Wallace and Gromit return
Frontier working on tie-in with forthcoming Aardman Animations movie.
Cambridge-based developer Frontier has announced that it is working with Aardman Animations on The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, a new Wallace and Gromit game for PC, PS2, Xbox and GameCube.
It's based on the forthcoming Curse of the Were-Rabbit movie, which follows the adventures of W&G as they prepare for the annual Giant Vegetable Competition. It all starts to go wrong when the town becomes overrun with rabbits, and a mysterious beasty begins attacking the locals' vegetable plots.
Wallace and Gromit are sent on a mission to capture the beast using their humane 'Anti-Pesto' pest control method, but rival Victor Quartermaine is out to pop a cap in its ass before they get their first. Can they save the day? Probably, let's face it.
The game follows the plot of the film and is set mainly in W&G's home town of West Wallaby, with other locations from the movie to explore too. There's a two-player co-operative mode and you can play as a wide selection of characters, including of course our man and his dog, and you also get to muck about with some of Wallace's weird inventions.
"Interacting with Wallace and Gromit in a videogame brings an extra dimension to people's experience of our characters and the world they inhabit," said the W&G's Dad, Nick Park, whilst polishing his Oscars.
"The game is technically and visually impressive - it is enormous fun in its own right and perfectly evokes the charm and humour of our dynamic duo," he added. Putting them back on the mantelpiece.
This is the second collaboration between Aardman and Frontier - 2003's Project Zoo, also starring Wallace and Gromit, was nominated for a BAFTA.
Frontier, which was founded by David Braben - co-creator of retro classic Elite - says it will be using in-house technology such as advanced content streaming to create huge, seamless environments and sophisticated character AI.
"Frontier's leading edge proprietary technology and gameplay expertise combined with Aardman's undisputed character and story creation talents are a winning combination," said Braben.
No publisher has been announced yet, but Frontier says negotiations are currently in progress. The game will launch later this year in conjunction with the movie, which features the voices of Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham-Carter and Peter Kay. A trailer is available via IMDB.