Sony Announcing ‘Smash Bros.’ Clone Featuring Nathan Drake & Kratos?

Earlier today, we reported that The Paul Gale Network had been building up for a big Sony reveal. Finally, it’s upon us and boy was it big, kind of – actually, not at all.

The big announcement was a game for the PlayStation 3 in development that is, essentially, a Sony equivalent of Nintendo’s Smash Bros. franchise. The game will allegedly feature many original Sony characters such as Nathan Drake, Sly Cooper, Kratos, Fat Princess, Parappa, Sweet Tooth, and Rico from Killzone.

Paul makes special note of the stages that he describes as “vibrant and varied” – which will be taken straight from the worlds of corresponding Sony characters. He also reports that there will be objects spawning around the screen that will most likely be used to help or hinder players. Sound familiar?

For those playing Paul’s game at home, there were a series of hints that were supposed to give us an idea of what to expect. Just to reiterate, those hints again are: Paul in martial arts garb, Paul as James Bond and Paul as a TRON character. What did they mean? The martial arts uniform is because it’s a fighting game, obviously. The second clue is because James Bond is being considered as a playable character, duh. The final clue has something to do with TRON, right? Wrong. It’s because Paul is standing in front of a vibrant and varied background. Just like the stages will be in the game!

After learning what it all meant, it’s hard not to feel as though the teases were a bit disconnected from the actual game and served to promote Gale’s image more than the title he was teasing.

However, if the still unannounced game is going to do well with audiences – it will need to set itself apart from similar titles (especially the next Super Smash Bros.). Making the game more mature would certainly be an option (given Sony’s hardcore IP’s) – as opposed to Smash Bros.’ cartoonish, whimsical tone. That said, even certain Sony franchises feature colorful characters, and taking a note from the Marvel vs Capcom playbook might help the developers find a balance, since Capcom has managed to capture both mature tones and deep gameplay – while keeping things lighthearted. Can Sony turn Sackboy into an intimidating killing machine? Maybe. The real key, however, is making sure the gameplay is rich and unique.

If all else fails, however, they can just load the title with a ton of characters. If Capcom has taught us anything, it’s that adding characters sells. Nathan Drake and Sweet Tooth are no-brainers but other obvious contenders include Jak, Daxter, Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet and Clank. Since we’ve seen Kratos and Cole joining other fighting game franchises, it’d be great to see Solid Snake appear in this fray as well (following his appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series).

Let’s hope that this news is legit because having a Sony Smash Bros. title could be really enjoyable. What characters would you like to see included?

Source: Paul Gale Network