Guilty-Party
Latest
Meet the detectives of Disney Guilty Party
They're not exactly an intimidating bunch -- we've got a masked brat, a soft-spoken granny and a let-himself-go gumshoe in here -- but the investigative attendees of Disney Guilty Party look like they can crack a case and hook some crooks with flair on August 31. See the new trailer after the break.
Interview: Wideload Games' Patrick Curry talks Disney Guilty Party, life after 'Stubbs'
Some of the most fun to be had during multiplayer video games isn't actually in the game itself -- it's outside of the games, where players chat with each other for fun, break down a strategy during co-op, or trash talk in-between deathmatches. You don't usually get XP for taunting over voicechat or telling your team where the enemy is, but there's a reward nevertheless, a social bonus completely independent of the code that developers write. Wideload Games has done a great job of focusing on that gameplay in Disney Guilty Party. I got to play the same co-op Party Mode as Randy at a pre-E3 event this week, and while it's definitely a family game, it competently serves up custom-made mysteries for families to take on. In hunting down and accusing various colorful suspects, that out-of-game conversation and interaction becomes just as important and fun as the in-game button pressing and Wiimote waggling. Game Director Patrick Curry was my partner-in-crime-solving, and since we have common roots in Chicago (I used to work in the same building, one floor below Wideload's studios), we had a quick chat about the studio's direction towards family games, and its acquisition by Disney Interactive.
You're invited to Disney Guilty Party on July 27
Click to solve "The Case of What's in the Gallery"Wideload Games' "Clue meets Guess Who meets adventure game" for Wii, Disney Guilty Party, will be available for investigation (and also purchase) in North America on July 27. The game lets up to four players use their Wiimotes as magnifying glasses, fingerprint kits and other detective tools as they rush to solve crimes orchestrated by the diabolical "Mr. Valentine." Along the way, players must gather clues about the identity of the culprit in each particular case, through investigation and investigation-themed minigames. While you wait for the July release, feel free to take a magnifying glass into our gallery and see what can be deduced from the new screenshots. %Gallery-86428%
Hands-on: Disney Guilty Party
On my list of games I expected to see from Stubbs the Zombie dev Wideload Games, "multiplayer mystery game" ... well, wasn't on my list. But I have to say that I was excited by what I saw (and played) of Disney Guilty Party during the Nintendo Media Summit. It was funny, clever and, simply, different. Though it will support four-player cooperative (and even competitive) mystery-solving (think: Clue meets Zack & Wiki), the session I participated in was a two-player affair. From levels that include a train, mansion, aquarium, and other settings, I ended up playing the gumshoe character on a cruise ship that was missing its wheel and anchor. Along with my partner in crime ... solving, I came pretty close to solving the whodunnit (you need to find evidence as to the perp's hair length, sex, shape, and height, before accusing anyone) as I used my allotted moves and turns to investigate the dollhouse-like cut-away of the ship. Special cards came into play (the over-arching story's villain might, for example, lock off a room -- there's a card that counters that) as did some ... err, unique "interrogation" mini-games, including "staring" into a suspects eyes, paying a bribe and tickling the truth out of an NPC using the Wiimote. The writing's sharp and funny, the classic adventure game underpinnings are noticeable, and I'm eager to play more. %Gallery-86428%
