Double Fine's Trenched: Tower Defense With "War Barbies"

[Tom Goldman]

Double Fine's Trenched: Tower Defense With "War Barbies"

Trenched isn't a mech battling game, it's a tower defense game with mechs and loot.

Double Fine has revealed more specific details about its fourth downloadable project, the recently announced [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108182-Double-Fine-Pits-Mechs-Versus-Aliens-in-Trenched] Trenched. While the game's first trailer made it look like a mech battling game, it's really a tower defense game combined with a shooter and a smidgen of a loot hack.

Double Fine talked to G4 about the game's backstory and basic concept. Trenched takes place after WWI and follows two veterans from a listening post that became super intelligent after hearing a mysterious broadcast that killed everyone else within earshot. Frank Woodruff Sr. used his smarts to build himself and other wounded soldiers mechs called "Trenches," while Vladimir Farnsworth invented the television and went insane with a desire to network the entire world. Trenched's enemies are actually Farnsworth's partially mechanical creations that he sends out to lay cable to spread this network and take over the world.

However, Woodruff's Trenches are in Farnsworth's way. Trenched plays like a tower defense game but puts players right into the action the whole time. Enemy waves will spawn and a specific area must be protected. As you kill enemies, materials drop that can be used to upgrade weapons, and after a battle the player can collect loot, including rare items. Players will constantly be finding or buying new weapons, emplacements, Trench chassis, Trench legs, and even clothing to customize their marine that sits in the Trench. Double Fine describes the player character as a "war barbie."

Players can also take on Trenched's campaign in a co-op mode that supports up to four players. Tim Schafer calls the game an "explosion of manly ideals" that have been pent up at Double Fine for too long. It's coming to Xbox Live Arcade sometime in 2011.

Source: G4TV [http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/64989/trenched/articles/73785/trenched-first-look-preview-not-your-typical-post-wwi-alternate-reality-tower-defense-shooter/]

Permalink

 

[BlindChance]

So, it's more like Monday Night Combat than Mechwarrior, then?

On the other hand, whoever decided to make a female lead (that's gotta be what 'War Barbie' means, right?) deserves kudos. I keep saying the right place to use female leads is in games like these; it's a way to defuse the testosterone overload and make the story more interesting. (Much like Ripley did for Aliens.)

 

[LavaLampBamboo]

I didn't pick up on a tower defense vibe from the trailer, but I'm a big fan of the genre, so this game just got even better.

I have to say Double Fine have really produce some gems since going downloaded only. Keep up the good work, I say =)

 

[RA92]

What the world really needs is this to get out of its development hell...

<youtube=orhOvbfyyJw>

 

[Thorvan]

So, it's more like Monday Night Combat than Mechwarrior, then?

On the other hand, whoever decided to make a female lead (that's gotta be what 'War Barbie' means, right?) deserves kudos. I keep saying the right place to use female leads is in games like these; it's a way to defuse the testosterone overload and make the story more interesting. (Much like Ripley did for Aliens.)

By "War Barbie" he didn't mean females, he meant that you can dress up your mech/soldier in pretty little outfits.

 

[Rofang]

Okay, I'm not sure how much I care about this particular game after reading the details, but "War Barbies" soooo needs to be a thing. A war game starring pretty plastic dolls who maim each other. Just imagine all the plastic body parts littering the battlefield! Severed doll heads here and there... Hmm, this became creepy very quickly.

 

[Therumancer]

Hmmm, well I think Tim is losing it honestly. I was a big fan, but I think the failure of "Brutal Legend" kind of short circuited his brain to be honest, and honestly very few of these micro projects have impressed me all that much. As an RPG player I got "Costume Quest" which is overall pretty simplistic. "Stacked" never appealed to me much as a concept. This game sounds okay, but hardly the kind of thing that has me trembling with anticipation.

I think Tim needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror, and then get on with say doing a sequel to "Psychonauts" or something people would actually want to see him do.

You might be saying "But Therumancer, Psychonauts was hardly a major success". Well, I think it's one of those games where the passage of time has lead to it becoming far more successful than people might think. It's word of mouth promotion, back channel distribution through piracy and such (since it hasn't always been easy to get), and so om, have given it a much larger following than I think most people give it credit for.

I see it as being similar to "Wasteland" which never saw a proper sequel (no "Fountain Of Dreams" and "Escape From Hell" were not proper sequels) due to a similar belief that it hadn't caught on due to mediocre sales if the reports are to be believed. Eventually it was discovered "hey, people still play this game, and OMG look at how many people DL it from Abandonware sites" and a spiritual sequel was released called "Fallout" which even invoked "Remember Wasteland?" on the back of the box. That balooned into what is now a massive juggernaut of a series through multiple developers. For all the problems that hit "Black Isle" the success of "Fallout" was never really in question.

I think Tim needs to look back at his earlier work, what people are still playing and talking about, and respond accordingly. What's more, he needs to label his games propely. I think "Brutal Legend" failed by being aimed at the sandbox game playing crowd, while actually being an RTS at it's core. If it was marketed as an RTS I think it would have been more successful.

