Project Trico video leaked

By Tom Bramwell Published 20 May, 2009

Footage thought to be over a year old.

Sony fansite PlayStation Lifestyle claims to have blown the lid on the next game from Team ICO, codenamed Project Trico.

In a video lasting nearly four minutes, we see a boy and a giant bird-rat in very ICO-esque environments, apparently co-operating on some sort of unspoken shared quest.

The visual style is reminiscent of ICO, and so are individual details like the boy's clothing. The movement of the bird-rat thing is very organic, almost feline, calling to mind the developer's previous work on Shadow of the Colossus.

Sony has never previously confirmed details about Trico, but Team ICO's disciples will note with delight that the chain binding the bird-rat at the start of the trailer is the same as the one that appeared in a Team ICO job advert at the beginning of last year.

Following the trailer's release, posters on the NeoGAF forums have claimed that the video is internal test footage shown around Sony over a year ago.

From that, we can infer that the trailer's leak is not a portent of what Sony will do at E3 in two weeks' time, although the fact that details are in the public domain may accelerate any plans.

We're waiting to hear back from Sony Europe, but the platform holder told GameSpot: "We've made no announcement of anything called 'Project Trico.'"

Update: Sony Europe said it had no comment.

Leaked video footage of Project Trico, according to PlayStation Lifestyle.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (58) Latest comment 3 years ago

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  • david78 #1 3 years ago

    It looks amazing.

  • Scimarad #2 3 years ago

    That looks fantastic - I'm quite attached to that big beast already:)

  • bad09 #3 3 years ago

    Interesting. The only experience I've have of the previous games is a demo of the first game, can't say I see what the fuss is about to be honest. Still may give 'em another chance seeing as I'm not buying new and that shadows of colossus sounds intriguing.

    / waits still though for HIS favorite PS games to get PS3 sequels *cough* THE GETAWAY bring it BACK! *cough*

  • sadakos_fury #4 3 years ago

    I second that - I already love ratpigeon. I want to give him a big wet rat hug.

  • MeBrains #5 3 years ago

    the sequel to my favorite games... finally.

    btw... the rat-dog-fish thingy's a griffon.

  • #6 3 years ago

    Ive never had the opportunity to play any Team Ico game, luckily my Ps3 is a retail 60gig so I could pick them up.

    But damn, PS3 exclusives are just better and better.

  • Metalfish #7 3 years ago

    The little dude could do with having more character, or that ratdogbird thing will steal the show completely. I understand this is pretty old though. High hopes for this.

  • Nova5lag #8 3 years ago

    Man-Bear-Pig!?

  • Negotiator #9 3 years ago

    Look's good, but wait for E3 and see what happens.

  • Sulphur #10 3 years ago

    How'd they do that? Aw, man, I'm in love already.

  • ZuluHero #11 3 years ago

    i have goose bumps. For once i am speechless.

  • Negotiator #12 3 years ago

    It ain't that good.

  • menage #13 3 years ago

    I like the idea and the vibe. But I do hope the footage needs heavy polishing cause some stuff really isn't rendered that 2009 (the griffon is fine but this is clearly work in progress). I'm not convinced this is real. But hey, I'm jaded.

  • teabagger #14 3 years ago

    This looks awesome, the child character looks like it could do with a bit of refining compared to other bits but hey, if it's a year old and not meant for public consumption...

  • Tomo #15 3 years ago

    :o

    Just :o

    The kid looks surprisingly cartoony though. Like something out of a Pixar film which seems a bit odd considering the tone of the past two games. But still. Looks amazing.

  • nicksan #16 3 years ago

    Here's a thought...

    Maybe we control the somewhat-Colossus, and the AI controls the kid.

    Would make for a nice little twist on the usual style, though the logistics might not be totally sound.

  • Tomo #17 3 years ago

    I reckon you set bird brain-thing free, the kid gets mental scared and pegs it, hence the friendship. Naturally.

