Super Stardust HD was an early favorite PlayStation Network game of ours. Its developer, Housemarque, has been busy prepping the zombie blaster Dead Nation for PSN. But that's not all it's working on -- it's also developing Outland with Ubisoft for both PSN and Xbox Live Arcade. An action platformer with the polarity mechanics of Ikaruga, Outland will be unveiled this weekend at PAX. But I have the early word on it for you right now, because you're special.
Outland can best be described as a cross between retro platformers like Prince of Persia or Out of This World and the color-switching of shoot 'em up Ikaruga. You control an acrobatic fellow as he explores a lush, dense jungle. It's a 2D game but there is a great sense of depth in the background with swaying branches and colorful wildlife. The animation for all the characters is really terrific.
Our hero can switch between light and dark forms, an ability he'll need to exploit in order to murder the local monsters and avoid sprays of bullets. Just like in Ikaruga, he'll take damage from opposite-colored bullets but will be impervious to those of the same polarity. So if there is a platform you want to get to but it's being blocked by a stream of white bullets, just change to white and you can pass through unharmed. There are instances where you must rapidly switch back and forth to move through multi-colored sprays of bullets, much like Ikaruga.
When it comes to battling enemies, you can only harm those of the opposite color. So you'll need to be white in order to defeat a black spider. You'll begin with an energy sword but eventually learn other abilities like a slide attack and an uppercut.
