Wield Godlike Power in Harold, a Playable Saturday Morning Cartoon

“My goal is to create a downloadable game with the quality of a triple-A game.”

Sure, like I haven’t heard a game developer tell me that a thousand times before. But for Moonspider Studios CEO Loris Malek, he’s taking aim at his goal by somewhat nontraditional gaming means: he’s hired a team of the most talented 2D animators he can find and is creating a Don Bluth cartoon that happens to be playable with a controller.

Yes, animation has been given top priority in Harold, a sidescrolling platformer where you control a veritable doofus. See, you’re a guardian angel’s apprentice, and in order get your people-protecting Master’s degree, as it were, you must complete the final exam in which you steer the clumsy Harold through timed obstacle runs where pratfalls and dangers constantly befall him.

The obstacle course also happens to be a race against other sad-sack mortals, however, so you’re competing with your fellow guardian angel apprentices for the top finish times. As such, you’ll need to egg Harold on with divine bolts of lightning, sabotage other racers, and use your godlike powers to look ahead in the race and clear a path for Harold as he ignorantly runs toward certain death.

And prepping the course for a smooth run is all you need to worry about, big job though it may be, as you don’t actually control Harold’s movements outside of jumping. Like the 2009 LucasArts platformer Lucidity, the stage is constantly advancing and you can’t stop it. Your job is to make sure Harold doesn’t kill himself, thereby causing you to flunk your guardian angel SAT.

Things start simply enough, but before long you’ll be constantly juggling hazards and looking for any shortcut you can in order to shave precious seconds off of Harold’s time. Gators ahead in a river you need to traverse? Give ‘em a holy whack on the noggin with your divine hammer. Is Harold nervously tiptoeing across a teetering plank bridge? Give him a nudge forward by pulling the bridge tight at each end and then release it to rubber-band snap the young man into gear. A total of four worlds – desert, jungle, beach, and snow – house multiple stages each, adding up to a pre-replayability total of about 6-8 hours of gameplay.

And as for those animations? You truly have not seen a video game look like this since…well, ever. “I wanted to make the first game that would look like a Walt Disney movie,” Malek says enthusiastically.

It shows. Film-quality cartoon cutscenes form the introductory sequence, finale, map introductions, and even mid-race moments. Harold is one game where you’re not likely to want to skip any of the cutscenes. Now that would be a divine miracle.

Ryan McCaffrey is the Executive Editor at IGN Xbox. He used to own a DeLorean, which is weird. Follow him on Twitter, on IGN, catch him on Podcast Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

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Star Trek: How to Make a Movie Tie-In That's Good

We've still not seen much of Star Trek. Yes, a new trailer came out at Gamescom, but we still haven't played the game. Normally this would be a bad sign – a signal that the game isn't up to scratch, perhaps; that it's a bit of a rushed job. You know, the sort of thing we've come to expect from movie tie-ins over the years.

But Brian Miller, senior VP of games at Paramount Pictures, says that the new Star Trek game, based on the critically-acclaimed and commercially-successful J.J. Abrams's reboot, is the exact opposite.

"We had a conversation about why movie games don’t work," says Miller. "Most of them aren't very good. And we tried to figure out why that was. Because even though people loved the movies, and you’d think they'd want to play those games because of the characters, most movie tie-ins just don't work.

And after sitting down with creatives from Bad Robot (J.J. Abrams' production studio), they came up with a few reasons.

"One of the biggest reasons was that you don’t give those types of games enough time. By the time you start filming a movie to the time you get ready to have it in theatres, you’re lucky to have 12 months for a developer to really work on a game. That’s not enough time. That’s not enought time to do it right. So by the time Star Trek comes out early 2013, we’ll have been working on the game for around 3 years. So that problem has been solved."

Star Trek is the ideal property out of which to make a co-op title. It centres on one of popular cultures most enduring friendships, right up there with Han and Chewie, Woody and Buzz. At the same time there is a danger that having such an iconic, strongly-defined pair of characters at its core might prove too chafing for players. So many video game characters are, of course, purposefully devoid of personality.