  • Tomo #18 3 years ago

    That monster is quite feline too. Had vaguely similar movements and mews to the kid when it's perched on the column.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #19 3 years ago

    It's a video that shows pre rendered game elements, not actual game play so lets keep the sensationalising and vitriol to a minimum shall we.

    I preferred Ico to SotC but they are both great games. Ico is a particular fav of mine. From what I can see in this video, it just looks like Ico but with a different partner (certainly not a bad thing per se).

    If it turns out to be of the quality of the other two it could be a system seller for me.

    I wonder what's taking them so long to deliver if it is similar to Ico?

  • Tomo #20 3 years ago

    "It's a video that shows pre rendered game elements, not actual game play so lets keep the sensationalising and vitriol to a minimum shall we."

    Boring.

  • Segnit #21 3 years ago

    Looks like it has amazing potential. I can't wait.

  • Petulant_Radish #22 3 years ago

    I’ve never played the game preceding this, though I only ever hear good things, is it a good gaming experience then?

    And it’s spelt griffin not griffon, griffon is a breed of dog with rough wiry hair used in hunting. Mmmm, knowledge acquired from the internet.

  • DrDamn #23 3 years ago

    @SpaceMidget75
    Team Ico always take a long time and I think they are one of the few developers you should just leave to it and enjoy the results when they are finished. Ico began on the PS1 before eventual release on the PS2. It was then 4 years before SotC in 2005. So a release this year or next would be about right.

  • Beano #24 3 years ago

    @SpaceMidget75 : It's clearly not prerendered. Apparently the footage is a year old so I expect the final game to be even better looking.

  • DrDamn #25 3 years ago

    @Petulant_Radish
    Griffon and Gryphon are both accepted variant spellings of Griffin according to my dictionary.

  • andromeda #26 3 years ago

    fuck. That is amazing

  • penhalion #27 3 years ago

    It's a small video so where the heck has this "It's amazing" nonsense come from. You have no idea about gameplay, beyond the fact that you feed a 20 foot tall gryphon with immature wings. Kind of a child feeding a child type thing. You haven't seen any enemies or any actual environment (looks like assets from colossus to me).

    Sane people reserve judgement until they know what they are actually looking at and how it actually plays!

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #28 3 years ago

    @Beano,

    I wouldn't say it was 'clearly not pre-rendered'. However that wasn't my point, my point is that it appears to be cutscenes/scripted scenes even if they are rendered in realtime.

    I'm not hitting on the game, I've said many times on EG that I love Team Ico's work.

    @DrDamn,

    Yeah, I think one of the advantages of being a 1st Party or 2nd Party dev is that you don't have Activision or EA jumping on your arse to get the game finished and sold. ;)

    However I'm torn slightly with what's going on with games for the PS3 e.g Killzone 2, LBP, GT5, Heavy Rain. Taken at face value it seems that Sony are basically saying, take as long as you need to make sure the game is perfect (a good thing). However, time can improve a look of a game amongst other things, but you can still end up releasing something which is only good to average gameplay wise. Along with the fact that games with long dev times aren't good for PR.

  • windflaw #29 3 years ago

    Love the music!

  • MrChuckles #30 3 years ago

    Beutiful looking game, but tbh, i haven't got on with the gameplay elements of the last Ico games, i'm not a platform gamer :(.

  • frunk #31 3 years ago

    Well I think most gamers can start getting a handle on the gameplay elements here. So I think the nay-sayers are being a little hasty.

    You are the kid... small nimble - able to get around. The gryphon is too large to go into most areas, so can only support you when there is space available.

    Looks kinda like a Ico gameplay - you get yourself and your partner through the environments, but in this case the partner looks like it maybe a bit more helpful that Yorda - able to get you from A to B by swimming and lifting you up and down, fighting things, etc.

    It looks like there is a gameplay element there where you have to keep the Gryphon fed with contents of barrels. Maybe this is "healing" when it helps you in a fight... as the underwater scene looks like the creature was peppered full of arrows/spears.

