rock-of-ages posts

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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A late breaking development on Monday has put the fate of a well known Japanese publisher, as well as its US subsidiary, in question along with the fate of two recently announced downloadable games. Gamasutra reports that Index Holdings, the parent company of game publisher Atlus, has "dissolved" Atlus in order to focus its attention on "profitable core areas".

According to the report the Atlus brand name will continue but at the moment it's unclear how the brand will live on. It's also unclear how this will affect Atlus USA, the North American subsidiary to Atlus. Last June at E3, Atlus USA announced it would publish two downloadable games in 2011; the puzzle-action sequel Trine 2 from developer Frozenbyte and the unusual looking strategy game Rock of Ages from developer ACE Team.

Update: A post on the Atlus USA's message board states, "Don't worry, guys. This is just some corporate organizational maneuvering and won't affect anything we do."

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)
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You never know when or where info about a new game will be revealed. When Big Download got our E3 2010 media badges at the Los Angeles Convention Center this morning there was an ad in the badge holder promoting Rock of Ages, the new game from Zeno Clash developer ACE Team that was announced last week with the title and nothing else.

The badge holder states the game will let players "unleashed a giant boulder and smash through levels inspired by the great eras of art history." In other words this game looks like it will be as cool and weird as Zeno Clash was. It looks like there will also be an online componant as well. The game is due out from publisher Atlus in 2011 via download. You can bet we will get more info on this game later this week at E3.