lightning’s personality. Other characters will also appear in the game but in new and unexpected forms and some of these returning characters will see major changes to their personality. The game will also have a number of new characters, in addition to the mysterious man shown in the teaser trailer. The mystery man in the teaser trailer is in direct conflict with Lightning and equal to her in strength. Lightning has a new mission this time, and as she attempts to fulfill this mission, she’ll end up in a confrontation with this mystery man.

The original game ended with a lingering question: “Is Lightning really happy?” The conclusion of the story in Final Fantasy XIII-2 will provide a clear answer to this question.

Developer Next Level Games
Publisher Sega
Platform Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS
Release date NA July 19, 2011
Genre action
Mode Single-player
Rating ESRB: RP (Rating Pending)
Media/distribution Blu-ray Disc, DVD, Wii Optical Disc, Game Card

Captain America: Super Soldier Is an upcoming third person single player action game based on the upcoming film Captain America: The First Avenger.The game’s story is being written by Christos Gage who has worked on comics, films, and TV shows. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game can be played in 3D on 3DTVs.

The player will control Captain America using his shield to be thrown, deflect projectiles, solving puzzles, and scaling walls. Captain America will use free-flow and acrobatic combat to defeat his foes. HYDRA’s castle will appear in the game as Captain America has to fight many henchmen such as the infamous Iron Cross, the forces of HYDRA, and Red Skull. Arnim Zola will also appear in the game as players will have to stop his evil experiments.

Publisher: Activision
Genre: Action, Adventure
Developer: Beenox Studios
Release Date: Dec 31, 2011
ESRB: Rating Pending
Platforms: 360 PS3 Wii DS

We’ve got the expected questions around which villains are being included, how long the game will be, and what cameos to look for, but it looks like those answers will come later, because no one was talking.

Beenox and Activision show off Spider-Man’s latest time-hopping adventure. Based on this early look, Spider-Man: Edge of Time appears to have an interesting premise that Beenox is making smart use of. We definitely like what we’ve seen so far. Spider-Man: Edge of Time is slated to ship this fall for the 3DS, DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360.

Gameplay

The story’s time travel angle is more than just a narrative device and figures prominently in Edge of Time’s gameplay. The core gameplay should be familiar to Spider-fans who’ve played previous Spider-Man games, especially Shattered Dimensions. The webslingers will have unique abilities that differentiate them from each other. Amazing is the speedy, acrobatic fighter of the pair and incorporates web constructs into his combat moves of punches, kicks, and leaps. For Edge of Time, Beenox has buffed him out with a new evasion move that will let him dodge just about anything when used properly. Well, almost anything, considering he isn’t going to be able to dodge his impending death without some help. 2099 is more of a powerhouse, throwing hard-hitting punches and kicks with a wide reach. His moves have been enhanced with a new decoy ability that lets him create a duplicate of himself to throw off enemies.

The time element in the gameplay has you bouncing between the past and the current, slightly busted 2099 future. The action is set in the Alchemax building in both eras, a massive, small-city-sized building that’s a cross between a fortress and a science lab. The actions taken by Amazing Spider-Man in the past impact 2099′s reality in a variety of ways. In the demo we saw, which showed off the third and fourth levels in the game, this played out in two key ways. The first element was basic and required both Spider-Men to be at the same location in both eras so they could work as a team. The second was a bit more mind warping: When 2099 is forced to fight a massive robot blocking his path, Amazing has a timed sequence where he has to destroy the prototype of the robot in the past. As he takes out various components of the robot in the past, the mech pounding 2099 becomes incapacitated and eventually disappears.

Unfortunately, as most any sci-fi time scholar can tell you, this alters the timeline, meaning one big problem can be replaced by another or by several smaller ones. The gameplay looks like it’s going to have quite a few “good news, bad news” moments as one threat is replaced by another. The upside is that there should be a lot of variety to the action. Finally, as before, both heroes will be able to use their spider sense to get insight into their goals and spot enemies, crawl on walls, and, for 2099, enjoy some freefall segments. The other familiar mechanic fans will appreciate is the ability to earn “spider essence” from downed foes that you’ll be able to spend to upgrade your existing abilities and moves as well as to unlock new ones. In addition, fans can spend essence on alternate costumes.

Developer Valve Corporation
Publisher Valve Corporation
Distributor Steam (online)
Designer “IceFrog”
Platform Mac OS X, Windows
Release date Q4 2011
Genre Action RTS

Dota 2 is an upcoming action fantasy real-time strategy video game, developed by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the highly-popular Defense of the Ancients mod independently developed for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The title was formally announced on October 13, 2010, in an article on the Game Informer website. The game’s lead designer is the longest-serving and current developer of Defense of the Ancients, known as “IceFrog”, who continues to maintain his public anonymity, while leading a development team at Valve. The game will be released by Valve, through both retail and Steam, for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Dota 2 marks Valve’s first fantasy video game and first Action RTS game.

Gameplay

Much like the original Defense of the Ancients title, Dota 2 combines the real-time strategy element of traditional top-down perspective, while also incorporating the leveling and itemization system of a role playing game. Players assume the role of a unit categorized as a “hero”, who through hostile interactions, may progress to a maximum level of 25. The basic setup of Dota 2 places two strongholds with “ancients” at opposing ends of an evenly-balanced map with multiple connecting regions identified as “lanes”, in which enemy units primarily traverse, while also combating powerful defensive towers along the way. Players are split into two teams, ideally in a five-on-five format, to compete as the primary defenders for each ancient.

