Gameplay You Can Sink Your Teeth Into
July 29, 2008 – War is a pretty gritty subject, and games like the Call of Duty series have tried to bring the horror of this subject to the masses. While the warfare of the past hundred years makes for some pretty exciting stuff, it is the medieval warfare that really punches up the gore. And while some titles like the Elder Scrolls series have tried to tackle this monstrous subject, they weren’t very… cute. But now, there’s a medieval combat title that has plenty of death and dismemberment, but it somehow still looks amazingly adorable. That title is Fat Princess.
You may have caught a fleeting glance of this title during Sony’s press conference at this year’s E3, and you may have gotten the impression that this is just another gimmicky downloadable title. But that assumption would be false. Fat Princess takes medieval combat to a whole new level with a bizarre capture-the-flag-style of gameplay, brutal combat, and of course, an ever-fattening princess.
The core gameplay is essentially tactics-based battle. You play on a team of 8-32 players, and your goal will be to wipe out the other team. In addition to killing all the other team members, you will have to infiltrate the other team’s base and rescue your kidnapped princess. But it won’t be as simple as just opening a door and letting her go free.
You see, your foe is fairly smart, and they know that it requires a lot more effort to move a fat princess that a small one. The longer the princess is in captivity, the fatter she’ll get, so you’ll have to devote some dedicated troops to her rescue. Of course, your team will also have a kidnapped princess, so you are able to continuously feed that princess as much as you want to make her capture equally challenging.
But as the old saying goes, there’s more to life than eating, or in this case feeding. Let’s talk about combat. Here’s where the tactics portion of the game really comes in. You will be able to be one of five classes of medieval warrior: wizards, swordsmen, archers, priests, and workers. The wizards and priests will be the magic-based classes with the power to control elements and heal, respectively. The archers and warriors will be the physical-based attacks, and the workers will help reinforce tactical bases.
In addition to the class system, the tactics-style gameplay is reinforced by an in-game resource system that allows you to divert some of your resources to upgrading your weapons and structures. In this way, Fat Princess resembles other defend the castle titles like PixelJunk Monsters. However, the upgrade system will probably be a little more subdued here, just because most of the focus seems to be on the action. Although the class and weapons systems may not seem as intense as most tactics based titles, this one looks to balance just the right amount of tactics with the title’s crazy combat.
There will be several modes to this game, all of which can be played either on or offline. The most basic seems to be the Capture the Princess mode, which is your most standard, anything-goes save-the-princess-mode. However, there is also a Thwart the Invasion mode, where there will be less princess saving and a lot more carnage. And then there’s the Medieval Games mode, which has not been fully revealed yet, but it will probably feature some type of fantastically crazy gameplay.
Of course, this title is already receiving some sharp criticism from groups who are upset at the “fat” aspect of the title. However, it is this writer’s opinion that the fat in Fat Princess is merely a clever tactical vehicle. It’s not meant to defame anyone, just to add an extra challenging (and unexpected) aspect to the gameplay, which is fine with me.
Fat Princess may be one of the most inventive and original game concepts to come out of E3 2008, and I am extremely excited for this title’s debut later this year. It looks to provide tactics, action and gore, and it will be one of the most awesome titles for the PSN…ever!
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