All of time and space, everywhere and anywhere, every star that ever was…on your PC or PS3 in early 2012.
The BBC has announced the development of the first in a series of console and PC games based on its enormously successful Dr. Who series. Dr. Who: The Eternity Clock will follow the Eleventh Doctor and River Song through a new, fully-fledged story on PS3, Vita and PC in early 2012.
Eternity Clock is being developed for digital download “in high definition” and with “photo-realistic graphics” by English studio Supermassive Games, a finalist in the Develop Excellence Awards New Studio competition in 2011. The studio has a history with PC and PlayStation development (including Move), and says it is “delighted” to be working on the project.
The game will feature a brand new “action-filled” Dr. Who storyline penned in collaboration with BBC Wales’ writing team. With full voiceover tracks recorded by Alex Kingston (River Song) and Matt Smith (The Eleventh Doctor), the game promises to “bring Dr. Who to life.” Motion-capture has been used to give cutscenes and characters a more realistic edge.
Gameplay-wise, the BBC describes in a statement something with a distinct, if rather vague, timey-wimey bent. “Gamers must learn to master the complexities of time travel with exceptional time based game play, changes made in one time will impact another creating multiple possibilities and challenging players to solve puzzles across the centuries,” it says.
Robert Nashak, EVP of Digital Entertainment at BBC Worldwide, sounds predictably excited. “We’re creating these new games for Playstation 3 and Vita with adaptations that will bring the wonder, adventure and madness of Doctor Who to each platform,” he said. “Working with a top-tier UK development partner like Supermassive Games demonstrates BBC Worldwide’s commitment to create world-class Doctor Who games for fans of the show and gamers alike.”
It’s reassuring that some of the writers behind the original series have been involved in this project. Whether or not combining this with a fresh studio and some quality voice acting will result in the console outing that really “brings Dr. Who to life” remains to be seen. What exactly is “exceptional time based gameplay,” I wonder? Either way, it’s not long until we’ll find out.
Source: BBC Mediacentre
(With thanks to TimeLord!)