    Finally it look like the Gryphon is used as a plot device by "accidentally" causing events" - e.g. the rockfall

    So I see 2 types of gameplay there and a narrative forming. It's Ico witha twist... this time Yorda is a clumsy, hungry, dangerous, helpful gyphon like creature. :)

    But I echo the comments from other folks that have enjoyed the Team Ico pedigree - this does look amazing - it has that dreamy, ethereal quality and coupled with that music gets the goose-pimples going.

    Prove me wrong folks...

    - Frunk

  • drumbaby #32 3 years ago

    First time a trailer for anything has ever made me well up, smile and shiver all at the same time. Beautiful.

  • gav_and_the_gavster #33 3 years ago

    It really seems to blend the best bits of the last two games rather nicely. Clever way of developing a game as it cuts dev costs and allows the team to really focus on the gameplay and refinements needed to make an outstanding game. I'm very much looking forward to this - it will probably be the game that makes me purchase a PS3 (providing there's been a price drop before then too :p )

  • DrDamn #34 3 years ago

    @SpaceMidget77
    "e.g Killzone 2, LBP, GT5, Heavy Rain"

    If a game relies very heavily on it's atmospheric qualities then it needs time, you can't chuck resources at it to bring down the development time. So from that list I'd probably exclude Heavy Rain - it's an interesting title which is trying something a bit different. It could be spectacular, but I think it's very possible it will be a bit poo. It's good to give games like that a chance though, because if it has the right people behind it and they pull it off then the result will be worth it. You've got to back that up with some standards in a couple of key genres like FPS and racer though.

    KZ2 had some alternative reasons for taking so long - not least the very high standard they set by "that" video. The protracted GT5 saga is the big one for me. They should have been able to get something out the door by now and they haven't. Clearly there is some management issues there. I've lost faith in Polyphony.

    LBP had a perfectly normal development time - I'm not sure why you have it in the list. It was shown a lot earlier than most games - for strategic reasons - but overall the dev time was not protracted.

  • ZuluHero #35 3 years ago

    The reason some of us go a bit irrational for such a short bit of footage is that to Team ICO fans it’s a bit like the second-coming (well , third-coming in this instance).

    And just like its religious connotation, some people will get it while other’s will not.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #36 3 years ago

    Yeah I agree with what you're saying and wasn't really implying anything to the contrary. It just seems strange that it 'appears' to happen more on the Sony platform which is why I started the discussion. I think the other reason for KZ2 being delayed is that they really wanted a re-usable engine that is tailored to the Cell.

    I think the thing with LBP as you said, wasn't so much the length of dev, more the length in the public eye and the fact the goal posts obviously changed. Activision, EA etc wouldn't have allowed that. It would perhaps have been a lesser game for it, but then I didn't really like it that much anyway, which is kinda my point.

  • kangarootoo #37 3 years ago

    "That monster is quite feline too. Had vaguely similar movements and mews to the kid when it's perched on the column."

    I agree. I guess if a Gryfffyn is a cross between an eagle and a lion, it would be approriate for a young Griphvon to seem a bit like a fluffy eagle chick crossed with a kitten. I like the sort of infantile clumsiness it had about it too.

  • kangarootoo #38 3 years ago

    Also, whilst it true we don't really know anything about the gameplay yet, it seems fair to get excited about new information from a developer with a proven track record. If their last two games were great, and the current vid doesn't show any glaring concerns, its not complete madness to be very optimistic about this I think.

  • GreyBeard #39 3 years ago

    Wow.

    This looks to me like an internal showreel, much like the "Nico" unveiling a few years back. Looks to me that the child protagonist is a temp object (like they used the Ico model as a stand-in for Wander) while the Griffin looks pretty final. Lovely continuity in art-style through the two previous games for the enviroments, so its hard to say how complete/final it is.

