BREAKING NEWS: First Hands On & Gameplay Movies! (February 22, 2007)

[Bandit LOAF]

Just when you thought the day couldn't get any better, GameSpot has done it again, premiering even more Arena content! This time it's a hands on article extolling the game's virtues and two high definition movies showing off the gameplay -- you can easily see that the game itself looks far more spectacular than the first set of screenshots suggested. Moreover, if the press release left you wondering exactly how Arena works, then this article is a must read! The verdict professional? "a game that is both respectful to the Wing Commander legacy but also approachable to an entirely new generation of players." Here's a sample of how the game controls work:

Controls in Arena are simple enough to pick up though not without their subtleties. You move your ship with the two analog sticks; the left stick controls your thruster, and the right stick, your steering. Your ship seems basically stuck on a single plane in the game, so you won't be able to approach an enemy from above or below. That said, there are some special maneuvers you can pull off with the right stick when the going gets tough, including barrel rolls, loops, and 180 degree turns, the latter of which is perhaps the most useful. All weapons are fired with the two triggers and the two bumpers on the Xbox 360 controller and while blasters are more or less unlimited (governed only by your ship's energy level), you have a finite amount of rockets. Even so, don't expect to live long in Arena battles--our typical tactic was to face down an opponent and then unload with every weapon we had until we died. You can choose a new type of ship in between spawns if your current ship isn't working out.

Lower resolution versions of the movie are available for free, but the 1280x720 is for paying GameSpot subscribers only. Here's what the game looks like in all its glory:

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Original update published on February 22, 2007

[Pedro]

Having checked out the video I'm a little concerned. It looks really neat and I'm sure it'll be one of the better XBLA titles out there, but it just seems too simplistict to be the foundation for a retail release, you certainly couldn't (well, shouldn't) have another plot driven wing commander inspired by this title. So whilst its extra franchise exposure, EA would have to sell another concept all over again for a more involved title.
At this point my hope is now that the extra franchise exposure will inspire a Wii title, where it would be easier to do something more involved; if the recent success of that system holds up it could be just perfect; however on the other hand EA might dismiss it, or worse kiddify it as they have done with the Wii exclusive SSX and Sims games, so perhaps the six axis on PS3 might be an acceptable compromise.

Im just a bit worried EA have strayed too far from Wing Commander. Yeah its fantastic that a new WC title is comming out, yeah its got Confed and Kilrathi logos/ships etc, but not first person? Also looking at the ships, I feel too much has been added. Look at the Midway class, whats all these extra bits, looks like an old fasioned fuel barrel and some random comm towers. Just doesnt seem Wing Commander'ish to me. I guess time will tell. Its not a bad thing, just well, needs playing first!

[AD]

Originally Posted by Grim

Im just a bit worried EA have strayed too far from Wing Commander. Yeah its fantastic that a new WC title is comming out, yeah its got Confed and Kilrathi logos/ships etc, but not first person? Also looking at the ships, I feel too much has been added. Look at the Midway class, whats all these extra bits, looks like an old fasioned fuel barrel and some random comm towers. Just doesnt seem Wing Commander'ish to me. I guess time will tell. Its not a bad thing, just well, needs playing first!

If people give it a chance I think they will find that there is a lot of attention to detail that just isn't evident in screenshots and gameplay videos. Exactly what nuances there are in controling and manoevering your fighter... Taking down capship components... sheilds and armor on your fighter just like every other WC game... It's very much a WC game even if some of the early screenshots are unbecomming. The low resolution of the first shots didn't help either as well as the fact that the particle effects ended up looking like blobs and for that aspect the gameplay videos show it off much better. A lot of the things on those capships look like big guns and missile turrets.

[Obee]

First Comment on Arena from me:

Great Thing, that finally, there is some moving at EA =).

Arena looks neat and follows the "A"-Code of arcade-based WCs (Academy, Armada, Arena). This is something big, something very big. It has rapiers in it, it has Dralthis in it, it has Broadswords in it. It seems as if the developer surely wants to catch old fans and do a Wing Commander-game. Perhaps no Story-driven-game, but a WC-Game that fits, and that will defniately fit.