Kirk is headstrong, impulsive. Spock is thoughtful, measured. The game will subtly encourage players to play in character. "For Kirk we have a lot of upgrades and bonuses for doing things that Kirk does," says Miller. "So his shooting ability is much better than Spock’s. But Spock is half-vulcan so he runs a little faster and jumps a little further." He wouldn't be drawn on how else the game would incentivise gameplay that was consistent with the character, but it's clear that it's in no way compulsory. You can still be gun-hoe as Spock or a more strategic Kirk. But the personality of each character is very much embodied in their actions. I briefly saw some pre-Alpha footage of a stealth-based mission, in which Kirk and Spock have to make their way through a series of corridors down which Gorn sentinels are patrolling. If Kirk gets the jump on one the scaly foes, he brutally snaps its neck or slams its face into a nearby surface (a bit like Nathan Drake). But Spock takes them down using a more characteristically restrained Vulcan neck pinch.

“

A lot of times these games become a little piece of merchandise – you put it right next to the lunchbox and the t-shirt and hat that you sell.

"When you make a co-op game, the AI is the main thing you have to worry about," says Miller. "If the AI isn’t great and breaks, it ruins the entire experience of the game. So our developer, Digital Extremes, has had that at the top of the list right from the beginning. It is a little bit different depending on who you play as. We have a lot of banter that we’ve recorded where it’s Spock being frustrated with Kirk doing stuff. And Kirk being frustrated with Spock."

But it's more than just gameplay tactics. Depending on which character you play as, you'll experience different things in the game. One of Spock's most famed abilities is the Mind Meld. It even featured in Abrams's recent reboot. I was told that at certain points in the game Spock will be able to fuse his consciousness with various characters in the game, glimpsing their memories. This dreamy cinematic will only be experienced by the player controlling Spock. Kirk will just see Spock engaging in the Mind Meld. If you're playing online with a friend, you'll have to ask them what's going on.

Another one the problems with movie tie-ins that Miller and his team quickly identified was not believing and funding the game properly. "A lot of times these games become a little piece of merchandise – you put it right next to the lunchbox and the t-shirt and hat that you sell. But to do a game right you can’t really think of it like that. We’ve invested heavily to compete with all of the other triple-A level games that are out there. It’s not something that is just a byproduct."

This is demonstrated by the creative talent that Miller is more than happy to boast about. From the special effects team over at ILM sharing assets of the Enterprise – so it's the exact same model in the game as in the latest movie – to writer Bob Orci helping out with the script and Academy Award winning composer Michael Giacchino being consulted on the score. And unlike most tie-in games, it has the voices of the entire cast, giving the game that unparalleled authenticity.

It's all very impressive, but what's more heartening for the Trekkie is that the attention to detail and the fondness for the original show that served Abrams's reboot so well is present in the game, too. One of the things that made Abram's Star Trek reboot so good was it did new things without forgetting its heritage. It was, after all, that strangest and most paradoxical of things: a canonical reboot, linking together both the new and the old.

“

It was shocking to us that the Gorn have remained in the public consciousness for so long, and so well.

The choice of enemy is emblematic of this affection. The Gorn has endured in the popular consciousness. It might be down to the ropey effects – it's quite clearly a green rubber suit – but Miller thinks it's something more. "When we sat down, and said ‘Who do you pick as the villain?’ The Gorn were at the top of the list. It was shocking to us that the Gorn have remained in the public consciousness for so long, and so well. And people love that character, as do we. They were in one episode, 45 years ago. And for something to last that long and be that popular, clearly there was something in there."

The Gorn first appeared in the episode Arena. And in the style of Abrams' affectionate reboot, it's a moment in Trek history that will be acknowledged in the game. "That whole episode – Arena – is so imporant because it’s Kirk fighting the Gorn in an arena," says Miller. "It’s a big staged event. And we do have – and I think I’m telling you for the first time and I probably shouldn’t – but we do have a moment where we reference the whole arena fight, where we can throw Kirk back into that mess."

When I asked Miller if fans could expect any more classic Trek moments to be referenced, he smiled and said, "Yes. The only one I’ll hint at is there’s a great moment... I’ll put it this way. If you’re playing a co-op game where you’re set up to work together, it would be a great moment if Kirk and Spock were actually pitted against each other. And there’s a very classic episode we may be making reference to." Miller is alluding to Amok Time, a classic episode from the original series in which Kirk and Spock face-off in a fight to the death on Spock's home planet of Vulcan. 

Miller knows why movie tie-in games tend not to succeed. He also knows what made J.J. Abrams's reboot so good. Hopefully, the extra time the game has been in development, its production values, and its love of the original show will make Star Trek a movie tie-in which isn't just a glorified piece of merchandise but the quality co-op experience it could be.

