Rumour Skydance (Amy Hennig) Marvel Game to be titled 'Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra"

[Bishop89]

Kurokasis is a leaker who had first reported on Sonic x Shadow Generations


I believe this is a narrative story driven game, not GaaS. Just based off this.

Skydance New Media and Marvel Entertainment's upcoming narrative-driven, ensemble adventure game is set in the Marvel Universe and features an original story that will take players on a WWII-era adventure with four playable heroes at different points in the story -- A young Steve Rogers (aka Captain America), Azzuri (T'Challa's grandfather and WWII-era Black Panther), Gabriel Jones (a U.S. soldier and member of the Howling Commandos), and Nanali (leader of the fledgling Wakandan Spy Network). Skydance New Media is helmed by award-winning writing and directory Amy Hennig. This title marks the first initiative from the new AAA game studio."

Link

 

[aus89]

Kurokasis is a leaker who had first reported on Sonic x Shadow Generations


I believe this is a narrative story driven game, not GaaS. Just based off this.

"Hennig: We want to disabuse people of any of the wrong notions about the game -- this is a single-player game, and so the four characters are all playable at different points in the story. Like a TV show or a movie, where you're cutting between different characters. Because that's the normal way to tell the story that games rarely do.

So there are key points in the story based on what's happening and what these characters are trying to accomplish in parallel or even working at odds. That raises the stakes. And we can cut back and forth between those characters, even really quickly cut back and forth, and be really creative like that.

That really necessitates that this be a single player experience. It's not like you're choosing which character to play, it's not like you're playing co-op multiplayer. There's a... I kind of hate the term linear story, because I always try to make games that feel widely linear and have lots of player agency, but the story has a beginning, middle and end, with landmarks in between."

Definitely an Uncharted-esque action game - but it does seem they are trying some different stuff with the controls:

"Hennig: Most of the DNA is from stuff that I made before, but we looked at all these other games that are doing interesting things with more contextual controls, like Quantic Dream's games [which include 2010's Heavy Rain and 2018's Detroit: Become Human]. But those are very different kinds of games. We're still making a traditional AAA action-adventure game but in a way that should be more intuitive to players.

Non-gamers and casual gamers will be able to grapple with the controls right away. For experienced gamers, they'll immediately be able to figure out where the depth is and combine certain moves. It's about maximizing experience, not about beating the game; feeling like you're in this flow state, embodying these heroes and being carried by propulsion of the story as opposed to feeling like you're trying to conquer it.

It's about finding as big an audience as possible, figuring out how to invite them to the party and not confronting them with 800 buttons."

 

[TreIII]

As I have said before, I was always interested. The idea that they're going to utilize, expand on and remix a good deal of what happened in the comics is nice to read, too.

 

[PixelKnight]

Story sounds interesting, but mention of Quantic Dream’s games and

Like a TV show or a movie, where you're cutting between different characters. Because that's the normal way to tell the story that games rarely do.

and

feeling like you're in this flow state, embodying these heroes and being carried by propulsion of the story as opposed to feeling like you’re trying to conquer it

makes it sound more like it would rather be a TV mini series I’d like to watch that’s being hammered into a video game where it’s embarrassed about being a game and having those players do player stuff.

Making it more accessible is a good idea given the IP though, hopefully it’ll work out and get a whole new audience into games. I just hope it isn’t a QTE-fest.

 

[JorgenRaft]

I mean poopoo on David Cage because he's a weirdo but games like Heavy Rain and Detroit (and similar examples like Telltale, Life Is Strange, Until Dawn, etc) have shown that you can do some interesting stuff when interweaving choice based storytelling and gameplay.

Though here it sounds like her comparison is more so referencing how they're a bit more approachable for more casual gamers, and even newcomers to gaming. Never really got how that would mean a game is embarrassed to be a game.

 

[oomoepoo]

Watch it be 8 hours long with a confusing story and a tacked on wide-screen filter, just like a certain PS4 launch title

 

[PixelKnight]

. Never really got how that would mean a game is embarrassed to be a game.

I was specifically referencing this line-

Because that's the normal way to tell the story that games rarely do.

Because it’s basically saying ‘why don’t games tell stories more like TV and cinema’. Which is a sweeping statement saying ‘there’s only one way to tell a story in a superhero action game, which is how a completely different medium does it’. I’m not sure that Quantic Dream ever really elegantly landed on the halfway house between the two, as railroaded scenes one after the other and QTEs is, sure, games approximating TV series. That happen in episodes, and where dramatic moments like a key argument, fight, or discovery happen in moments and often with cliffhangers. Telltale made a business model out of that for a while too. But it’s still trying to hammer a videogame format into approximating TV, with the danger that narrative needs to exist alongside play in a play medium, and play still needs to lead. Given a choice, I’d rather play a good game with a poor story than play a good story with terrible gameplay. Which is where Telltale often ended up, while QD barely managed either.

