|
|
Sequel to The Ship is underway
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 4th September 2007
Very few details are available, but The Ship 2 is definitely being worked on somewhere...
Set on a selection of old-fashioned cruise liners, the original game was greeted with mixed reaction due to an odd blend of roleplay, FPS, stealth and traditional deathmatch elements. In each game players are assigned a random identity and a target whom they must assassinate without being detected by the ships security. The catch? Someone else is trying to kill you too.
The game bundled a number of different genres together in the final product and players could use diguises, passers-by and a number of environmental traps to accomplish their missions.
While the original was praised for being very innovative and creative, it was also faulted for a confusing interface and clunky game mechanics.
The news was released over on the official website, but no mention is made of what players might be able to expect in terms of gameplay or engine changes. Will the sequel stay on Source, or will it move to a new engine? Will the new game also be set on 1930's ocean liners or in modern day skyscrapers? Nobody knows.
It would seem a reasonable guess though to say that The Ship 2 would be moving to consoles in some form however, with Xbox Live being a perfect battleground for those who want to embroil themselves in a fast-paced, multiplayer murder mystery.
Outerlight were also very creative in their beta testing of the game; creating a working mock-up of the game as a Half-Life 1 Mod and making it available for free. When they were satisfied with the game there, the same design was moved to the Half-Life 2 engine and released commercially.
Ever try the original? What did you reckon to it? Let us know in the forums.
Related articles on bit-tech.net
Comments (7)Stats: 0.022 seconds
To me it seems like the gameplay boils down to:
Game start. You don't know who anyone is. You have to find out their names to find the person you have to kill.
Go up to a random stranger. Click on them to find out their name.
IF that person is the person you have to kill then you kill them, or follow them for thirty seconds until the cameras are gone, then kill them. Game over.
OR that person is trying to kill you. They do the same. Game over.
OR that person is nobody. Repeat from start. Game over.
Gee, fun.
Worse, thanks to the security in the game you can't even go crazy and have some fun with it.
Some times i goes like that but it depends on the map, you meander around till you find your prey if the map is small and every one just groups up then its the same as above. If things spread out then you can take people out with out them even noticing. Besides the real skill to the game is finding the high value weapons and using them before your offed.
The popularity of the game was short-lived so when I went back to have another go, there were only a few servers full of either hardcore gamers or idiots.
It was a original idea; not perfect. Not sure if there is any mileage in Mk II.