E3 2010 Hands-On: Naughty Bear

Well at E3 I was able to catch up to 505 Games and take a look at how Naughty Bear's game has progressed, since it does come out in a few weeks. The quick version, it is exactly the game I thought it was going to be and it will be amazing. As the designer put it, "It is for the YouTube generation. Where they will constantly have a reason to say 'Have You Seen This'."

As far as gameplay and controls go, it felt extremely along the lines of a few games that are third person action. Man Hunt comes to mind from the way you are stalking down all the other bears. But we have all seen the video showing the gameplay.

Let's move on to a few things that you would not know from the gameplay. Like for instance, none of the bears are scripted AI. They are free range. For the layperson that means that the bears have a personality and they perform actions based on that. Most of the time, these actions are always different on the small scale, like dancing to have a good time or going outdoors to play a game, but on the large scale, the bear's personality is about having fun.

During the play through I had, I witnessed the same bear going different paths for no reason other than it wanted too, not because it was given a set path. But that is not where the AI quits. They will also react to Naughty Bear based on their own persona, be it straight assault or call in ninja bear reinforcements. Which varies through out the entire island of bears.

Another feature that one would not expect, I know I didn't, is that there is multiplayer events built into the game as well. Mostly in the form of what looks like capture the flag or Red Vs. Blue style of play, but it is in there. All of which adding to your over naughty score on the leader boards. A score that also allows you to unlock costumes and extras in the game. Like the cop suit which allows you to walk around the other bear undetected. Which can lead to an easy kill. Also if witnessed will turn the populace against the cop bears and mass hystera ensues.

Here's a video showing what I am talking about.

Now I mentioned unlock-ables, but does that mean possible DLC. Well of course. Something that was alluded to being more costumes with their own special abilities to full on island (Read Chapters). All to expand on the eight hours of solo play that is in Naughty Bear.

Why does it seem June 29th is so far off now?

Naughty Bear