As one of the oldest and most influential fantasy tales of all time, Beowulf will take on new identities this year as blockbuster movie and big-budget videogame for PS3, Xbox 360, PC and PSP. Cinema goers will be wooed by director Robert Zemeckis' groundbreaking ‘Real D’ theatrical presentation starring big name actors Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie and Anthony Hopkins. The videogame has been entrusted to French publisher Ubisoft and its elite team behind the Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (GRAW) series. The aim of the latter is to redefine the hack ’n’ slash genre – almost as old as the legend itself.
A quick word on why the hack ’n’ slash genre would need redefining in the first place. These games were the original hot doodad in the late 80s and early 90s, generally involving street tough guys punching and kicking an endless procession of near identical foes. The fear of Beowulf being, well, ‘wasted’ on such a genre is hard to escape. However you appreciate the thinking behind it, given the Beowulf legend’s propensity toward gruesome violence. And as Project Manager Alexandre Remy assured us, the BAFTA award-winning GRAW team is very particular about what it takes on board and has been working closely with Bobby Zemeckis and the movie’s scriptwriters for over two years to ensure the finest results. This has been essential because the videogame focuses on 30 years of the fable not screened for the movie.
GRAW is a game of near-future warfare, in which squad tactics play a major part. Similar considerations have been brought into play for Beowulf, however at its core this is really about full-on carnal bloody violence as the legendary Norse King rallies his thanes to action. So far, ho hum. But the game does show potential to be more than a button-basher by depicting Beowulf as a man torn between selfishness and selflessness. Certainly our glimpse of actor Ray Winstone wading in as his videogame alter-ego, shouting “have some of that”, conveyed the visceral thrills on offer. Breaking arms, snapping necks and so on. But Beowulf can redeem himself by considering the welfare of his men, saving their bacon and acquiring Hero Points in the process. The more Hero Points in store, the more our hero’s thanes will support him – not just in battle but for tasks such as rowing the Viking ship, or rolling aside stones that block escape routes. As many as 12 thanes will fight alongside Beowulf in a system Creative Director Gilles Matouba likes to call ‘Hack ’n Lead’.
“The Thanes are Beowulf’s guard, his gang,” says Matouba. “Because we’re a fast-paced action game, we wanted a very intuitive interface where you could simply order your men to ‘regroup’, ‘hold a position’, ‘attack a position or an enemy’, and trigger ‘Heroic events’ such as open a drawbridge or close giant doors. It never pulls you out of the heart of the action, but it requires that the player takes time in the midst of an assault to ‘read’ the battlefield, and spot the actions where his men will be the most efficient.”
Needless to say it all gets very violent, and deserving of its mature rating. When it comes to fighting a giant troll, the only way to stop him is to rip off its head or, umm, chop off its tackle. Says Remy: “The mature rating has really allowed us to push the violence and sex a little bit harder in the game.”
A similar approach has certainly done the business for Sony’s God of War on PlayStation 2. If Ubisoft’s Beowulf can marry the technical and tactical smarts of the GRAW team with the carnal sensationalism of the upcoming movie, the curse of the old hack ’n’ slash genre may be banished forever.
Beowulf will be released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC and PSP in November.
