Mech Assaults DS, charges filed
Though we spotted this about a month ago, Majesco Entertainment has officially revealed some concrete information regarding a DS version of MechAssault, now subtitled Phantom War instead of Shadow War. Personally, we would have gone with Spook Hostility, but we understand that mech fans would prefer if Majesco took this seriously.
Judging by their standard PR list of features, they are. Developed by Backbone Entertainment (they worked on the PSP's Death Jnr), the game allows you to commandeer over 20 types of vehicles, upgrade weapons, engage in four-player wireless combat and just generally obliterate anything you can aim your guns at. The only point of worry may come in with the use of the touch screen: "The touch screen lets players intuitively ‘touch’ the cockpit controls to hack into giant ‘Mechs, eject pilots, switch weapons and check battle techniques."
That sounds a lot like "There's an in-game menu at the bottom screen," a design that may prove to be irksome in the heat of battle. We thought that aiming via the touch screen (just like in Metroid Prime: Hunters) would be far more intuitive and closer to the dual-analog control of the Xbox titles. Still, we'll wait and see what the exact control scheme is before we stomp on a game that, at the very least, promises giant robots for our puny portable.
[Thanks mandarin!]
