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ACE Team's upcoming downloadable action-strategy game Rock of Ages is still one of the most original looking games we have seen in a while. But the game's publisher Atlus USA is giving fans an extra special April Fools's treat; a free game that gives a 2D perspective on things.

The free game, Pebble of Time, is set up on a web site made to look like it's the product of just one person, an indie game developer who complains that ACE Team stole his idea for the game to make Rock of Ages. He (or rather the site) states, "II was really hoping the success of Pebble of Time could afford me some like, eye transplant, or cyborg eyes, which would be cooler. Or could it be that visor the guy has on Star Trek." It always comes back to Trek.

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We quiver with excitement every time more information comes from the developers at ACE Team, and this trailer is one of those. Detailing the power-ups in Rock of Ages, it shows off a few abilities we've seen before but had never really been given clarification on. It appears that, at the very least, the rock will get four power-ups: increased damage resistance, increased damage, land poisoning, and double jump. If there are any more power-ups to be had, ACE Team is keeping their lips understandably sealed on what they may be.

Check out all Rock of Ages downloads

Rock of Ages' premise is both original and fun, something which games can have one or the other but rarely both. This week the development crew at ACE Team posted up its first blog about the "rolling a boulder through different art periods" title with a look at how they tried to balance the 2D and 3D art together.

The blog shows off a couple of the team's attempts at solving the 2D issue including one where it used sprite art to convey a 2D figure in 3D space. It's, well, kind of creepy and we are personally glad that ACE Team abandoned it. In the end the team decided to make the objects that affects the rock's movement in the game 3D and make everything else 2D. We just can't wait to push that rock down a medieval painting when it's due out in 2011.

If there's one thing that the Chilean-based ACE Team knows, it's surreal humor. Combined with an art style that faintly resembles the animations of Terry Gilliam, it's no surprise that there seem to be Monty Python references in Rock of Ages, even though this is just a trailer. The farting noise when Gandalf is squished, the usage of the statue of David, and the strange face on the rock all smack of avant garde comedy, and we're loving it. Of course, the physics-based, pinball-like gameplay doesn't hurt either. Nothing like smashing buildings apart with a massive boulder!

Download HD Rock of Ages 'Humor' Trailer
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There are few original ideas for games. We see a ton of titles that, while well made, go over the same stuff over and over again. And then there's ACE Team. The Chile-based development studio made a huge splash in 2009 with the release of Zeno Clash, a unique mix of first person shooter and melee fighting in a strange fictional world that looked unlike any game we had seen before or since.

But ACE Team isn't done with surprising us yet. At E3 2010 the developer revealed its next game Rock of Ages, a unique blend of action (rolling a boulder down hills) strategy (defensive units set up to stop the boulder before it hits a castle) and historical art styles (five art styles from Earth's past), all in a mix of Monty Python-like animation visuals. The game is due out in 2011 via download from publisher Atlus and in one of the first interviews about the game Big Download got ACE Team's co-founder Andres Bordeu to give us more info about Rock of Ages including what the game was previously called.

Last year developer ACE Team announced that it planned to create Zeno Clash 2, a sequel to their acclaimed downloadable first person action game. Since the announcement was made there's been no word on the game's progress. At E3 2010 it was announced that ACE Team was working on an all new game, Rock of Ages, but there was no word on the status of Zeno Clash 2.

In an upcoming interview with Big Download about Rock of Ages, ACE Team's Andres Bordeu was asked about Zeno Clash 2. He replied, "The majority of our efforts are being focused on Rock of Ages, though we are working on another project which we are keeping under cover for now." When we ask for some clarification on Zeno Clash 2's status outside of the interview, Bordeu told us, "I can't elaborate much on this subject for the moment. All I can say is that we have developed some content for the sequel, but at this point the studio has decided to focus on developing new games/IPs, thus Rock of Ages is our main priority. And yes, we are working on another game concept which is not Zeno Clash 2. We're a small studio so there is only so much we can work on simultaneously."

Look for the Rock of Ages interview with Bordeu to be posted later today on Big Download.

ACE Team is one of our favorite independent developers, thanks to their freshman effort Zeno Clash. Now they're bringing us a new game that looks to be just as artistic and goofy. Rock of Ages, if this trailer is any indication, is something of a cross of a tower defense game and pinball with destruction physics. If there's one thing that Red Faction taught us, it's that a game with wanton building smashing with plenty of accompanied debris is incredibly fun.

Download HD Rock of Ages Trailer (66MB)
Check out all Rock of Ages downloads

2009's release of developer ACE Team's weird first person shooter Zeno Clash was one of the highlights of the PC indie scene last year. While the team has already said it's working on a Zeno Clash sequel it looks like the next game to be released from the team will be something totally different.

In its E3 2010 game line-up Atlus revealed it would publish Rock of Ages from ACE Team. There's still no word on what kind of a game it will be or when it will be coming out but we are going to take a shot in the dark and predict it will not be a game adaptation of the recent Broadway 80s's hard rock-themed musical.

[Via Joystiq]

Last October, Tripwire Interactive announced plans to take the acclaimed downloadable action game Zeno Clash to retail stores. Now Tripwire has announced that the boxed copy of the game from developer ACE Team is finally shipping to stores.

The retail version contains all of the content from the downloadable game that folks can purchase on Steam. That includes all of the extra challenge levels that ACE Team released after the original game came out. ACE Team has already announced plans to develop a sequel to the game. Meanwhile they are working on an Xbox 360 port, Zeno Clash Ultimate Edition, that will be made available for that game console in late March.

ACE Team's wonderfully weird action game Zeno Clash was one of our favorite downloadable titles for 2009 and now the development team has offered up the game's soundtrack for anyone to listen to. The sountrack is now available on iTunes to download for $9.99. You can also purchase the soundtrack via other outlets such as CDBaby.com.

The soundtrack album contains re-mixes of the game's songs by its original composer Patricio Meneses, all of them remastered for the new release. The album has a total of 18 tracks but you can download three of them, including the game's main theme, for free via the official Zeno Clash blog site.