Xboxist

Inversion Announced, Looks Half-Baked

Remember the gravity gun from Half Life 2? Well, Namco Bandai hope that you enjoyed it, because the company has decided to make an entire game based on the idea of manipulating the gravity of objects. Inversion is headed to the Xbox 360 and PS3 sometime in 2010, and was revealed for the first time today. According to the publisher, the game introduces a revolutionary gravity-wielding combat, zero-g environments, vector changes, and a unique destructible cover system. Wait, didn't we already see those things in HL2, Dead Space and Grand Theft Auto IV, respectively?

The central feature of Inversion is the new Grappler weapon, which allows players to manipulate gravity for their own purposes. The Grappler can be used in countless combat situations by maneuvering massive objects as shields or projectiles, and moving camped enemies out of concealed cover so they can be blasted away. The Grappler is also a key tool for tactical situations and puzzle solving as players can lift, move, or create cover objects at their whim. The awesome power of gravity is right at players' fingertips. Inversion also makes use of the Havok destruction engine, allowing most parts of the environment to be destroyed during combat.

The story is your standard Humans vs. Aliens tale: Set in the near future, the tranquil peace enjoyed by mankind shatters with an unforeseen invasion by an unknown enemy called the Lutadore. Armed to the teeth with futuristic gravity-controlling weapons, the Lutadore easily overrun the city's defenses. Unbeknownst to all, mysterious anomalies have surfaced in conjunction with the invasion. Random regions in the city have entered zero gravity or have suffered vector changes, throwing the world into topsy-turvy chaos. Assuming the role of Davis Russel, a hotheaded 28-year-old cop, or Leo Delgado, Davis' neighbor, players will embark on a journey through the war ravaged gravity twisted disorienting streets of their home town and beyond, to find Davis' missing child.

Despite its somewhat derivative roots, the developer remains convinced that they have an innovative new idea on their hands:

"Working with NAMCO BANDAI Games on a project of this caliber is a complete thrill," said Matthew Karch, CEO of Saber Interactive. "We are doing things in Inversion that most people didn't think possible on the current generation of consoles. We can't wait to get Inversion in the hands of gamers across the world."

Fully-destructible environments have long been a holy grail for game developers, and if Inversion can pull it off successfully, that would be a cool accomplishment. However, we hope that the developers don't get the impression that they can built an entire game around a nifty weapon design alone. Gameplay, story, and level design are also really important to gamers in this hardware generation. We hope that Namco Bandai is able to give their game a lot more polish before they send it out into the crowded world of shooters.

Inversion needs more polish before release if it wants to set itself apart from other standard shooters.