SOS: The Final Escape sequel at TGS

Irem is planning to demonstrate a sequel to cult PS2 title SOS: The Final Escape (known as Disaster Report across the pond) at the Tokyo Game Show this week. Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 2: Ite-tsuita Kioku tachi (the latter section meaning "The Frozen Memories") is due out next year on PS2 in Japan.

According to reports, the game takes place on Christmas Eve in December 2010 in a different city to the original game, which is hit by a massive flood against a background of some sort of underground industrial development project called Geo Frontier. How the two events are linked is anyone's guess for now.

What it does mean though is that players are left to try and survive the flood by cooperating with others and avoiding the surging water, trying to stay warm and dry as they progress or face illness and even death at the hands of the elements - rather paralleling the original game's obsession with keeping up a healthy supply of water.

Much of the game is said to follow a pair of college students, with other playable characters chipping in, and a lot of progress will be dependant on the characters making the right combination of choices, rather than just the obvious individual ones. For example, opening a floodgate in one area might make it impossible for another character to progress through a room nearby.

It'll be interesting to see how Irem handles it. And it'll be equally interesting to see whether it ever makes it out of Japan. The original game was released under different names in different territories by different publishers. Bigben handled it in Europe, where it sold virtually no copies and can now be had for a pittance on eBay.