From comic book to movie, and now to videogames - Wanted's high octane action is coming for you on PLAYSTATION 3. Dare you pick up the Weapons of Fate?
Wanted: Weapons of Fate aims to refresh you, albeit by manically throwing you head first into a world full of outrageous assassins, curving bullets, and head popping action designed to leave you breathless. And that's before you even get to play the game itself...
Welcome to the Fraternity
The initial concept of Wanted was born of a popular adult audience comic book by writer Mark Millar and artist J.G. Jones, which featured a downtrodden everyday man by the name of Wesley Gibson who finds out he's the son of an expert assassin in a world where supervillians have wiped out all the superheroes.
The hugely successful film took this concept, twisted its neck and pointed the concept's head in a slightly different direction, making Gibson more of an anti-hero prodigy and replacing the supervillian elements with a slightly less alienating, if still brutal fraternity of assassins who kill for a greater good.
As for the third person shooter game... well, if you're a fan of either book or film, consider Weapons of Fate to be an amiable blending of both worlds, with a common theme - to bring as much fun, impact and inspiration from the two as possible. "The comic book is filled with this incredible attitude," says Pete Wanat, Executive Producer. "We wanted to take those elements from the comic and bring them in as well, the sort of stuff the movie didn't really get to explore - although we're still in the movie version of Wanted. So if you're a fan of the film or comic, you'd find this nice middle ground."
"A knife never runs out of bullets"
With Weapons of Fate using the movie as a springboard, you control Gibson in a new chapter of the story universe, exploring his journey into becoming an unmatched assassin, while also delving into his past with levels that let you assume the role of his father as the circumstances around Gibson's barely mentioned mother are investigated.
In gameplay terms, this means going through varied environments taking out as many antagonists as possible with handguns, shotguns, grenades... just about any weapon that appeared in the rather extroverted movie, some of which can be dual wielded.
That's not the only thing Weapons of Fate has up its assassin's sleeve. Your bullet's trajectory can be curved to spectacular levels which can have you hitting your target behind scenery, around objects and even simultaneously taking out multiple opponents. As a signature move it's one of the things which separates the game from its peers, given the tactics brought into play - bullet curving isn't just about showing off or hitting your foe, as it can also be used to draw them out or stun them, allowing you to get in close with a melee attack.
The Little Things
Weapons of Fate is also big on making sure you have the athleticism of a world class Wanted style assassin. Acrobatics and stealth play a large part, as well as the ability to utilise cover, whether that's using a captured enemy or any number of moveable and destructible objects in your environment.
The cover system lets you roll, leap, dive around and on top of things while you also get a benefit by going from one cover spot to another, which results in increased speed and a motion blur effect. This can confuse enemies (who will often verbally communicate your position) and trick them into thinking you're in one place when you're really in another, which you can then take advantage of. "It's making cover as an offensive weapon rather than just a defensive mechanism," says Wanat.
"We should have put that in the movie!"
Wanat is also keen to note Weapons of Fate's set pieces, one of which shows Gibson on a plane, complete with exploding fire extinguishers which depressurise the craft and creates a constantly unstable environment as well as extra dangers for everyone, such as being sucked out of the plane. It's a sequence designed to imitate the thrills evident in the film's action packed train scene.
"When we saw that amazing train sequence we wanted to emulate that, but we didn't want to do a straight 'what you see in the movie is what you play in the game' experience," explains Wanat. "We wanted to take that same sensibility brought by that action sequence with the train and bring it to an airplane. When we showed the plane level to [the film's director] Timur Bekmambetov, he jumped up, started writing all these ideas down and was shouting 'We should have put that in the movie!' It's nice when you work with film makers that respond in kind."
Similarly, comic writer Millar also paid respects to the title's extravagance. "Mark really loved the story and the game, so we're really happy about that," said Wanat "When you spend so much time working on something and the guy who basically created all these characters and this universe gives you the thumbs up, it's really rewarding."
Wanted: Wanted
With its use of the film's soundtrack and effects, mixed in with knowing nods to the comic (such as Gibson's original costume, omitted from the movie) there's a lot for fans to look forward to. It's a rare thing for a movie tie-in to be released so far after the film it's based on, and Wanat is confident the wait will be worth it.
"Universal Pictures believed in the environment and the world that Timur created. There was no intention to [rush] it in time with the movie's cinematic release. The game needs to be a great game first. If we're not going to come out the same time as the film we really want to respect the game's core mechanics. What we want to build is a quality product."
Whether you're into the comic, the movie or just curious about the game, Wanted: Weapons of Fate has set its sights to impress all comers with its lively action and novel ideas. Expect it to fall under your crosshairs soon.
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