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This Wednesday: Undertow washes ashore on XBLA island
Although the hubbub may be about the new, downloadable Halo 3 maps socking it to you next month, Microsoft also used today's announcement to remind us that we'll finally be seeing Undertow on the Xbox Live Arcade this week. As you can see from the above trailer, it's basically BioShock meets Aquaman meets shooting things. ... Or something. But this XBLA release got our old friend Stephen Totilo wondering: How do publishers make the most of their 50 XBLA megabytes? He got the answer to his question recently, via a pie chart from developer Chair Entertainment. If you're part of the tiny subset of the human race curious about this sort of thing (yes, that includes us), you can check out the breakdown right here.
Undertow dives into XBLA Nov. 21
Aquatic shooter Undertow goes 20,000 leagues under the sea beginning Nov. 21 on Xbox Live arcade. The fifteen-level campaign with co-op will also have multiplayer modes supporting up to sixteen people. A basic gameplay trailer can be found above and a more elaborate trailer can be found after the break. We already feel bad for some of the smaller games coming out during this jam packed holiday season, but we feel even worse for the XBLA titles screaming for attention in all the fracas.
Undertow will swim to the XBLA Nov 21st
Undertow, the 3D sidescrolling, XBLA swimming adventure of Atlantis saving fun now has an official release date, so get out your waterproof writing instrument and mark your calendar. Developer Chair Entertainment promises a November 21st Undertow release which they announced with the help of a new game trailer (embedded above). Note the spiffy cutscenes, the underwater havoc, splitscreen gameplay and the chick who proclaims "Atlantis must not fall!" This could be a keeper fanboys and lucky for us, we only have to wait a few more weeks to see.
Undertow, Puzzle Fighter rated by ESRB
The ESRB database has been updated with several new Xbox 360 titles. Most notable among these are the Xbox Live Arcade releases, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (E) and Undertow (E10+ oh noes!). Also rated was Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, a title with which we are completely unfamiliar. A quick look around the internet reveals that it's exactly what it sounds like: Dynasty Warriors with giant mechs instead of human warriors. Also rated was Hour of Victory, which recently had a (terrible) demo released on Xbox Live Marketplace. We already knew Puzzle Fighter was planned as a July release, but this may mean that Undertow will be coming sooner than we thought. Let's hope so; we can't wait to try out underwater Battlefield. [Via GameStooge]
Indie dev Chair signs exclusive deal with Epic, new Undertow images
Despite 2005's disastrous Advent Rising, which was built on Unreal Engine 2.0, Chair Entertainment will continue to use Epic's tech ... for-ev-AR. The indie developer has signed an exclusive deal with Epic to license Unreal Engine for all current and future projects. While the deal extends across the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 platforms (no Unreal for Wii, remember?), Undertow, Xbox Live Arcade's submerged shooter, is the studio's only project known to be in development (not that we've been holding our breath for the rest of the canned Advent trilogy). As previously disclosed, Undertow will feature both a 15-level campaign (with co-op support) and a pair of 16-player multiplayer modes, packed tight like shredded tuna into the old 50MB XBLA standard. Undertow is tentatively scheduled for release this summer. [Via press release] %Gallery-4096%
Unreal Engine 3-based Undertow coming to XBLA
After the big budget (and disappointing sales) of Advent Rising, Chair Entertainment has set its sights on the much more manageable Xbox Live Arcade platform with their latest project, Undertow. Like RoboBlitz (oh, and Gears of War), Undertow uses Unreal Engine 3 to bring the pretty. The game will feature a 15-level single player and co-op campaign and two multiplayer modes for up to 16 players, but how does it play? IGN does their best Hollywood pitch, describing it as "Geometry Wars meets Battlefield," 3D graphics with 2D gameplay. Undertow is scheduled to be released on Xbox Live this summer ... if the certification gremlins don't get in the way.
Undertow: underwater Battlefield in 2D
When thinking up Xbox Live Arcade games, an underwater, two-dimensional game of Battlefield isn't on the top of the list. No, mostly we think of retro titles and simple action affairs. However, if Chair Entertainment has anything to say about it, Undertow could change that. IGN got a chance to preview the game and came away impressed. Set in a future where the earth is entirely underwater, Undertow plays much like Geometry Wars. The left stick controls movement and the right stick fires and aims weapons. Undertow is more than an arcade style shooter, though. It adds a team-based dynamic into the mix, requiring teams to capture bases. Bases are captured much as they are in Battlefield. Players must hover near them for a certain amount of time. The first team to capture all bases (or force the opposing team to drain their reserves) wins. The game has three factions from which to choose: the Atlantians (merpeople), Nemodians (think 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) and the Iron Marines (the normal human faction). There are several classes, ranging from light and nimble to slow and powerful. Coupled with nice graphics, interesting map design, a single-player campaign, and 16-player online multiplayer, Undertow could be making quite a splash when it releases (sorry, we couldn't resist).
