E3 2011: Medieval Moves First Look Preview

One of the stranger inclusions in Sony's Move-powered Sports Champions was Gladiator Duel, a minigame that sees you defending yourself from enemy swordsmen by swinging the Move Controller. That concept has been taken one step further with Champions' spiritual successor, Medieval Moves, which Sony demoed at its E3 press conference. Rather than a minigame collection, Medieval Moves is a third-person action adventure game, but it does feature the same sword and shield combat of Gladiator Duel as well as a host of new weapons and puzzles to solve.

The Medieval Moves demo took place in a castle, which the onscreen avatar was exploring. He began destroying objects such as barrels by swinging his sword, all controlled with 1:1 tracking by the Move controller. He then pulled out other weapons, including throwing stars and a bow and arrow. Rather than switch between weapons using an inventory screen, you select them by performing special gestures. For example, to arm the bow and arrow, the player reached behind his back as if pulling an arrow out of a holdall.

The player continued to explore the castle, encountering numerous enemies, which he quickly dispatched with his sword and throwing stars. Soon he came across a lever, which he pulled using a motion gesture to unlock a secret path. Unfortunately, a group of skeletons began to chase him. After a mad dash, he found a hatch held up by a rope. Cutting the rope caused the hatch to shut and stop the skeletons from attacking.

As well as action, we saw some examples of puzzles in the game. The first involved rotating a giant wheel by twisting the Move controller to match up colours and unlock a door. The second saw some huge wooden gears blocking the path of the hero. To get past he had to fire an arrow at a green target across the room, which stopped the gears. After, he made his way across a narrow beam that was difficult to balance on. The player had to hold his arms out in the air and tilt them in order for his avatar to keep his balance and make his way across the beam.

Though the demo focused on a single path, Sony said that there will be multiple paths to unlock. Some may be hidden behind sets of flammable barrels, while others could be accessed by using a Zelda-like grappling hook. Sadly, that's where the demo ended, and we were left wondering what kind of story the game might have and if there really is as much to explore as Sony says. We'll be keeping a close eye on Medieval Moves, so keep reading GameSpot for more soon.