Speaking of "Brutal Legend" however, it does show that if Tim *WAS* to develop an actual sandbox game with some of his ideas (Heavy Metal themed or not) it would probably be pretty successful. He might want to consider making "the game you all thought Brutal Legend was going to be".

 

[ThatDaveDude1]

It's coming to Xbox Live Arcade sometime in 2011.

ONLY Xbox Live Arcade?


...son of a *****...

 

[GeorgW]

Seems like a good angle. I think I'd really like this game.

So, it's more like Monday Night Combat than Mechwarrior, then?

On the other hand, whoever decided to make a female lead (that's gotta be what 'War Barbie' means, right?) deserves kudos. I keep saying the right place to use female leads is in games like these; it's a way to defuse the testosterone overload and make the story more interesting. (Much like Ripley did for Aliens.)

I didn't see a single female in the trailer, so I doubt that. He was just saying you could dress your soldiers.

 

[The Wykydtron]

"Explosion of manly ideals"?

Now after saying that if Kamina's cloak and sunglasses aren't avaliable for your character i will be very disappoint...

 

[Karlaxx]

Do you actually control the Trenches, making it more like a hero defense?

Either way, could be quite entertaining. Can't go wrong with mechs.

 

[BlindChance]

By "War Barbie" he didn't mean females, he meant that you can dress up your mech/soldier in pretty little outfits.

I didn't see a single female in the trailer, so I doubt that. He was just saying you could dress your soldiers.

Awww. I am disappoint. And stand by the rough gist of my comments.

 

[BlindChance]

I think Tim needs to look back at his earlier work, what people are still playing and talking about, and respond accordingly. What's more, he needs to label his games propely. I think "Brutal Legend" failed by being aimed at the sandbox game playing crowd, while actually being an RTS at it's core. If it was marketed as an RTS I think it would have been more successful.

Really? Do you remember what the reaction was like when people learned it was an RTS? I can't find the thread, but I remember one right here at The Escapist where the flood of people basically signing off the moment the acronym "RTS" appeared was astounding.

I don't begrudge EA's choice to try and play down the RTS elements. They obviously knew it wouldn't sell as an RTS. The only problem is that it, well, was an RTS, and that fact eventually had to leak.

 

[Worgen]

I would buy the fuck out of this if it was coming out for the pc but since it sounds like a good portion of it will want to be multiplayer I might stay away since I dont do 360 gold

 

[Porecomesis]

Ugh... I am sick to death of exclusives that do not majorly use the software or hardware strictly exclusive to the console.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Ohh, war barbies? I read the title as "War Babies.

Anyway... this looks really interesting - and, dare I say it, "cool." Schafer proved with Brutal Legend he can craft and epic story while taking the piss out of itself at the same time. As long as it's hilarious, though, I'm gonna buy it. (And it does look very tongue-in-cheek, from what I've scene.)

 

[Saelune]

I want this game, for two reasons. Its Double Fine, and it reminds me of Chromehounds. Sure, its not really like Chromehounds, but the mechs are desgined JUST LIKE Chromehounds, and I miss that game bad.

 

[The.Bard]

Hmmm, well I think Tim is losing it honestly. I was a big fan, but I think the failure of "Brutal Legend" kind of short circuited his brain to be honest, and honestly very few of these micro projects have impressed me all that much. As an RPG player I got "Costume Quest" which is overall pretty simplistic. "Stacked" never appealed to me much as a concept. This game sounds okay, but hardly the kind of thing that has me trembling with anticipation.

I think Tim needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror, and then get on with say doing a sequel to "Psychonauts" or something people would actually want to see him do.

Yes, Tim should take a very long hard look and stop working on these games that are both selling and reviewing well, and go back to the games that were critically revered and never made squat for him financially.

Your opinion is valid, but although you don't like the direction, sales figures/reviews on these recent games show that more than a few people love them, myself included. My wife will actually sit and play Costume Quest with me, which is a miracle in my book!

You might be saying "But Therumancer, Psychonauts was hardly a major success". Well, I think it's one of those games where the passage of time has lead to it becoming far more successful than people might think. It's word of mouth promotion, back channel distribution through piracy and such (since it hasn't always been easy to get), and so om, have given it a much larger following than I think most people give it credit for.

But Therumancer, it could have the largest following in the world (and would be quite deserving of the title!), but the sales revenue would indicate a sequel to Psychonauts is not going to do much. Piracy is the absolute worst benchmark I can think of for gauging the amount of money he can make off of a sequel. I bought Psychonauts off Amazon in '07 for $5. I'll grant you the price has gone up a little since then (cheapest now is ~$20), but it's still not hard to get at all (at least in the US). If there is a large following of people who would rather pirate it than spend under $20, there's your problem.

Tim's gotten smarter about how to keep himself from going bankrupt. If anything, you can blame the gaming community for this change in focus, not him. Dude's gotta eat, and if games like Stacking & Costume Quest are more profitable than Psychonauts, then those are the games he'll make.

We constantly complain that games aren't quirky or fresh enough, but the next boring-as-all-hell Call of Duty and Madden iterations are the ones we keep buying. Personally, I hope he makes a bajillion dollars off of these smaller titles so he can buy the rights to Grim Fandango and release a kinectified HD remake of it! *droooooooooools*