E3 2009 Preview
Ben 10’s success has been twofold:
first a hit Cartoon Network show, and then a hugely popular video game franchise
from D3. That success isn’t unwarranted – Ben 10’s character-morphing powers
were all but made for game design, thus providing the developers with plenty of
source material. Kid gamers have been thrilled by the results. Later this year,
they’ll have another reason to get excited when Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax
Attacks is released.
Based on the hit series but utilizing a brand-new
story, Vilgax Attacks lets players take control of Ben 10’s many alien
formations. In fact, you’ll be controlling all 10 of them, a first for the
series, since the two previous games had just 5 and 8 of those forms,
respectively. Big Chill, Cannonbolt, ChromaStone, Echo Echo, Brainstorm, Goop,
Humungousaur, Swampfire, Spidermonkey and Jet Ray are finally together with Ben
10.
Besides the expanded alien formation integration,
this sequel instantly differs from its predecessors by taking the action into
the third dimension. That means characters like Cannonbolt, who can curl itself
into a ball and roll around, and Goop, who can cling to walls and jump to high
platforms, can now do so in 3D. During this hands-off demo, we saw glimpses of
large, wide-open levels that were packed with areas to explore, platforms to
climb on, and puzzles to locate and solve.
Hands down, Vilgax Attacks is going to be the
most attractive game in the series. This is the first time Ben 10 will land on
Xbox 360, and that console’s increased power means more visual depth and detail
can be pumped into the game.
Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks is scheduled
to ship in October.
