I'll admit other than a couple of press releases in the past couple of weeks, I didn't know a lot about Destineer. In fact, with the exception of their Homies IP, I couldn't have named a single one of their titles prior to the week leading up to PAX. But that's one of the best parts about covering a gaming convention, is that there is always at least one company there that you don't know much about that has some teriffic products to learn about.
I met with Jeremy Zoss, Communications Manager for developer and publisher Destineer, who walked me through each of their games beginning with Indianapolis 500 Legends for the Wii. Due in November, this is maybe the first racing game on the Wii since Excite Truck that might be worth playing. The game is based around a 10 year period in the 1960's and 70's when cars were evolving and some of the biggest names and best rivalries in Indy history were occuring. You’ll be driving as A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Parnelli Jones, or any of 30 other legends of the sport. Aside from full races which take hours and can be played in segments, there will also be racing missions where you have to escape crashes, be successful against a rival driver, or succeed in mini games that make up the pit stops. What I really liked about the game is that in the little time I had to watch and play it, it felt like the driving in Excite Truck, which is by far the best driving experience on the Wii, but just a bit more challenging. We'll provide a far more detailed review of the game when we get our review copy in.
The remainder of Destineers lineup will be heading to Nintendo DS. The first DS title Jeremy showed me was Indianapolis 500 Legends for the DS. While it is the same title, it's definately not a port of the Wii title. It has fewer drivers and options as should be expected of a DS title, but it offers the ability to steer your car using the stylus, which to my knowledge is not something a lot of games are doing. Indianapolis 500 Legends for DS is due in November.
The next title I saw was John Deere: Harvest in the Heartland, a sort of Sim City meets Harvest Moon. This is honestly the title I was most excited to see, because I think this kind of title can really take off. Basically, you build a farm from scratch, without the shortcuts of farming in Harvest Moon. You start by planting garden crops with hand tools and work your way up to harvesting fields full of wheat with a combine. You sell your crops at market and make money to build and expand. And what makes it all the more interesting is that you do all of the farming with the stylus. You walk up to the crop you want to harvest and with swipe of the stylus, your crop comes out of the ground. But not the whole field just a small portion of it. Farming is work, and you'll definately get some work in before you can afford a couple of John Deere tractors to make the work go faster. Plus, this is a game you can play indefinately. I don't know a lot more than that, but I am looking forward to finding out. This title is also due in November.
Then Mr. Zoss showed me what he called Destineers "sleeper hit" WordJong. Due in October, this title takes the speedy casual play of Mahjong, and replaces the symbol matching with word spelling. Each tile has a letter and the longer the words you spell, the more points you score. In either Solo mode, or by playing over local or Internet WiFi, you can challenge others through the use of multiple game or gift play to another DS using only one game. This title will hit shelves in October.
The next title I saw was Fullmetal Alchemist Trading Card Game, which is due in September. While this particular type of game isn't my cup of tea, the interface looks really good, especially for a TCG on the samll screens DS. The cards are large and easy to look at, and the game also offers a fantasy mode that allows the player to see what any card in the base set or either of the two expansion looks like. Of course, a TCG against AI is only fun for a little while, so the fact that the game includes WiFi is key. The game features sound, music, and voices from the Cartoon Network show of same title.
The final title I saw was an early build of Homie Rollerz, a racing game based on the Homies IP, created by Dave Gonzalez. In case you don't know what Homies are, they are minature collectibles you can pick up in vending machines. They have become very popular, and offer a wide range of characters. The basis of this game is to win races and do tricks to collect respect points that allow you to improve your car. 10 of the Homies characters appear in the game, including a new character created especially for the game. Through playing the game you'll learn the history and background of each of the Homies in the game, and learn what their future outcomes could be. The build I saw was an early one, and while the racing engine seems mostly complete, the graphics still were a long way from done. There's still a lot of work left to do on a product due in October, but based on the state of the other titles in the Destineer lineup, I'm sure they'll get it ready in time.
In conclusion, Destineer has a lot going on, and a lot of it looks very good. We'll look to provide more details on each of these titles as they get closer to release.
