At the end of January we had a chance to meet up with Nick Waanders and Kees (pronounced 'Case') Rynen of Slick Entertainment. These two are part of the team that brought the exploding ninja action of N+ to Xbox Live Arcade and they are also the entire creative and coding force behind the upcoming Scrap Metal racing game that is also for Xbox Live Arcade. Oh, and also full of explosions.
Scrap Metal is, basically, a top-down racer with weaponry that would make RC Pro Am cry. Each vehicle has different stats for speed, steering and power, plus a different weapon - from basic machine guns to high-powered lasers, crushing spikes, flamethrowers and rockets. Racing laps around the different tracks earns you points, but so does blowing other racers into scrap metal - that's also how you earn the pickup special items like oil slicks, missiles, mines and more.
On top of that, the game mixes up the racing action with goal-oriented tracks that call for wacky racing maneuvers, special tactics to defeat bosses both mini and full, plus a few upgrades and a heap of multiplayer action. The basic story behind Scrap Metal is that it's the future and the sport of demolition racing with crazy vehicles all loaded up with guns is all the rage. Why?
"The reason is obvious isn't it? I mean, why would you not race cars with guns?"
- Designer Nick Waanders
If you had been at PAX 2009 you may have met up with Nick and Kees at their booth where they were showing off a little bit of the vehicular mayhem of Scrap Metal and giving away custom Scrap Metal toy cars. This time they've finished their game; it has just flown through Microsoft Certification, and they have a lot more to show and to talk about. Check out this video of them talking to us about bosses, multiplayer, tanks, Mad Max, and how much it sucks to be a video game minion.
Now, just to toss a bit of humor into the mix, irony even, Nick walks to work and Kees rides his bike. Want some proof? Here you go:
Way to go green, guys!
Oh, and the glasses? The game has a 3D mode -- we kid you not. It even works in multiplayer. Apparently during the game development Nick looked into it and found that it was pretty easy to implement. Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom, next thing you know there are official Scrap Metal 3D glasses on the way.
Next up -- details on the levels, bosses and strategies for defeating them. Plus, the lowdown on multiplayer and how to trash the competition!
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