Midway Newcastle reveals new IP: Necessary Force
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Jun 17th 2009 at 10:45AM }
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 (Page 1 of 1)
Lustis @ Jun 17th 2009 10:49AM
The chase scene looked like game play to me. Still though, looks and sounds like games I've played already.
tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 17th 2009 10:51AM
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.
dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Jun 17th 2009 10:52AM
Looks about like the video game equivalent of a B movie... and the same can be said for most Midway releases.
Sigh.
Lustis @ Jun 17th 2009 10:54AM
They made Rush 2049. Still a favorite of mine... When is that coming to XBLA...?
Hashbrown Hunter (OneGiantCluster.blogspot.com) @ Jun 17th 2009 2:50PM
The same day Duke Nukem Forever releases.
Lustis @ Jun 17th 2009 7:45PM
Does anyone find that joke funny anymore? I see it every day on two or three posts
Captain Planet @ Jun 17th 2009 10:53AM
Looked like a trailer for "COPS: The Movie".
LaughingTarget @ Jun 17th 2009 12:19PM
Don't you mean COPS: The Movie - The Game?
Storm Eagle @ Jun 17th 2009 10:53AM
McCLAAAAAANE!!!!!!!!
Danthok @ Jun 17th 2009 10:59AM
Ho Ho Ho Now I got a machine gun
uncle jesse @ Jun 17th 2009 11:05AM
Fists with your toes
Menz @ Jun 17th 2009 11:02AM
I think it looks pretty cool. That artwork with the gritty scenery and the violence tied together really well for me.
uncle jesse @ Jun 17th 2009 11:03AM
Max Force
Ben C @ Jun 17th 2009 11:14AM
Cliché The Game. With Bruce Willis as Det. Cliché. He's from... New Orleans.
Kevin949 @ Jun 17th 2009 11:17AM
The controls would make or break it. And like the first guy said, it reminded me of like 4 or 5 other games rolled into one.
Cal @ Jun 17th 2009 11:23AM
Police Brutality: The Game, yay
ANTCEP @ Jun 17th 2009 11:24AM
midway and newcastle, not looking good.
Corey B. @ Jun 17th 2009 11:25AM
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.
Corey B. @ Jun 17th 2009 11:26AM
Wait, I just described Max Payne...oh well, these guys are screwed.
funk_dat @ Jun 17th 2009 12:55PM
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/
Joseph @ Jun 17th 2009 11:27AM
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).
Alex @ Jun 17th 2009 11:29AM
Looks decent to me, assuming they get a good plot going to match the gritty gameplay. (Bad Lieutenant the game essentially.)
waves @ Jun 17th 2009 11:30AM
Don't know about the story, but I love the art style.
funk_dat @ Jun 17th 2009 12:02PM
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.
Corey B. @ Jun 17th 2009 12:09PM
Are you referring to my use of "exploitation"? Because I meant it in the 70's/80's B-Movie sense where rather then some corporate term (see "blaxploitation").
funk_dat @ Jun 17th 2009 12:56PM
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/
zupahanz @ Jun 17th 2009 12:16PM
love the art style!!!
CJLopez @ Jun 17th 2009 12:21PM
If this game let you do the frozen popsicle / burned meat with a storch trick to get info on the bad guys, instant win for me
That scene its my favorite from the punisher movie, xD
Pureshooter @ Jun 17th 2009 12:31PM
Looks like it could be promising. Reminds me of Max Payne mixed with The Shield.
Jerk Face @ Jun 17th 2009 12:39PM
Man, a lot of 'Stiqers drank their Haterade today.. I think it looks kind of cool. Derivative isn't always bad. Certainly a nice art style, and crime and punishment dramas usually make for a good time.
Geoff Gibson @ Jun 17th 2009 12:55PM
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.
Mr.Ironic @ Jun 17th 2009 10:59PM
That art style looked wicked, the way it stuck out in the 2-d - 3-d frames. And the rest of the 'ingame' style too. If they retain that it would be very good.
Following APB I predicted a spat of cop games.
cheese @ Jun 17th 2009 1:15PM
Looks alot like Max Payne, with a little Punisher mixed in.
J is for me @ Jun 17th 2009 1:24PM
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.
ugg.tryptophan @ Jun 17th 2009 4:15PM
all it takes is some creativity, its not rocket science
Jeff Rebbeck @ Jun 17th 2009 1:44PM
"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.
Hashbrown Hunter (OneGiantCluster.blogspot.com) @ Jun 17th 2009 2:53PM
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?
LaughingTarget @ Jun 17th 2009 3:08PM
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.
ugg.tryptophan @ Jun 17th 2009 4:16PM
you've got the idea...
markiv @ Jun 17th 2009 3:29PM
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
TendoMan @ Jun 17th 2009 3:54PM
The teaser was pretty good. At least until I noticed the band aids that changed sides on his face. Now I cant stop seeing it.
ugg.tryptophan @ Jun 17th 2009 4:13PM
plot twist: the band-aids are alive
AltDelete @ Jun 17th 2009 3:56PM
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.
ugg.tryptophan @ Jun 17th 2009 4:13PM
bleh, too generic
TendoMan @ Jun 17th 2009 4:17PM
dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun
CH3BURASHKA @ Jun 17th 2009 5:13PM
It kind of reminds me of that cancelled game footage we got about 6 months back.
Necessary Force is a dumb, dumb name.
C.A. @ Jun 17th 2009 5:22PM
I think Unnecessary Force would be a better name. That did look pretty cool to me though. Seems like a psycho cop for sure. I imagine him being voiced by the best bad cop Ray Liota.
Shimrra @ Jun 23rd 2009 9:58AM
I am very interested in this game. It looks like a darker (if possible) Max Payne. If the controls and gameplay is top notch this will be a day one purchase for me.