Post by wafflerevolution on Sept 9, 2013 16:23:43 GMT
by aspro73
ubject: Armed & Dangerous
Developer: Planet Moon
Publisher: LucasArts
Genre: Third Person Shooter
Released: December 2003 for XB and PC
Some games just can't catch a break when it comes to being recognized by the gaming public. Usually two titles come to mind when I think about games that had nothing going against them than perhaps something as small as their name, or their covers - or more than likely the lack of advertising. The first is Metal Arms:Glitch in the System, I'll save its sad tale for another feature. The second is LucasArts' Armed & Dangerous, released in December of 2003 for the PC and Xbox. Armed and Dangerous is a fairly forgettable name for what is a highly imaginative and well executed third-person shooter. The game was known in-house as the following titles throughout development, The Sons of Einstein, The Guns of Einstein, and The Guns of Nazareth, before LucasArts applied one of the least memorable game names in history. The cover certainly didn't help promote the title at all, featuring the main characters and what looks like Adam Sandler wearing a kerchief over his face. If you were to judge this book by it's cover (as many apparently did) you would have no idea of the unique game-play ideas the developer, Planet Moon Studios had put together.
Planet Moon, was formed by six of the developers who worked on Shiney's lauded game, MDK. They broke away from Interplay to create Giants: Citizen Kabuto and after reaching an agreement with LucasArts began work on A&D. Nick Brutty of Planet Moon explains how they decided early on that the game had to be less complex than Giants (which befuddled many),"We immediately decided on the four characters who star in the game... Other details we decided on that day have not survived. For instance, we had to decide what kind of game this would be. We had four thieves. Thieves like to steal. So, the game would be called "The Heist"--originally, Armed and Dangerous was going to be an action/stealth game focusing on a team of thieves. But then a large number of stealth-type games appeared, and we were getting a bit bored by the concept. While deciding which direction to take, we were playing and being influenced by Medal of Honor, which was our kind of straightforward, fun action. So Armed and Dangerous then became an action/action game, and we decided to take things completely over the top. Way over the top. The over the toppest."
And over the top A&D is. Coming out a year before Ratchet & Clank, which went on to be famous for it's weaponry, the game is full of novel and highly satisfying weapons. Beyond a great bolt-action rifle, minigun, rocket launcher and sniper rifle there are more outlandish weapons like the Topsy-Turvy (which is hard to describe, but basically reverses gravity at those you shoot), a black-hole gun and the legendary shark gun, which causes a shark to come up out of the earth (somehow convincingly) and consume your opponent. Planet Moon clearly has a sense of humor and it is what differentiates the game. Non-playable characters, and those that are, constantly spout chuckle-worthy lines and the cut-scenes (much needed after the intensity of some of the levels) should have been compiled and nominated for a 'best-animated shorts" oscar. The weaponry, an extension of Planet Moon's humor, can be turned on a destructible environment which can be navigated in variable ways to get to the end of each level.
For a game that has so many unique characteristics is is a shame that so few got to play it. Nick Bruty explains what could have happened in the sequel, if the game had sold well, "The first thing you realize going into production is that you have designed way too much. It's best to do as much editing as soon as possible. At one point in our game, you could fly zeppelins and ride around in the colossus (one of the giant robots you fight in the game). They were cool play elements, but to finish them properly would have stretched us too thin and affected the amount of time we had to spend on the core game-play. All the more for Armed and Dangerous 2."
Instead of working on Armed and Dangerous 2 Planet Moon stated on their website that they were re-tooling to develop for platforms that made less demands on time and budget and created INFECTED, a launch title for the PSP. Since that innovative title also failed to sell, Planet Moon is now making what they can to get by and have produced Smarty Pants, Battle of the Bands, and After Burner: Black Falcon. Hopefully they will be able to soon return to producing games that carry their distinctive level of humor and quality.
