Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars, Wii preview!
“After a comet had passed the earth, all the planet’s researchers concluded its strange green dust had no effect on the world. None noticed that tiny plants and fungi were acting strangely. Mushrooms, cacti, kudzu and other formerly-normal plants had awoken to full consciousness. Tribes quickly formed among the various mushroom species: the primitive Boletes, the aggressive Amanitas, and the inventive Morels. With nations formed, war inevitably followed…â€
Mushroom Men is a third person action-platformer that is being developed by Red Fly Studios, who is also developing Ghostbusters the Game. Mushroom Men drops you into the shoes of a three-inch high mushroom as you explore the massive world, fight rival poisonous mushrooms, and scavenge human artifacts to create weapons and shelter. While humans are going on with their everyday lives, they don’t even notice the organic warfare occurring right under their feet.
The character you will be controlling is a scout mushroom, who are much smaller then the sage and heavy mushrooms. While not much is known about the story behind the main character, it is known that he carries around a little toy that acts like a grappling tool, which you may use to reach high places and possibly grab far away objects. The main character can also use his hat-like head to float throughout the air, helping you to reach far away ledges and keeping you from falling to your death.
You will be fighting different tribes of poisonous mushrooms including (but not limited to) the Boletes, Amanitas, and Morels. The three groups each have characteristics of their own, as the Boletes are much more primitive, the Amanitas are forceful and aggressive, and the Morels are inventive. You can expect to see the Boletes using sticks and twigs as weapons while the resourceful Morels are creating new deadly weapons from artifacts left around by the humans. Other animals and plants have also gained intelligent minds and you’ll have to deal with them too, so expect a few rats, spiders, and plants to give you trouble during the game.
Mushroom Men’s graphics are some of the best on the Wii. While many developers are being lazy, Red Fly is certainly not, as can be clearlyt seen in the recent trailers and videos showcasing nice particle effects, lighting and shadowing. Hopefully there will also be a good frame rate to boot, and we’ll certainly have a very nice graphical experience on the Wii.
The game’s controls are still a secret, but the development team stated that there are currently around eight different setups in testing. While they said they aren’t planning on incorporating any unnecessarily crazy gesture-based controls in Mushroom Men, you’ll likely have the option to move the Wii Remote when you want to swing your weapon.
There is also a DS Version of the game planned to be released alongside the Wii version, but with some major differences. The DS version is a side scroller that is set in a completely 3D environment similar to the Wii version’s, but won’t have any direct connection to the Wii version’s storyline aside from that. Thankfully this means that you won’t have play one to enjoy the other, but the developers did want to give players who played both games more of a rewarding narrative.
So far, Mushroom Men is looking to be a great game, and is one our most anticipated games of 2008. I know we are all dying to play this game, so check out these trailers below to pass the time.
Tags: Mushroom Men, Nintendo News, Red Fly Studio, Spore, Wii
By Ilchymis, March 10, 2008 @ 3:31 pm
This is the weirdest thing I’ve seen in ages. Think it will explain how Toad and the Mushroom Kingdom came to be? I’ve never really understood their whole super-deformed lineage and how the fungi grew a few extra feet and started getting stuck in castles. Oh well!
Great stuff!
By Bucky, March 11, 2008 @ 5:30 am
Interesting sounding game… to say the least!