EA Announces Project RedLime
Electronic Arts made a rather vague announcement this morning declaring a partnership with Starbreeze Studios (Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Darkness) to “reinvent a classic EA franchise”. Codenamed Project RedLime, the fruits (get it?) of their labor have zero details, only that the title is being developed for the PS3, 360 and PC.
The 250 word press release could have simply said “EA and Starbreeze are working on this old franchise together” and it would have gotten the point across just as easily. Still, we’re intrigued as to what they could possibly be bringing back that they already haven’t already created 30 sequels from. Here’s a few thoughts:
Archon / Archon 2 (1983/84) – A chess-like game that involves as much strategy as it did button-mashing combat. Probably not where they’re headed here. Board games might be hot commodities for Xbox Live casual gaming, but a quote from the press release mentions bringing ‘innovation to this beloved fiction’. We’re taking that to mean a story line.
M.U.L.E. (1983) – More of a simulation than a game, M.U.L.E. was one of the first multiplayer computer games, loosely based on the economic gameplay of Monopoly… in space of course. Largely considered a revolution for computer gaming, the game has been copied but never officially versioned by EA. This could make for a succesful next-gen title, just not necessarily in line with Starbreeze Studios’ genre of experience.
The Bard’s Tale (1985) – Your basic dungeon crawler RPG. Players choose from a range of medieval classes to adventure through and around the town of Skara Brae fighting wizards, dragons and other mystical baddies of that ilk. The Bard’s Tale has had multiple sequels and hundreds of copycats, so it’s obviously nothing new. Still a strong story and a hi-def makeover could bring the series back from the dead.
Skate or Die! (1987) – EA’s first internally developed title, Skate or Die! gave players one of the first ‘extreme sports’ experiences on a number of home systems. Currently available on the Wii Virtual Console, Skate or Die! is certainly a classic EA title, but one whose re-hashing might be doomed to fall behind the already saturated Tony Hawk market.
BioForge (1995) – Marketed as an interactive movie, BioForge was a futuristic exploration and puzzle solver with minor fighting elements. Players take the role of a cyborg who has lost his memory and ventures forth to learn the truth about himself and his situation. This is a good candidate for several reasons. A sequel was originally designed, re-worked to be an extension on the original title and ultimately canned. The gameplay has a strong resemblance to Riddick and would need to be supported by a strong story (beloved fiction?). Plus BioForge | RedLime – two capitalized words made whole. Coincidence? Probably, but out of EA’s massive library, this title makes the most sense.
Other possibilities: Ultima, Wing Commander and Populous. Just please, for the love of DOS, don’t resurrent Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. PLEASE!