Collectors Interest
Armed and Dangerous is compatible with the X360
... is in 1376 Gamespot collections
... is given a user score of 8.8
... is available on Ebay for $3-$9
ubject: Armed & Dangerous
Developer: Planet Moon
Publisher: LucasArts
Genre: Third Person Shooter
Released: December 2003 for XB and PC
Some games just can't catch a break when it comes to being recognized by the gaming public. Usually two titles come to mind when I think about games that had nothing going against them than perhaps something as small as their name, or their covers - or more than likely the lack of advertising. The first is Metal Arms:Glitch in the System, I'll save its sad tale for another feature. The second is LucasArts' Armed & Dangerous, released in December of 2003 for the PC and Xbox. Armed and Dangerous is a fairly forgettable name for what is a highly imaginative and well executed third-person shooter. The game was known in-house as the following titles throughout development, The Sons of Einstein, The Guns of Einstein, and The Guns of Nazareth, before LucasArts applied one of the least memorable game names in history. The cover certainly didn't help promote the title at all, featuring the main characters and what looks like Adam Sandler wearing a kerchief over his face. If you were to judge this book by it's cover (as many apparently did) you would have no idea of the unique game-play ideas the developer, Planet Moon Studios had put together.
Planet Moon, was formed by six of the developers who worked on Shiney's lauded game, MDK. They broke away from Interplay to create Giants: Citizen Kabuto and after reaching an agreement with LucasArts began work on A&D. Nick Brutty of Planet Moon explains how they decided early on that the game had to be less complex than Giants (which befuddled many),"We immediately decided on the four characters who star in the game... Other details we decided on that day have not survived. For instance, we had to decide what kind of game this would be. We had four thieves. Thieves like to steal. So, the game would be called "The Heist"--originally, Armed and Dangerous was going to be an action/stealth game focusing on a team of thieves. But then a large number of stealth-type games appeared, and we were getting a bit bored by the concept. While deciding which direction to take, we were playing and being influenced by Medal of Honor, which was our kind of straightforward, fun action. So Armed and Dangerous then became an action/action game, and we decided to take things completely over the top. Way over the top. The over the toppest."
And over the top A&D is. Coming out a year before Ratchet & Clank, which went on to be famous for it's weaponry, the game is full of novel and highly satisfying weapons. Beyond a great bolt-action rifle, minigun, rocket launcher and sniper rifle there are more outlandish weapons like the Topsy-Turvy (which is hard to describe, but basically reverses gravity at those you shoot), a black-hole gun and the legendary shark gun, which causes a shark to come up out of the earth (somehow convincingly) and consume your opponent. Planet Moon clearly has a sense of humor and it is what differentiates the game. Non-playable characters, and those that are, constantly spout chuckle-worthy lines and the cut-scenes (much needed after the intensity of some of the levels) should have been compiled and nominated for a 'best-animated shorts" oscar. The weaponry, an extension of Planet Moon's humor, can be turned on a destructible environment which can be navigated in variable ways to get to the end of each level.
For a game that has so many unique characteristics is is a shame that so few got to play it. Nick Bruty explains what could have happened in the sequel, if the game had sold well, "The first thing you realize going into production is that you have designed way too much. It's best to do as much editing as soon as possible. At one point in our game, you could fly zeppelins and ride around in the colossus (one of the giant robots you fight in the game). They were cool play elements, but to finish them properly would have stretched us too thin and affected the amount of time we had to spend on the core game-play. All the more for Armed and Dangerous 2."
Instead of working on Armed and Dangerous 2 Planet Moon stated on their website that they were re-tooling to develop for platforms that made less demands on time and budget and created INFECTED, a launch title for the PSP. Since that innovative title also failed to sell, Planet Moon is now making what they can to get by and have produced Smarty Pants, Battle of the Bands, and After Burner: Black Falcon. Hopefully they will be able to soon return to producing games that carry their distinctive level of humor and quality.
Collectors Interest
Armed and Dangerous is compatible with the X360
... is in 1376 Gamespot collections
... is given a user score of 8.8
... is available on Ebay for $3-$9