There are only two things: Why is the Midway on it? It seems, as if Arena is settled in the Kilrathi-Era, there were no Midways.
And the second: They have to do something with the music. The GamePlay-vid shows some boring music IMHO. No Adrenaline in it.

I think I have to buy myself a 360, this thing is great =).

[Bandit LOAF]

There are only two things: Why is the Midway on it? It seems, as if Arena is settled in the Kilrathi-Era, there were no Midways.

Arena is set in 2701.

[gwydion]

so.. humans and kilrathi are at war again 20 years after secret ops?

[Bandit LOAF]

Not exactly.

[Shere Khan]

about all the preliminary negative reaction, especially in the gamespot comments ("we were hoping for a first-person FMV game with Mark Hamill to boot, and they dare to give us this kiddy crap") - funny, really. if a fan game with this level of attention to detail and canon was about to surface, be it a side-scroller, a strip poker or a text adventure, it'd get only positive feedback. hell, Chris Knudsen's Privateer: Ascii Sector is 2D, 3d person and TEXT MODE, for f's sake, and everyone's excited about it (me included :)

this release will give us Wing Commander-themed fast paced multiplayer gameplay, first since Armada, and it surely can be very addictive in 2D. Star Control anyone? :)

let's just hope the game doesn't have any gameplay flaws inside its genre margin. while it surely won't be a good first-person space sim (for it's not a sim at all), it still can turn out to be a good top-down 2D arcade shooter.

[Foxtrot]

Yea i hope EA got this one right. honestly the gameplay screens show that they dint put too much effort in making the game and seriously i think the Xbox needs a good flight sim to combat the new one coming to the PS3 ( Warhawk ) so i had my hopes up that this game would be in that direction. Anyways lets see, hopefully the game will be good and not an attempt by EA to make a quick buck or tow.

[Obee]

Star Control Melee rocked. Totally forgot about that one. I surely have to get myself a 360. What´s the prize?

[ChrisReid]

Originally Posted by Foxtrot

honestly the gameplay screens show that they dint put too much effort in making the game

What are you basing that on? I agree that the screenshots are less effective than the videos, which reveal all kinds of neat effects and things that aren't obvious in the stills, but there are already some great touches visible in the screenshots. They went and recreated a lineup of classic and appropriate ships and gave them accurate weapons and in-universe back stories. It would have been incredibly easy and expected for them to just make all sorts of random anonymous space ships, but we have Midway class ships in there, a Perry-style naval base and more. They paid special attention to detail with symbols, colors and even brought back the original logo that the series stopped using early on. The game itself is a massive departure from the simple shooters that it will sit next to in XBox Live Arcade. It has more than half a dozen distinct gameplay modes, any one of which constitute entire games otherwise. It breaks new technical ground with 16-player multiplayer, nothing else on the Arcade even comes close. Whatever you see in the screenshots, quite a bit of effort has gone into Arena.

[Delance]

I agree, the very presence of the Midway and the Perry-naval base shows that either they already knew WC, or took their time to research the franchise. I don't think those were picked in a careless manner. They avoided the pitfalls involved in this kind of project.

[Trekster_Gamer]

WC has always been about immersive space combat with a great story told added to it. The idea of dummying it down makes me think they are just looking for a quick buck. Give us a game that is like all that have come before!

Off topic, the Battlestar Galactica game is way to weak and basic as well. These games should at least take advantage of what the 360 has to offer.

[Dundradal]

Wow way to add a crappy argument almost a year later.

Read Star*Soldier and enjoy a game because it's fun.

[Bandit LOAF]

I like things that are fun.

[ChrisReid]

Originally Posted by Dundradal

Wow way to add a crappy argument almost a year later.

Wow, it has almost been a year since Arena was announced. Incredible. And yeah, what a terrible response, particularly coming after each of the points I made in my post two up. He even has the benefit of Star*Soldier and everything else that came in the months after this thread.