Stealth Inc 2 announced as a 'Wii U exclusive,' out this year
Curve Studios announced it's working on a sequel to sneaky platformer Stealth Inc, but the real surprise is that it's coming to Wii U later this year as an "exclusive." The original game, Stealth Bastard Deluxe, grew from a spare time project into a fully-fledged PC release that made the jump to PS3, Vita and PS4 as Stealth Inc: A Clone in the Dark. The game won fans with its mix of stealth and fast-paced puzzle platforming, all with a dollop of dark humor.
It's been downloaded more than a million times across all platforms, and yet that doesn't include Wii U. As such, it's a bit of Curve-ball for Stealth Inc 2 to launch on Nintendo's console alone. Speaking to Joystiq, Curve Digital CEO Jason Perkins and Stealth Inc creator Jonathan Biddle explained Curve learned a lot from working with Nintendo before; Curve developed WiiWare game Fluidity and 3DS follow-up Fluidity: Spin Cycle. The studio's also mindful of the contingent of fans who know Curve from those games.
[Image: Curve Digital]
"We've got a good relationship with Nintendo," Perkins said, "Really enjoyed working with them. They originally got in contact when we were just on the verge of launching the first one. We were too far along the line with Sony, but got back to them and said, 'Look, here's an opportunity, how about that?' Then in terms of the hardware and the opportunities with something like the GamePad as well, it was really quite exciting."
Biddle added that the eShop is a bit underpopulated at the moment, so there's no issue over fighting for attention on Wii U. He also noted the studio's "platform-agnostic," and happy to support anyone and any platform. On that note, when asked if Stealth Inc 2 is a fully-fledged exclusive or only a timed one, Curve PR and Marketing Manager Rob Clarke simply stated that at the moment the studio's only focusing on the Wii U for the sequel. Also, there are no plans to bring the first Stealth Inc to the system. Biddle didn't rule out the possibility, but he said Curve's tuning the sequel to be as, if not more accessible than the first game, as well as a larger, longer experience.
As for the game itself, Curve wasn't able to show it to us in action (the images above are concept work). However, Biddle explained that Stealth Inc 2 adds at least a couple of major elements to the first game's dynamic. The first is co-op, which sees one player take on an auxiliary role with the GamePad using their own special abilities. The co-op isn't separate from the main campaign, but rather another way of playing it, and the co-op player has a different presence in the game to the regular goggle-clad clone. Stealth Inc 2 also supports off-TV play for those who'd prefer to sneak around solely on GamePads.
The second major addition is turning the facility setting into a Metroid-like connecting world that leads players to test chambers. Players can explore and delve further into that more open area by using the gadgets they collect along the way.
"We've got a really rich dynamic," Biddle said. "It's taking some of the stuff we did with Fluidity which was a Metroid-style game where you had to go and find puzzles in order to progress, and twinning with it the more focused test chamber stuff we had in 3DS Fluidity and Stealth Inc. It's going to be interesting, it's almost like two complimentary game styles."
Stealth Inc 2 is being published by Curve's Digital arm, and is due on Wii U later this year.
