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Vampires rejoice, Harker on "indefinite hold"
After a brief burst of early hype, The Collective's Harker -- a vampire slaying action game -- completely disappeared. Of course, that makes sense when you factor in the fact that The Collective (who have now been combined with Shiny to form the new Double Helix studio) was later handed the reins to the latest entry in the Silent Hill series. If Konami decided to let us make the next Silent Hill (note to Konami: not a good idea), we'd drop whatever we were doing too. Unfortunately, it looks like Harker might be buried in an early grave, as Double Helix's parent company Foundation 9 has announced that the project is on "indefinite hold." Frankly, we were looking forward to killing vampires using the game's environmental hazards and brutal combat engine.Here's hoping Harker gets another chance to prove his undead-slaying worth.[Via Joystiq]
Harker put on 'indefinite hold'
Now that we think about it, we haven't heard a peep about The Collective's next-gen vampire-hunting sim Harker (as in Jonathan Harker, protagonist of Bram Stoker's Dracula, the book based on the movie based on the Sega CD game of the same name) in quite a while. We'd assumed things had been put on the backburner since the dev – recently merged with Shiny and rebranded Double Helix – is busy working on Silent Hill Homecoming for Konami, but parent-company Foundation 9 tells Eurogamer the title "has been put on indefinite hold."While that's certainly good news for virtual 19th century fin de siècle vampires galavanting about eastern Europe, it's bad news for those of us with fond memories of The Collective's earlier 21st century vampire-killing sim, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's also the second time in as many years that a project on the developer's plate has been pulled. Remember the Dirty Harry game? Well, do ya?
Harker website launches, new video
An official website has launched for Harker, the Collective's Dracula themed action game. The site gives a brief rundown of the game (you're a guy named Harker and you kill a lot of vampires, 'nuff said). There are also some screenshots, concept art, and a gruesome, bloody trailer for your enjoyment. The graphics look sharp and the visceral combat that the development team is so keen on promoting looks like brutal fun. Harker has all kinds of combat abilities at his disposal. Apart from the requisite stakes, he's got a nice big cross, a bite guard on his forearm, and some nice environment-based attacks as well. Harker's not too bad at pounding nosferatu with his bare fists either. Check out the video after the break (not for the faint of heart).
Harker, of Bram Stoker's Dracula, will rise onto PS3 in 2008
Getting tired of Castlevania? Don't want to watch Brad Pitt and a very young Kirsten Dunst in Interview with a Vampire anymore? Fear not, lovers of the children of the night (since, as far as we know, none of you actually are vampires!), for a new survival horror game by the name of Harker is in the works for 2008. The game is based on the classic tale of Dracula as writ by Bram Stoker. You take control of the macho Jonathan Harker, who decides to avenge Dracula's attack on his beloved Mina with a variety of weapons (enabling brutal and effective deaths for all of those low-class vamps).The producer of the game at The Collective, Nigel Cook, said this about the style of play found in Harker: "Harker's goal is to bring an in-your-face, visceral, and personal style of combat to the survival horror genre... None of these vampires are going to die with one shot. They're going to fight for their survival, which will give the player a huge level of satisfaction when they successfully execute one." Nice. Nothing like working really hard to get that satisfying head pop. Speaking of vampire games... what was the last vampire-centric game you played, if any?
Harker hopes to draw blood
Halloween would be the day to announce your new next-gen survival horror game based on a classic undead character. Harker, from Foundation 9 Entertainmen, draws inspiration from the original Dracula novel while taking us back to the 18th Century to do battle with the famous blood-sucker himself:In the game, players take on the role of a very different Jonathan Harker - hardened and ruthless - who is on a very personal mission to destroy all vampires after his beloved Mina falls prey to Dracula. Gameplay involves a combination of hunting these ferocious killers through tracking and exploration, along with an up-close and personal combat system, brutally-effective in the execution of the vampires; using a variety of weapons and environmental factors.Harker is scheduled for a 2008 release. I'm interested to see how they bastardize the literary work. Fortunately, 1up has some "exclusive" video from the game.[Thanks Scott]
