While Sony moves ahead with the God of War prequel Ascension, the man who created the series is set to begin work on a new game at a new studio. David Jaffe, nearly free of his post-launch duties on Twisted Metal, has teased a number of ideas for his next project, from a "big, huge next gen game" to a browser-based title.
Jaffe has apparently winnowed the possibilities down to two candidates, and while the famously outspoken developer is tight-lipped on the details, he sums up one of the games succinctly: "There is a gun... and you hold it."
Jaffe announced his departure from Eat Sleep Play, a studio he co-founded, in early February. While Eat Sleep Play turns its focus to mobile games, Jaffe is busy staffing up a new development house in San Diego. As the primary creative mind behind the original God of War and the Twisted Metal games, players are understandably interested in what kind of experience Jaffe will deliver next. So, what's the story on the game with the gun? Speaking with IGN, Jaffe briefly discusses his take on shooters, and touches on what he might, or might not, have in mind for his new studio's debut title.
"I love the genre, but I feel it has been allowed to go a little -- well, actually, quite a lot -- stale when it comes to moment to moment mechanics."
"And all the things that I can sit here and passionately discuss and preach to you are absolutely things that I'm thinking about doing if it turns out the game we're thinking about doing gets made next involves a gun and a person holding a gun."
Should Jaffe move ahead with the "gun" idea, it won't be the first time he has tackled a shooter. Between the original God of War and the early PSN title Calling All Cars, Jaffe's passion project was Heartland, a first-person shooter for PSP that never saw the light of day. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly in 2007, Jaffe recounted his goal for the unfinished game.
"Heartland was the story of China invading America. It was a first-person-shooter where you played a soldier debating whether to stay and fight for America or go AWOL to meet up with your family. We were trying to put in a lot of gameplay that would evoke emotion."
The first-person shooter market is arguably the most competitive segment of the games industry today, dominated by AAA franchises with huge development teams and even larger budgets. It's also a notoriously difficult genre get a foothold in -- just ask the developers of Bulletstorm, or Homefront, or Singularity. For that matter, Jaffe, despite his high profile, hasn't delivered a God of War sized hit since... well, God of War. Could a new shooter be the game to turn that situation around? What do you think?
Ranters, how interested are you in a David Jaffe developed shooter? What do you think would set his game apart from the status quo?
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Source: IGN