Armed and Dangerous Feature Preview

While games appearing on the current crop of consoles continue to break new ground in game design and assorted technical feats (ultimately yielding eye-popping graphics), there's one element that's fallen behind the pack: humor. Games today may look and play significantly better than their predecessors, but they aren't much funnier. While developers are quick to push the technological boundaries of console hardware, there have been few who have tried to be funnier. Fortunately, LucasArts and Sausalito-based developer Planet Moon have teamed up to push the humor limits of the Xbox and PC with Armed and Dangerous, a quirky third-person shooter that may well turn out to be the funniest game to feature land sharks, tea-drinking robots, Scottish moles, and big guns released this year.

Armed and Dangerous' plot is "based on a true story" that many gamers probably missed hearing about in their history classes while cutting school to hit the local arcades or staying at home to play through their latest games. Fortunately, Planet Moon has opted to do its civil duty and educate the masses about an important historical event, which we suppose makes Armed and Dangerous the first infotainment title to feature third-person shooting. For the uneducated, Armed and Dangerous lets you play as one of a band of four thieves who set out to commit the ultimate heist--to improve their personal reputations--and wind up saving the world from a mad king. The thieves in question are the Lionhearts, a motley group made up of Roman, the main character you'll play as, Jonesy, a Scottish mole who's a whiz at demolitions, Q, a tea-drinking robot with a British accent, and Rexus, a "fragrant" blind man of indeterminate magical ability who's also telekinetic. The mad king they set out to thwart is King Forge, a snippy old man who is trying to get his hands on the Book of Rule, an ancient tome described in the game as the "greatest magical object our world has ever known--belching fire and brimstone and offering supreme power for the one who uses it." As luck would have it, Rexus, the former keeper of the book, is the one who was responsible for sealing away the Book of Rule's power (many years ago) to prevent it from being exploited. Rexus also kind of lost the book, too, but, since its power was sealed, it wasn't a huge deal. Unfortunately, King Forge has discovered the connection between the book and Rexus and is eager to capture the old man so that he can force Rexus to get the book for him so that he (Forge) can unleash its power. When the game begins you'll catch up to the Lionhearts as they arrive at Rexus' home in the Bergog Wasteland--an inhospitable, icy tundra--slightly ahead of Forge's soldiers. Roman's plan? To steal the book from under Forge's nose--which would be quite a boost to the Lionhearts' reputation--and use it to dole out some pain on the unpleasant monarch. However, before Roman and company can convince Rexus, the king's men arrive and take him. Following an unsuccessful murder at the hands of the king's men, Roman, Q, and Jonesy set out to rescue Rexus and bring their plan to fruition.

In gameplay terms, the quirky premise translates into 21 missions set in five unique environments. The game uses a standard mission-based structure and provides a set number of objectives at the start of each level. Because the Lionhearts are known thieves, and King Forge isn't a huge fan of having his plans disrupted, the boys will face some serious opposition. Aside from the expected array of ground soldiers, you'll have to contend with airships, mechanical walkers with guns, and robots on your quest for the book. The levels lean heavily toward standard third-person shooting sequences, although you'll also find turret sequences wherein you'll have to take out waves of enemies who are rushing at you. Additionally, you'll also have to engage in rescue missions that charge you with saving civilians and depositing them at their houses. The overall mix seems to work well, from what we've played, although the game is certainly challenging.

While the forces out to stop Roman are formidable, the odds are evened by the presence of Q and Jonesy and an arsenal of 17 of the most eccentric weapons you'll have seen in quite some time. Q and Jonesy will serve as squadmates and provide backup as you tear through waves of soldiers. You'll have limited control over them, which means you'll basically be able to deploy and recall them against targets, though this does work pretty well. The AI for the pair is pretty exceptional and will ensure that they'll capably take out anyone threatening you--if they're able to. However, when things get really rough--and they will, thanks to a very old-school approach to game difficulty--you'll have to rely on your weapons. When the game starts, you'll be armed with your run-of-the-mill assortment of arms, which aren't terribly remarkable. Fortunately, you'll quickly gain some bizarre weapons, like the land shark gun. The gun works pretty much like you'd expect--if you were expecting that the weapon would send enormous sharks after enemies you target with a reticule, that is.

In addition to your main weapon, you'll find secondary special weapons, like the topsy-turvy bomb, which literally turns everything topsy-turvy by rotating everything onscreen upside down--except for Roman, Q, and Jonesy. As a result, all of your foes are sent into the air. After a few seconds, the world will right itself and bring your enemies crashing to the ground--with predictably fatal results. Additionally, you'll also earn such gems as a small black hole that sucks all of your foes into oblivion, thus offering a fresh new use for the cosmic anomaly.

