E3 2009 Preview
In a world where vampires and
werewolves walk the streets, there is little you can do except fight. In the
southwestern area that encompasses the story of The Grinder, fighting is
all you do. Overrun by some of the world’s ugliest and most gruesome creatures,
The Grinder is a first-person shooter of epic proportions. Developed by High
Voltage, the studio behind The Conduit (this month’s highly anticipated
Wii-exclusive shooter), The Grinder is as beautiful as it is brutal. Over the
course of the 15 minutes High Voltage spent demoing the game, there was maybe
one moment when a monster wasn’t attacking. Just one. Every other second was
spent on the run, with handguns, machineguns, shotguns and explosives being your
only defense.
Vampires were the primary enemy in
the demo, often attacking in huge numbers. When their heads are blown off, blood
splatters like water being shot out of a fountain. The effect is a tad cartoony
right now but it looks great. Visually, the vampires almost looked demonic.
Their arms are webbed (or so they appeared), and they don’t really have any
hands. That, however, won’t stop them from trying to eat you alive.
In a way, werewolves are the
opposite of vampires. Rather than hunt in packs, they like to work alone.
They’re much bigger, stronger and move a lot faster. It took several shots for a
developer to take one down, and he had to keep moving the whole time.
If you think werewolves are tough,
you might be truly horrified by the Slasher. This scary, overgrown Jason
Voorhees-type carries not one but two axes, which he will gladly use to cut you
into tiny pieces. He can be killed but won’t go down easily. The word
"unstoppable" came up once or twice. Plus, he has the ability to spawn in new,
dangerously inconvenient locations…such as right behind wherever you are
standing. Which is why the developer playing the game decided to run away as
fast as he could when he believed the Slasher was about to make his move.
There will be other kinds of
Slashers within the game, as well as zombies (the flesh-eating beasts you just
can’t ignore) and Horrors, who, based on the concept art, appear to be giant
snake-like creatures with huge fangs and scales running up their backs.
With the development team shooting
for a late 2010 release, The Grinder has a long way to go. But the graphics are
already looking good. No matter how many vampires flooded the screen, the game
stayed fluid. The character models are great, and the environments have a
wonderful western feel. It’s not quite a gunslinger; this is not a game that’ll
make you think of Gunsmoke. Unless, of course, you can imagine what Gunsmoke
would be like if it were overrun by the world’s most hideous creatures.