Daniel is IGN's UK Staff Writer. You can be part of the world's worst cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.

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Breaking Bad: "Fifty-One" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

Rian Johnson, who directed this episode, is awesome. Brick is fantastic; see it if you haven’t. His next movie, Looper, looks good. Johnson’s ideas waffle between incredulous and bizarrely mundane, but the focus on the bare bones of a scene or story (e.g.: the dialogue; the acting) and getting into the heads of his characters can make even the most absurd story realistic.

You can see it in the way characters talk to one another; the close-ups on their faces; the subtle droning tones. It’s not manipulative, but it draws you in. When Walt, Hank, Marie and Skyler are all outside, having dinner together, the entire scene is about Skyler about to break; and when it comes to a head—when Walt describes how Skyler was there for him, taking care of him during the cancer, one year ago—the camera doesn’t shift to the table at all. It is entirely on Skyler, her face unmoved with a twinge of regret, cut-to her point of view of the pool, cut-to her face. Cut to her walking into the pool.

Got dang. Even if “distressed person jumping into the pool” is a cliché, it worked wonderfully here.

“Fifty One” is a beautiful episode. Compared to Johnson’s last directed episode of Breaking Bad, “Fly,” it fits a lot more seamlessly into Breaking Bad’s catalog and especially into this season.

There was a lot to love in this one.

First, Skyler melted down. While I think there’s been a lot of misguidance on her character throughout the series—a good deal of it because fan reaction to her was so oddly visceral—“Fifty One” took a second to explore the depths of her fear and articulated it perfectly in one of the best scenes in this show’s history.

Just before that scene between Walt and Skyler, Marie and Hank talked to Walt about Skyler and brought up taking care of the kids while they work out their differences and of course this is Walt’s soft spot. Though Skyler’s clearly been out of sorts in the last few episodes, Walt’s ignored it. Now that the kids were being taken away—and how about those early scenes where Walt and Walt Jr. were connecting?—Walt needed some answers. She’s breaking up the family.

And this is the scene that gets BB another few Emmys in hand. The entire scene is so natural and familiar, it’s less like we’re watching a show and more like we’re seeing into some family’s life. The line between Cranston and Walt was severely blurred in this one. Nothing is brought out into the open unnaturally.

The whole scene was almost cut from a brilliant play, which, for a series that’s so excellent on so many levels, is something we haven’t seen before. The conversation ebbs and flows, from an early “OK, we need to talk” sentiment to a pretty harsh tone of implied domestic abuse one-upmanship and backhanded, subversive threats. When Walt knew she had the upper hand, he attacked her ability to plan and she broke down: “I don’t know!! This is the best I can come up with! I’ll count every minute the kids are away from you as a victory.”

Anna Gunn was fantastic in this scene. She was fantastic in the whole episode. This was her finest work yet on the series.

Lydia returned in this one and she attempted to game the system. I like Lydia. It’s not because she’s smart or clever or mean or anything, but she’s so type A and stressful and the fingernail biting and the wrong shoe wearing and etc. etc. I love it. She’s not a good person, but hey, who is in this series?

Yo soy Heisenberg!

When she convinced Jesse (who, ya know, can get fooled like we can) that the can was lo-jacked by the DEA and Mike saw through it, you knew she was done for. What was kind of weird was when Jesse stopped him and Mike called him sexist for thinking she didn’t deserve to die, just like he was when Mike let her live. I haven’t seen many instances of character confusion in this series, but this was one—Mike let her live because his soft spot is for people who have one last wish to speak with family before they die.

Either way, I’m looking forward to where Lydia takes us.

Maybe most important was the Heisenberg hat is back to full throttle. I love that hat. It’s kinda dorky, but it makes Walt feel so empowered, you kind of want him to have it.

“Fifty One” packed a punch. It didn’t have any explosions, but it was cathartic and demonstrated just what Breaking Bad can do best: hard-hitting dialogue, powerful acting and cool directing and editing, with a few laughs and some fun here and there.

What’s most impressive this season is how everything has been building toward a crescendo. Yeah, Season 1 through 4 were all pointing to this season, but even the episodes within this season itself are pointing to something greater; some great cataclysmic ending. I don’t know if there’s anything that can match this kind of build-up, but the series has taken a turn for the epic and I think we all know it.

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