PSX Extreme: Fat Princess Preview

The creation of a downloadable platform for the PlayStation 3 has brought us some games that we normally wouldn't see, as publishers would often oppose slapping a simplistic 300MB game onto a 25GB medium. HD remakes like Puzzle Fighter and Street Fighter are less likely to arrive, as are games like Fat Princess. What makes downloadable games so fantastic is that often times, you get the full game experience for a fraction of the price. WipeOut HD is one such example of that, and Fat Princess looks to be the next...

Debuting at this past E3 in July, Fat Princess is Sony's all new castle-siege title that is every bit as colorful as it is bloody and violent. An awkward combo, no doubt, but considering that we're in the medieval era here, it's apt. The goal of Fat Princess is to engage into matches where two opposing teams fight to rescue their princess. The catch here is that each team is has been stuffing the princess with fattening foods, making her that much harder to rescue.

By fattening the princess up, it'll require more than one character to lift and rescue her from the enemy's castle. If this sounds somewhat familiar to you, that's because the elements of Fat Princess are much like a Capture the Flag match in a shooter. You'll have to breach your enemy's castle in order to find the princess, and that'll require teamwork. Now, if the enemy neglects to feed the princess, she'll return to her normal state, allowing just one character to carry her to safety. Otherwise, if she's a cow, you'll need a few fighters to carry her; that is not to say one fighter couldn't do it...he'll just walk extremely slow, making him a sitting duck to the enemy.

The essential mechanics are that of a strategy game, as five classes of characters exist for you to switch to on the fly. The classes are Warrior, Archer, Mage, Worker, and Priest. You'll need to utilize the strengths of all classes together in order to be achieve victory, so co-operative gameplay is emphasized quite a bit here. Besides just carrying an obese princess, co-operative tasks include drag a log around together with an ally, collecting resources for upgrades, using a battering ram to smash through the enemy's front gate, or even building a human pyramid as a means of scaling over walls.

Up to 32 players can go at it when you take the game online, and co-operative offline gameplay is featured, as well. Teams will be split into 16 gamers each, creating the potential for some really epic matches. Gamers are also free to customize their characters and use them online. Gameplay will span across 10 different maps, all of which are playable online and off. As mentioned earlier, scouring for resources will grant upgrades in the forms of improving weapons and strengthening your castles defense measures. Furthermore, if only rescuing the princess gets boring, you can also play two other game modes called Thwart the Invasion, and Medieval Games.

Look for Fat Princess to launch sometime early on in 2009, between January and March. Anybody who's looking for a superb strategy game with humor, excitement, and depth should really consider Fat Princess. We've played it at E3, and we loved it.