The catalyst that brings the oddball list of personalities together in Acme Arsenal is one of those often maligned evil mad scientists, hell-bent on destroying the Looney Toons. To do this he is making his way back through time to rid the world of their ancestors and thus erase them from existence. It will be your goal to guide this cartoonish band through the ages with the aim of thwarting his diabolical plans.
Drawing from the vast pool of Looney Tunes personalities, there are numerous playable characters in the game including the playful bunny known as Bugs, Daffy Duck, the feral Tasmanian Devil, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, the character who most know but not by name; Gossamer, along with a secret yet to be revealed character. Two characters are available in each level and can be switched on the fly.
Sweet gun mods Bugs.
In order to add a touch from a paintbrush made in the 2000's, the designers have made slight changes to the visual qualities of the characters. It was an incredibly risky move to modify such well known and loved characters but these new coats of paint have come off looking great. For example, Foghorn Leghorn is now a distinctly tough looking boxer and Daffy is looking meaner than ever. Some well known voice talent, including Joe Alaskey, will be playing the vocal chords of the Looney Tunes to link these naughties recreations to their simpler pasts.
Acme Arsenal is essentially an action platformer and immediately draws comparisons to Ratchet and Clank. Those behind the game have cited some seemingly odd sources for inspiration in games such as Resident Evil 4. It's in the game's progression, rather than the inclusion of Eastern European zombies, that they've taken inspiration. Instead of the simple linear style of many titles in the genre - playing through a level with the obvious goal of a boss encounter - the designers are implementing sudden 'out of the blue', less expected, boss battles that are aimed to take a player by surprise and maintain their immersion. Levels will be broken up between eras, with further divisions within creating sublevels. We’re told that there are currently three vehicle levels to compliment the platforming action.
Multiplayer gaming is available both in the form of online and the increasingly difficult to find, split screen (either horizontal or vertical) which should appeal greatly to a younger audience who haven’t been sent down the coalmines to procure the incomes needed to maintain a Live account. Online co-op should provide a great deal of entertainment and it will be interesting to see how well it is implemented.
It appears that it was Wiley Coyote who ordered the weapons for the game. Most of us remember the ridiculous array of tools he would put to use in his perpetual quest to capture Road Runner and each weapon in Acme Arsenal is incredibly reminiscent of these ACME creations. As you progress through the levels, dispatching enemies and solving environmental puzzles, you’ll gather a material called iridium which will increase each weapon's powers. One example we were given was the transformation of a guitar into a cello able to deliver powerful bassy blows.
Acme Arsenal’s level design is looking brilliant, allowing the player to step into familiar locations that are from both the Looney Tunes cartoons and some newly created worlds. Fleshed out versions of places like Marvin the Martian’s base come complete with familiar landmarks and in Marvin’s homeworld’s case, those odd birdlike creatures.
Cream pies, dragons and robotic knights, what a Looney Mix.
The lead platform for the Acme Arsenal is Xbox 360, which at first seems a slightly odd choice, not being the more ubiquitous of those within the game's sights, but it does currently boast the greatest install base versus processing power ratio. Wii and PS2 versions are also in the works each containing some exclusive content with an extra level coming to Sony’s platform and bonuses for the Wii alongside the gesture based controls.
The control scheme involves a free looking camera which is able to be controlled by one of the analogue sticks. We were told that there will be a centering view button implemented making it easier for the player to focus on the task at hand. The only concern we can see here is that those of the younger persuasion may have difficulty keeping up with this constant readjustment, although this may simply be us underestimating the dexterity of our population with an age in the single digits.
The game's visual aspects are looking incredibly strong. Fitting somewhere between the source material's 2D cartoon cel look and aspects of its 3D action/platforming gaming environment, everything we saw was looking great. Acme Arsenal's lighting was something that those demonstrating the game were incredibly keen to note as a stand out feature of the game. Indeed it is fairly impressive - shadows stretched and shifted angles closely to how we would imagine a cartoon’s darkened silhouette reacting to a real world torch, if it were possible.
Many would have you believe that licensed gaming is analogous to average gaming, however, as some titles have proven in the past, this does not have to be the case. Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal definitely looks to be one of these, attempting to shed the stigma attached to this group of games and deliver some quality fun. Everything we saw pointed towards a solid game and we can’t wait to see how the final product polishes up.
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