    The animation, as ever, is phenomenal. The backlit shot of the Griffin perched on the pillar yowling at the boy is just... incredible, considering its most likely key-framed like their previous work.

    Also that looks like a FMA engine-test. There's aliasing visible on the chain at the start, and some mild clipping on the shadows and fur-shader. Doesn't look like its been put through Inferno either... the explosions and smoke fx aren't overdone like you usually see when a vid has been fiddled with in post.

  • ZuluHero #40 3 years ago

    "Also, whilst it true we don't really know anything about the gameplay yet, it seems fair to get excited about new information from a developer with a proven track record. If their last two games were great, and the current vid doesn't show any glaring concerns, its not complete madness to be very optimistic about this I think. "


    This.

    Well said :)

  • DrDamn #41 3 years ago

    @SpaceMidget75
    There have been some management problems with Sony - particularly early on. They tried to switch very quickly from relying a lot on third party stuff to going internal for exclusives and a lot of it didn't work. They've switched in some different management (Yoshida in particular taking over from Phil Harrison) and the early signs are that the new guy has a good grip on the problems and talks a hell of a lot of (humble) sense - surprising coming from Sony. So I'm hopeful the internal stuff is going to pick up a bit more.

    It's interesting that MS - who are more of a software company - have a different strategy of picking and choosing the cream of third party output to make their exclusive line up. So far it's probably proven the best strategy, but longer term maybe not.

  • jaguarwong #42 3 years ago

    That's the music from Millers Crossing!

  • RustyBullet #43 3 years ago

    I have a tear in my eye now. Very touching vid. Looks cool.

  • henza #44 3 years ago

    Can that rat-cat-bird-thing come home with me and help out in the garden? He looks amazing! I want one!

  • Les #45 3 years ago

    "It's a video that shows pre rendered game elements, not actual game play so lets keep the sensationalising and vitriol to a minimum shall we."

    Which isn't really strange as it's an internal concept video that was used to 'sell' the project.

  • el_pollo_diablo #46 3 years ago

    The theme music has been leaked too:

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=DcH_ZTF6smY

  • Sonic_D #47 3 years ago

    I will have to buy a PS3 for this game it seems. SotC is one of the best games ever, ever, ever, ever. Which is strange given how dire most other first party Sony stuff is.

  • DrDamn #48 3 years ago

    @Mr.Me
    Griffin = "mythical creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion, typically depicted with pointed ears and with the eagle's legs taking the place of the forelegs."

    Seems to me what we have here albeit with an infant interpretation on it. The mouth is a beak, the ears are there, all four feet are bird like but the body is pretty much lion in terms of form and movement - it has a lion tail too. Nitpick if you want but it's clearly what they were aiming for.

  • Les #49 3 years ago

    Looks rather nice in the sense that it conveys a nice atmosphere/setting. Hope the game will be set in this universe.

    Otherwise, I don't think it'll say much about what Team ICO's game will be/play like in the end, just as much of the content of the NICO trailer never made it into SotC.

  • FenderMaster #50 3 years ago

    the little kid is obviously just a place holder for the real protaganist...

    judging by the music and tone of the video, it looks like it might be happier than the previous two games...

    but it looks like the gryphon has been shot with arrows several times, so that might suggest human enemies trying to kill it... the gryphon looks like a baby too... aww....

  • effinwooly #51 3 years ago

    ico was amazing, SOTC not so, this looks Ico amazing like

  • Ryze #52 3 years ago

    @bad09

    I'd like to see The Getaway, just to see what the h/w could do with it.

    I'd worry about the gameplay not being a patch on GTA however, and I'd also know that it'd be a challenge to stream London off of the BD with the speed limits and limited memory.

    It'd need a MASSIVE install.

  • Naboomagnoli #53 3 years ago

    It's not going to be as simple as being a griffin, is it? It's going to be a new creature which happens to have a lot of similarities to a griffin. Team Ico aren't going to c+p some existing mythological creature into their own universe. Otherwise they might as well replace the child with Ralph Macchio.