You'll gain weapons in pubs that are conveniently strewn throughout the locations you'll be tearing through. When you find one, you can simply pop in, heal yourself, get some arms, and then head out and resume blowing things up. As you progress through the game, you'll find that the stock of arms in the shops are more than you can carry, as Roman can only carry three guns and a handful of secondary weapons at any one time. The weapon limit adds a bit of strategy to the proceedings, as you'll have to decide which guns would serve you best in your current mission.

The game's controls are mapped out nicely for the Xbox. You move Roman with the left analog stick and use the right stick to look and aim. The left trigger fires your main weapon, and the right trigger zooms in your view. The amount of zoom varies based on which weapon you're using. For instance, a sniper rifle brings your view in much closer than a standard rifle. The X button reloads your weapon, A jumps, B fires your special secondary weapon, and Y serves as an all-purpose action button that lets you activate switches and lets you set bombs in designated areas. The white button sends Q and Jonesy on an attacking spree, wherever you point, and the black button recalls them. The D pad lets you toggle between your normal and special weapons by pressing up and down or left and right respectively. The layout works well and shouldn't take long to pick up. However, if you do happen to be finicky, the game offers a second controller layout as well as the ability to tweak a few options, like auto-aim. The second controller layout basically just inverts the vertical controls and swaps the thumbstick actions.

The graphics are a good mix of solid technology and sly design. The highly detailed environments, the characters models, and the variety of special effects used are impressive. The five unique environments of the game are vast and feature little touches, like environmental effects, destructible objects, and a physics system that lets you make use of boulders to smash structures, if you're so inclined. The characters do a fine job of managing the game's polygons effectively. Roman, Jonesy, Q, and the major antagonists all feature a high level of detail. The grunts and other NPCs are a bit thin on the polygons, but it doesn't detract from the game's impressive visuals. The special effects include an eye-popping collection of explosions and particle effects, and there are even some downright bizarre visuals used to represent the eccentric arsenal of weapons in the game. Amidst all the solid technology on display, Planet Moon has stayed true to its quirky muse and thrown all manner of visual humor in the game that will have you doing double takes in the heat of battle. You'll see penguins, sheep, and other random things peppered throughout the field of battle. In some cases, you can use them if you have an evil streak. Tossing a sticky mine on a sheep will send it into a panicked gallop toward nearby enemies, for example. Animation is effectively used throughout the levels to give the already colorful game more personality. Enemy soldiers panic and run off, screaming when hit by a stick mine. The animation on the land sharks is pretty keen as well. The onscreen lunacy does have an occasional price, as the frame rate in our preview build would bog down some when things got a bit hectic, but it didn't affect gameplay.

In addition to the in-game graphics, Armed and Dangerous features some truly inspired CG cutscenes. These are used to tell the game's historical tale and to raise the bar of silliness that Planet Moon has been setting for itself ever since Giants: Citizen Kabuto. Thanks to a very smart combination of solid CG and a smart script, the cutscenes are a definite highlight of the game. The unrepentantly silly humor is equal parts Monty Python and Looney Tunes, which is refreshing given how rare it is in games these days. While some of the lengthier cutscenes can be a bit jarring to the game's pacing, especially after you've been wound so tightly from plowing through some of the more challenging levels, their humor should win you over.

The audio in Armed and Dangerous is most definitely a key element to the game's charm, thanks to an awesome voice cast, whimsical music, and satisfying sound effects. The game's voice is pretty hilarious, thanks to the great dialogue and delivery by the voice actors. Roman, Q, Jonesy, Rexus, King Forge, Prince Stig, and the rest of the colorful characters are vividly brought to virtual life through a collection of European accents that give the humor added kick. The voice is also a great ambient element as well, thanks to the chatter between the characters during a level and the exclamations from the enemies you encounter. The game's music features a nice collection of string arrangements and woodwind instruments that add just the right amount of whimsy to the insane firefights you get into. The sound effects are a very satisfying collection of explosions, weapons fire, and original effects used to convey some of Roman's quirkier armaments, like the portable black hole.

From what we've seen so far, Armed and Dangerous is shaping up to be a winning mix of action and humor that you don't see every day. Planet Moon's unique sensibilities have made the marriage of goofy humor and challenging old-school shooting mechanics a surprisingly comfortable fit. The disarming humor helps take the edge off when you die and certainly adds to the satisfaction of plowing through a level with a posse of land sharks who are having an all-you-can-eat buffet of enemies. Anyone looking for a fast-paced shooter, with a mesh of Looney Tunes and Monty Python-style humor, should keep an eye out for Armed and Dangerous when it ships this December for the Xbox and PC.