Platform: Xbox

Genre: Fighting/Strategy

Publisher: LucasArts

Developer: The Collective

ETA: 2003

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Wrath

Fighting games are becoming more and more of a fixture in console gaming. There's a little something for everyone these days, button-mashing affairs for the 
uninitiated and those who just can't be bothered to learn complex combinations, and the nitty-gritty brew-hahas where every single move can be intricately combined for devastating effects. Now The Collective is getting in on the action with Wrath for the XBox, but don't expect it to be nothing but World Warriors and big-breasted brawling beauties here, in this game players will control a variety of mythical beasts. 

It's not just mindless monster bashing that will be required of players in Wrath either, there are strategy elements that have been thrown in to add some variety. In between battles players will have to maneuver their beasts across an overworld map which has been divided into very different realms, some areas are dominated by fire, while others are covered in water, there are forests, valleys, and tall, rocky mountaintops too. All of this will make players think over what creatures they will take into battle against as they expand across the map trying to occupy all of it. Taking a fire giant into a water realm wouldn't make much 

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sense, and it may be a good idea to take a griffon into an area full of tall mountains. Wrath will make players think a little harder about how they'll taking the beasts inhabiting the realm. Admittedly it isn't the most prolific strategic feature, but it's a nice break from the conventions of the fighting game genre. 

Wrath is divided into four different factions: Light Order, Light Chaos, Dark Order, and Dark Chaos. At this point it's unknown just how much importance these factions will hold, they could lend to storyline, or a code of ethics similar to that in the Baldur's Gate games, or they could just be glorified teams. It's one of those things that could really go either way. On top of this the different beasts will have roots in the four Aristotelian elements, Earth, Fire, Air, and Water. The beasts themselves, as mentioned earlier, are all plucked from Western Mythology with the likes of Golems, Harpies, Hydra, Unicorns, and so forth.

What's interesting is the character design of these monsters as they depart from the standard understanding of how they are expected to look. Mythical beings like Pegasus and the Unicorn are by no means cute little frolicking, happy, cuddly animals here, they're big, burly, and bad-assed. As for the more imposing monsters like giants, golems, and hydra, these things are looking like nothing short of juggernauts. I haven't seen beasts with such devastating, bone crushing qualities in some time. From early screenshots the game is looking quite aesthetically pleasing on all fronts actually. The environments are getting a lot of detail, each environment being elementally thematic with fire and brimstone, or wet and watery. Surprisingly the overworld map is looking quite elaborate. In the past such an aspect of a game would look extremely stripped down, almost being an afterthought, but in Wrath there is a lot more to please the eye on the map, quite surprising indeed. 

At this point Wrath is only a few months into development and anything could happen as it continues to grow and evolve. There could be huge sweeping changes or none at all, but whatever the case for the time being it's a title with its feet firmly planted in "wait and see" territory. 

- Mr. Nash