    The good news for those who saw arrows and thinks he's going to be killed, is that he had arrows in him to start with. And a spear in his neck :S

    This could either be part of the new mythological creature (arrows for feathers, a cannon for an arse, swords for willies etc) or maybe the boy saved Stephen from being chained by the nasty soldiers and the boy is going to Free Willy him back to his mother?

    To be honest I think I'd cry more seeing Stephen fly to freedom at the end, to the Miller's Crossing music.

    Goes to show how much better film music is than game music as well. Doesn't fit brilliantly, but still poos on most game music, from a great height at that.

  • Sulphur #54 3 years ago

    Naboo, you obviously haven't played Chrono Cross to the end, then. Or Shadow of The Colossus, for that matter.

  • Naboomagnoli #55 3 years ago

    In regards to what part of my post? Chrono Cross, no. SotC, hundreds of times. Assuming you're talking about music, sure the music at the end of SotC is extremely good for a game, but it isn't really up to the same standard as the works of any decent movie composer. I do often have the music from when you've climbed onto the last flying boss in my head, but the tambourine ruins it horribly. The main problem with game music is that it isn't taken seriously at all, and often ends up being either nondescript or heavily synthed-up to save costs on real instrumentation.

    I'll pop off and listen to the music in Chrono Cross now.



    Edit: Chrono Cross? Really? Besides 30 seconds of genuinely nice harmony, the rest of the song is utterly utterly dire. It's like recommending a turd as gourmet food because it's got raisins in it.
    Edited by 2 at 21/05/09 @ 14:30

  • webcider #56 3 years ago

    Naboo:

    Ehm i must insist to disagree with your statement about movies having superior music.

    As what makes game music so much more appealing and highly interesting is indeed their limited sources forcing the composers to focus much more on the melodies and feelings. Its a huge huge challenge to make game music as the player will doubtfully listen to the same piece quite a few times in row. While i don't have a grudge for music from movies hardly any pieces are momerally and serves more as a background mood tool. Where if you take the case with Loco Rocos soundtrack the music becomes a interactive experience. Also game music seems to be a lot more experiencing again Loco Roco but their are tons of cases this being the case. So i firmly disagree that movies have the best composers i am quite the upperside movies composers are actually just delivering the same stuff over and over where composers creating game music are delivering new varied inspirationel new sound landscapes that would only be able to be listened to through the game medium.

    For honorable mentions Katamari soundtrack - Neverhood - Loco Roco and Chrono Trigger.
    Edited by 1 at 21/05/09 @ 16:37

  • Sulphur #57 3 years ago

    Naboo, yes, I was indeed talking about the music. I'm not too sure which song you listened to from Chrono Cross, though if one of your beefs is that the music's synthesised then you will indeed have problems with some of it.

    I'd suggest taking a poke at the opening theme at least. If you still care after that, there's this, and <a href=htt p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEa-DLF84Ak&fmt=18>this ending theme</a> (it has more impact if you've played the game, though, because it's a motif that develops as you play through it to the end; disregard the video, it isn't from the game).
    Edited by 4 at 21/05/09 @ 19:19

  • Erunno #58 3 years ago

    It looks like a blend between the caste exploration of Ico and the more action oriented gameplay from SotC. It's hard to gauge how strongly each aspect will be accentuated in the final game but in some shots one can clearly see that the griffin (for lack of better word) has some arrows stuck in his hide. Graphics and artwork are clearly Team Ico, especially the reduced colour palette and the use of oversaturated light (nowadays known as BL00M by the common rabble).

    The animations are impressive as could be expected after its predecessors set a benchmark for me for expressive and fluid movements. Trico is pretty much the only game why I've been even considering buying a PS3 (I don't own either NEKSCHT GEN console) so hopefully the price will drop a bit before the game is released.