The overall objective of each match is to battle through the opposing force’s defenses, in order to arrive at and destroy the opponents’ ancient. The towers and stronghold defenses are invulnerable to attacks so long as the farther distanced towers still stand. Periodically, groups of weaker infantry units commonly called “creeps” are spawned, which move along their lane until they reach an enemy unit or structure, which they will then attack.

Defeating enemy forces grants a distributed amount of currency of gold to the offending team, with the greater portion being retained by the player who made the final blow. While also gaining gold, the players will gain experience as well, which accumulates to gain higher levels. The greatest proportion of gold and experience comes from destroying higher priority forces, such as enemy heroes and towers.

Dota 2 will utilize Valve’s Steam software in order to provide social and community functionality for the game. Steam accounts will save personal files and settings on the online accounts using the Steam Cloud. Dota 2 will also feature free-camera live spectating, in tradition of competitive Valve titles. The game host has the option to fill open slots with AI bots. Another option allows the host to determine if AI bots or other human players will be used to fill the vacated slot of a disconnected player. Valve is introducing a coaching system to allow for more experienced players to tutor newer players. The game will also feature tutorial sessions for further assisting players to mount the steep learning curve before competitive play.

Dota 2 will remain completely based around instant action multiplayer activity, excluding a single-player campaign, but retaining a strong lore tied into the gameplay, including individual hero back-stories and vocal interactions in-game.

Developer Team Ico
Publisher Sony Computer Entertainment
Designer Fumito Ueda
Platform PlayStation 3
Release date INT Q4 2011
Genre Action-adventure, Puzzle

The Last Guardian, known in Japan as Hitokui no Ōwashi Trico​ (人喰いの大鷲トリコ Hitokui no Ōwashi Toriko,? lit. “Trico, the man-eating eagle”) and previously referred to by the working title Project Trico, is an upcoming video game developed by Team Ico, to be published exclusively for the PlayStation 3.The title is made by the small Sony team led by Fumito Ueda, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, have a powerful air of mystery about them. Their hazy, bleached visuals, sorrowful air and vague stories make them seem like half-remembered children’s books – the kind that had some secret, solemn, adult meaning that was always just beyond your understanding, but that affected you powerfully anyway.

Story

The Last Guardian’s story follows that of a yet-named boy that is trying to escape from a setting resembling the ruins of a large expansive castle. The game will revolve around the developing friendship between the boy and a giant, feathered creature resembling a griffin named Trico (トリコ Toriko?). The name of the creature can be taken to mean “prisoner” (虜 toriko?), “baby bird” (鳥の子 tori no ko?), or a portmanteau of “bird” (鳥 tori?) and “cat” (猫 neko?). Trico has spears and arrows stuck in its back, and is initially bound to a chain. Later, it is freed and is shown attacking an armored soldier. Screenshots, as well as the E3 trailer, show the boy attempting to sneak past and attack other soldiers. Trico will initially be hostile to the boy, but during the course of the game, the two will develop an emotional attachment to each other. Ueda suggested there may be similar creatures like Trico in the game, but could not confirm this.

Some speculated, based on the tone of the 2009 E3 trailer and of Team Ico’s past games, that The Last Guardian will end sadly; the webcomic “Penny Arcade” postulated that the ending of the game would involve the death of either the boy or Trico. In response to these theories, creator Fumito Ueda addressed them by stating that the story is “open-ended, and for you guys to figure out”

Gameplay

The player controls the boy, who must care for and work with the large creature, Trico, using its animal instincts to solve puzzles.

The Last Guardian is a third-person perspective game that combines action-adventure and puzzle elements. The player controls the unarmed boy who can run, jump, climb, and perform other actions similar to the gameplay in Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. The player may also need to use the environment to silently move around or defeat shadow-being guards, though initially the boy is weaponless. The guards, though slow-moving, can capture the boy, and if the player is unable to free the character in time, the game will be over.

The player’s movements are augmented by interaction with Trico which the boy can climb upon and ride. As stated by Ueda, Trico is driven by animal instincts, and it is up to the player to guide the creature, “taking advantage of his natural behavior”, in order to complete puzzles.

The PS3′s graphical effects allow Ueda to express Trico’s behaviour or feelings without the creature being able to speak, he says.

Ueda has no secluded office that you can peer into to divine his soul. Turns out he just works there, like everybody else. There’s a very nice view of the Imperial park. That’s all.

I don’t really expect to get the answers I’m looking for from Ueda himself, either. The game designer and director is a notoriously unwilling and evasive interviewee, although pleasant and polite. With his long hair, neat button-down shirt and boyish features, he looks an awful lot younger than his 40 years. Still, he seems in fairly relaxed and receptive mood, so I probe gently. What does The Last Guardian have in common with his previous games?

“In the very first game there was the interaction between the player’s character and the AI character, the girl,” he says. “In the second game, it was the action of climbing on these giant monsters. In the third game, there’s a bit of each of those in there. You’ve got an AI character this time, but this time it’s kind of a really giant AI character rather than the small helpless character of the first game.”

And in this simple answer, The Last Guardian’s secret is laid bare. It is, quite simply, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus rolled into one.

That much is also revealed by the 15-minute gameplay demonstration, a “vertical slice” of puzzle-solving, platforming, light stealth and creature-wrangling. As in Ico, the boy must use his vigorous, ungainly child’s agility to scramble through rooms in a labyrinthine, Gormenghast-style ruin. He must also face sinister enemies and guide his companion to follow him.