 

[JorgenRaft]

I was specifically referencing this line-

Seems like she's just saying they want to accomplish linear storytelling in their game. That how most stories are told in film, tv, AND games, so I don't agree with her in that regard as that is pretty normal.

I just think the whole "video games trying to be movies/tv shows are embarrassed to admit they're video games" shtick gets a bit overblown when video games can be so many different things nowadays. Video games have just shown they're able to be more* than just toys, same way they've shown they can emulate a cinematic experience that becomes more immersive through interaction and gameplay. I, and obviously many others, find games like that to be a lot of fun even if the stories themselves can be dumb and goofy.

* "More" as in addition to, not better than what a toy or piece of entertainment can be.

 

[PixelKnight]

Seems like she's just saying they want to accomplish linear storytelling in their game. That how most stories are told in film, tv, AND games, so I don't agree with her in that regard as that is pretty normal.

I just think the whole "video games trying to be movies/tv shows are embarrassed to admit they're video games" shtick gets a bit overblown when video games can be so many different things nowadays. Video games have just shown they're able to be more than just toys, same way they've shown they can emulate a cinematic experience that becomes more immersive through interaction and gameplay. I, and obviously many others, find games like that to be a lot of fun even if the stories themselves can be dumb and goofy.

‘Video games are one specific thing that ain’t this’ isn’t the point I’m making. My point isn’t that games can’t be cinematic or a variety of different things. Hennig’s own CV shows that (alongside various other studios, big and small). My point is that QD’s experimentation didn’t do the whole ‘like a TV show with switching perspectives!’ very well (even if the games press loved them at the time) as the cracks started to show afterwards, and I find railroaded, QTE-ridden messes with poor gameplay not a particularly good advertisement for storytelling in a medium about play, even if they are easier to pick up for a new player than a modern action game aimed at people who’ve been playing for a long time. Games can tell stories in lots of ways, but I find the whole ‘why isn’t storytelling in games more like TV or Quantic Dream’s games’ to be a bit ‘overblown’ too.

Still, I guess it’s advertising a new project with clear goals of appealing to the widest possible audience as that’s what Marvel wants, so, fair enough, that’s understandable (both laudable in terms of accessibility for people who don’t play videogames often but, well, also a multinational wanting all the money). If anyone can thread the needle here, Amy Hennig can.

 

[JorgenRaft]

That’s not the point I’m making. My point isn’t that games can’t be cinematic or a variety of different things. Hennig’s own CV shows that (alongside various other studios, big and small). My point is that QD’s experimentation didn’t do the whole ‘like a TV show with switching perspectives!’ very well (even if the games press loved them at the time) as the cracks started to show afterwards, and I find railroaded, QTE-ridden messes with poor gameplay not a particularly good advertisement for storytelling in a medium about play, even if they are easier to pick up for a new player than a modern action game aimed at people who’ve been playing for a long time.

Oh sure I totally got that point, I just disagree. I always thought QD typically improved on that aspect game to game despite the stories not always being amazing. Detroit in particular was a big step above compared to everything before it.

"Choose your own adventure" is always going to be tougher story wise than something more set and linear, but I'm glad lots of studios out there are trying different things with it.

 

[PixelKnight]

Oh sure I totally got that point, I just disagree. I always thought QD typically improved on that aspect game to game despite the stories not always being amazing. Detroit in particular was a big step above compared to everything before it.

"Choose your own adventure" is always going to be tougher story wise than something more set and linear, but I'm glad lots of studios out there are trying different things with it.

Yeah fair enough, I see where you’re coming from

 

[aus89]

I think she's just saying, you're rarely playing a game where you're switching between characters/locations on the fly like you might in a film/tv show (and I guess having all those different characters control intuitively and accessibly), probably getting at the idea of motion controls/gesture controls/haptics - I don't Amy Hennig is trying to disparage games here... she's just trying to explain what the game is like (and what's different about it to something like Uncharted) in an understandable context (vs. games where you mainly stay with one character/team of characters the whole way through) - She expressly says the game is nothing like Quantic Dream games either, just they were interested in different uses of contextual controls

 

[Silky]

Amy Hennig adapting Reginald Hudlin stories is just so damn funny to me.

 

[LiamRobertson]

"Hennig: We want to disabuse people of any of the wrong notions about the game -- this is a single-player game, and so the four characters are all playable at different points in the story. Like a TV show or a movie, where you're cutting between different characters. Because that's the normal way to tell the story that games rarely do.

So there are key points in the story based on what's happening and what these characters are trying to accomplish in parallel or even working at odds. That raises the stakes. And we can cut back and forth between those characters, even really quickly cut back and forth, and be really creative like that.

That really necessitates that this be a single player experience. It's not like you're choosing which character to play, it's not like you're playing co-op multiplayer. There's a... I kind of hate the term linear story, because I always try to make games that feel widely linear and have lots of player agency, but the story has a beginning, middle and end, with landmarks in between."

Let them cook.