14 DAY TRIAL // The Last Guardian, the newest project from Sony's Team Ico, will push the company's PlayStation 3 console to its limits, due to its complex gameplay and variety of mechanics.
The Last Guardian is scheduled to arrive at the end of the year from the mind of Team Ico creative director Fumito Ueda, the same developer responsible for critically acclaimed titles like Ico or Shadow of the Colossus, both released for the PlayStation 2.
With the new game, Ueda says that he is pushing the console to its limits because of the different type of gameplay featured by the title, unlike shooters or racing games.
"With Ico, the way the AI was implemented was a challenge, and in SOTC, the way you could climb those bosses was another. In this game, I'm implementing both together while applying a huge brush-up that pushes the PS3 to its limit. This is quite a task, and we still have a lot of work to perfect it."
Ueda continues, saying that his ultimate goal is to create a virtual character indistinguishable from a real life human, not just in terms of looks but in terms of behavior as well.
This has yet to be achieved, but he is trying hard to deliver such a great experience to players.
"I want to create a character that is as perfect as possible. I mean, as natural as possible. I'd like players to feel it's really alive. I'm certainly trying to make that perfect living character. This is a great platform that has a lot to offer, but it's not a question of machine power. It's more about how you get emotions out of a virtual character."
The Last Guardian will definitely sport a different type of experience than other games these days, with players controlling a small boy who needs to interact with a mythical griffin-like creature, who can't speak and act on his own.
This, according to Ueda, is set to be quite a challenge and will impact all those who are going to experience the future game.
The Last Guardian arrives around the end of 2011, exclusively for the PlayStation 3.