Joystiq impressions: Blast Works (Wii)
User-generated gaming is all the rage these days. PS3 has LittleBigPlanet and Unreal Tournament III; Xbox 360 has Xbox Live Community Games; Wii has Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Boom Blox, and now Blast Works.
This upcoming Wii-exclusive shooter from Majesco is based on Kenta Cho's Tumiki Fighters. With your mega-powered spaceship, you can blast away at polygonal enemies, and incorporate them into your ship, Katamari-style. Fifteen levels are promised to ship in the final retail game, and each promises to be a unique experience. One level we saw on display had players taking control of a paper airplane, fighting other paper airplanes and origami enemies. The entire world was rendered in black and white, with the environment seemingly made of paper. Another level we saw featured a barrage of colorful, wacky enemies: ducks, frogs, bees, boats. The eclectic mix of enemies all had one purpose: to destroy us.
While romping through the included stages may be fun, the most appealing aspect of the game had to be its creation content system. All the levels in Blast Works were created using the in-game tools. Players can create their own ships, enemies, bullets, levels -- and if they so choose, can create their own bullet and AI patterns as well.
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The creation tools seemed easy and intuitive to use. A click and drag interface allows simple shapes to be manipulated and combined into complex figures. Predetermined patterns can be combined, or edited to create something new. The developers are promising to release instructional videos on their website, detailing each step of the process, hopefully lessening the learning curve a bit. Once levels are created, they can be shared via WiiConnect24, or through the Blast Works web site. The developers are promising a good amount of content will be available on day 1, and they'd like to continue supporting the project by adding more content over time.
If the Wii community embraces this under-the-radar title, then there's the potential for a never-ending supply of original content for players. Hopefully, Kenta Cho fans will rally and support Blast Works -- the inclusion of four of his games (rRootage, Gunroar, Torus Trooper and the original TUMIKI Fighters) should be enough of a lure to draw the shmup hardcore. Blast Works is planned for a May release.
