It seems a certain beleaguered studio listened to our humble suggestion! Midway Newcastle, one of the splinter studios that wasn't rescued in the Warner Bros. buyout of Midway, just revealed its formerly unannounced open-world action game in an attempt to drum up buyers before the developer is forced to close down in just 13 days. The new IP is called Necessary Force -- a "gritty detective drama" about a cop who "sets his own rules." So, like Nash Bridges, only grittier.
Details about the game are slim, though three months of development have resulted in a gameplay-free teaser trailer (seen above). What do you guys think? Is this the ace in the hole Midway Newcastle needed to stave off the reaper?
Reader Comments (48)
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 10:49AM syrik zero said
The chase scene looked like game play to me. Still though, looks and sounds like games I've played already.
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 10:51AM (Unverified) said
Looks kinda awful and generic. But if we get to torture people like Jack Bauer, it's at least worth a rental probably.
I know...I have a twisted mind.
Reply
I know...I have a twisted mind.
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 10:52AM darkinchworm said
Looks about like the video game equivalent of a B movie... and the same can be said for most Midway releases.
Sigh.
Reply
Sigh.
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 10:54AM syrik zero said
They made Rush 2049. Still a favorite of mine... When is that coming to XBLA...?
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 7:45PM syrik zero said
Does anyone find that joke funny anymore? I see it every day on two or three posts
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 10:53AM Captain Planet Planeteer Power said
Looked like a trailer for "COPS: The Movie".
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 11:14AM (Unverified) said
Cliché The Game. With Bruce Willis as Det. Cliché. He's from... New Orleans.
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 11:25AM CBingo said
This is the work of a studio with its back to the wall? Come on, if you are going to do an open world game like this then change the "Detective" character into a Charles Bronson-like exploitation character (think Death Wish) and then make the story equally goofy...it is WAY better then this cliche fest.
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 12:55PM funkdat69 said
Corey: nope. It was reference to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick comments about 'exploiting' the Activision franchises:
check:
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/06/activision-blizzard-ceo-kotick-vivendi-franchises-lacked-poten/
and PA's hilarious strip about it:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/12/5/
Reply
check:
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/06/activision-blizzard-ceo-kotick-vivendi-franchises-lacked-poten/
and PA's hilarious strip about it:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/12/5/
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 11:27AM (Unverified) said
Cool trailer. The art style & tone remind me of XIII for the PS2. XIII was a good game. I hope they get to finish Necessary Force, & I hope it turns out to be a cohesive game (appealing art style/good game play/interesting story/fun experience).
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 11:29AM (Unverified) said
Looks decent to me, assuming they get a good plot going to match the gritty gameplay. (Bad Lieutenant the game essentially.)
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 11:30AM SpacePenguinBot said
Don't know about the story, but I love the art style.
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 12:02PM funkdat69 said
Are we so far up the gaming industry CEOs butt that we have to refer to new games as 'new IP'?? with potential for annual "exploitation" and/or "diddling".
Leave the massively-misused-to-the-point-of-being-meaningless legal terms to the soulless lawyers please, k, thx.
Reply
Leave the massively-misused-to-the-point-of-being-meaningless legal terms to the soulless lawyers please, k, thx.
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 12:56PM funkdat69 said
lol..responded to the wrong one...makes more sense here:
Corey: nope. It was reference to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick comments about 'exploiting' the Activision franchises:
check:
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/06/activision-blizzard-ceo-kotick-vivendi-franchises-lacked-poten/
and PA's hilarious strip about it:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/12/5/
Reply
Corey: nope. It was reference to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick comments about 'exploiting' the Activision franchises:
check:
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/06/activision-blizzard-ceo-kotick-vivendi-franchises-lacked-poten/
and PA's hilarious strip about it:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/12/5/
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 12:31PM Pureshooter said
Looks like it could be promising. Reminds me of Max Payne mixed with The Shield.
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 12:55PM (Unverified) said
Loved the art-style associated with the game. Kind of reminded me of Crackdown but a bit softer and with more detail.
As for the actual game? I honestly can't say. It looks promising, but I also love open world games. Who knows? It could be a gem or it could flounder, as I have seen other open world games do before.
I do wish all the best of luck to Midway Newcastle in their hopes to get a publisher and save some jobs, but, at this point, I think wishes of luck is all they'll get.
Best wishes guys.
Reply
As for the actual game? I honestly can't say. It looks promising, but I also love open world games. Who knows? It could be a gem or it could flounder, as I have seen other open world games do before.
I do wish all the best of luck to Midway Newcastle in their hopes to get a publisher and save some jobs, but, at this point, I think wishes of luck is all they'll get.
Best wishes guys.
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 1:15PM IronArcher said
Looks alot like Max Payne, with a little Punisher mixed in.
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 1:24PM J is for me said
Great art style. I don't understand, why is everybody putting it down? It's the first trailer, give it a chance. It's kind of hard for games not be cliché or similar to others. Almost everything has been done and, if the developers did something totally different you would probably still complain.
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 4:15PM (Unverified) said
all it takes is some creativity, its not rocket science
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 1:44PM Ruinkind said
"How far will he go ... to uphold the law?"
Apparently he's willing to go so far as to punch the living crap out of a grey-hair-bunned "that's a man, baby" old fat lady. To go so far as to take an unarmed green-shirted man and lay down a debilitating beat-down using a lead pipe. To torture a guy tied to a chair for reasons that a only a few of us hope to somehow morally justify. All to uphold the law.
Oh, wait, that sounds more like an unlawful psychotic fantasy. Nevermind.
Reply
Apparently he's willing to go so far as to punch the living crap out of a grey-hair-bunned "that's a man, baby" old fat lady. To go so far as to take an unarmed green-shirted man and lay down a debilitating beat-down using a lead pipe. To torture a guy tied to a chair for reasons that a only a few of us hope to somehow morally justify. All to uphold the law.
Oh, wait, that sounds more like an unlawful psychotic fantasy. Nevermind.
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 2:53PM MrHashbrown said
Looks decent. Could become something more if they go all out with the art style shown in the chase scene and the punching scene.
Kinda like an open-world, ultra-violent Punch-Out. Yeah that's marketable, right?
Reply
Kinda like an open-world, ultra-violent Punch-Out. Yeah that's marketable, right?
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 3:08PM LaughingTarget said
You know what would be an awesome game? Instead of a gritty cop in a crime infested city, you should play that dickhole cop in a calm, crime free town. You're bored out of your mind for lack of anything to do and go out of your way to be a jerk for the most basic of things. Kinda like Super Troopers the Game.
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 3:29PM markiv said
Niceee....XIII had its gripes with the AI but I absolutely enjoyed it...This one with with the cell shaded engine (hopefully) will definitely be on my list. I don't know why others are not quite liking it, the latest Max Payne want not that great....so I would absolutely want this one, if they are saved .....fingers XX
Reply
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 3:56PM (Unverified) said
It's been said 100 times already, but it bears repeating: that is straight up Max Payne.
But I like Max, so if not original it could at least be fun.
Reply
But I like Max, so if not original it could at least be fun.
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 5:13PM ch3burashka said
It kind of reminds me of that cancelled game footage we got about 6 months back.
Necessary Force is a dumb, dumb name.
Reply
Necessary Force is a dumb, dumb name.
Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.
Featured Stories
The most popular posts
in the last 7 days
- Vita 'UMD Passport' won't be offered in US 220 comments
- Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review: A tempting fate 153 comments
- David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update] 108 comments
- Don't call it a remake: Final Fantasy X is a 'remaster,' to be clear 95 comments
- Battleship movie adapted into FPS by Double Helix 93 comments
