Gamescom: Early Screening of Joe Danger The Movie

by Daemon Hatfield - IGN.com | 16 August 2011 12:00
 
One of the PlayStation Network's best games is getting a summer blockbuster sequel.
 
Joe Danger is one of the very best games available from the PlayStation Network. A cross between Excitebike and Trials HD, the cartoon stunt racer earned a 9.5 from IGN last year. Developer Hello Games recently announced a sequel, Joe Danger: The Movie, which it is showing off here at Gamescom. It's a much bigger game with many more vehicles for defying death.
 
In the first Joe Danger, our hero was an aging stuntman coming out of retirement. His exhibitions earned the attention of a mysterious film director who hires Joe to work on a big budget action movie. This is a good excuse for the developers to borrow scenes from their favorite films. For instance, there are mine cart levels that evoke Indiana Jones and chases on snow-covered slopes that could be James Bond scenes.
 

Gameplay is basically the same: you maneuver Joe through brightly colored obstacle courses, collecting items and meeting a variety of objectives along the way. It's an arcade-style game, not a simulation, so the controls are very easy to get the hang of. In fact, the perfect controls are one of the major reasons Joe Danger was such a success. The difference here is that there are many more vehicles than just Joe's original motorcycle. Today I rode a mine cart, skis, snow mobile, police motorcycle, and a jetpack, but there should be many more vehicles in the final game. The official poster shows Joe driving a tank and makes several mentions of giant robots.
 
Each vehicle is controlled a bit differently and some levels will find you switching vehicles halfway through. In one snow level I was barreling down a mountain on skis and had to stomp on giant missiles that were beginning to launch from underground silos. Midway through I ditched the skis for a snowmobile. In multiplayer events, part of the challenge will be to make it to the new vehicle before your opponents, as there may only be one.
 
In the police motorcycle missions I played, Joe had to chase down criminals on crowded city streets and knock them off their bikes. The traffic element was particularly cool – not only are you keeping an eye on the bad guys, but you're constantly switching lanes in order to avoid oncoming traffic.
 
The jetpack is one of the more difficult methods of transportation, so you'll get to it later in the game. You still accelerate with the right trigger, but Joe can be pointed in 360 degrees and will head in whatever direction he is facing. For players that want to post high scores to the online leaderboards, mastery of the jetpack will be important.
 
The friendly level editor from Joe Danger will return as well as a multiplayer mode. All of the game's levels were built with said level editor.
 
Hello Games isn't making any official announcements about what platforms Joe Danger: The Movie is coming to, but it is playable on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 here at Gamescom. The sequel should be released next year. That's a long time to wait, but if Joe Danger: The Movie is even half as good as the first game, it will be worth it.
 
Sorry I don't have screens or video for you, yet, but they're coming later this week.
 
Supplied by IGN.com