As a fan of the Bryan Lee O’Malley comics, I’m eagerly awaiting the Scott Pilgrim movie due out in August (Michael Cera as Scott? Shaun of the Dead’s Edgar Wright as director? Yes please!). E3 offered a little something to ease my wait – namely, a preview of the upcoming brawler Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
That’s right. I said brawler.
Cut from the same cloth as cutesy beat ‘em ups such as River City Ransom, Ubisoft’s upcoming Scott Pilgrim retains the graphic style of the comics while chucking in all the random nuttiness of its universe in one 8-bit inspired side-scroller. Making Scott’s quest to win Ramona Flowers by fighting and defeating her Seven Evil Exes as interactive an experience as possible, Ubisoft has created a brawler that’s not only fun to play but constantly springs surprises – and inside jokes. Giant flying piggybanks? Got ‘em. Rabid Dobermans? Got them, too. It’s even got “subspace” – a between-dimension that acts as a shortcut in each level.
There are four characters to choose from: Scott, dream girl Ramona, insane drummer friend Kim, or general badass Stephen Stills. Each character has their own stable of unlockable moves, as well as light attacks, heavier attacks, blocks, combos, super attacks – just like SoR. You can throw objects at enemies, collect coins you kick out of exploded enemies, and even play in co-op mode (up to 4 players, on- and offline). A bit of an upgrade from River City Ransom¸ but the same general idea.
What makes Scott Pilgrim special – and particularly enticing to us fans– is where it embraces the source material and milks it for all its worth. The silly animations – Kim’s eyes bugging when she fights – the crew of hipster-chick harpies called on by the first Evil Ex, the simultaneous taunt that turns into a 4-way jam to blast enemies to smithereens. The game is playable zany… and very much Scott Pilgrim. Kudos, Ubisoft.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World will be available for the PS3 on the PlayStation Network on August 10; there will be a version available for the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live Arcade later in the year. Check out the trailer on 1up.com.
