Maverick game maker Itagaki, best known for his lascivious Dead or Alive series, has had a hard time of late. In 2008 he left Tecmo, the company that nurtured him all through his gaming career. It wasn’t a pretty annulment; Itagaki is rumoured to have left in a flurry of threatened lawsuits against the company and a few of its senior staff. But it wasn’t long before he was back with his own Studio and a whole new title in development. That game was Devil’s Third and it was set for release for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, to be published by THQ. However with that companies high profile debt and eventual closure it seemed Itagaki and his Valhalla Game Studios were at something of an impasse.
So thank Mario for Nintendo, because thanks to them picking up the title it looks to be back on track. The company are getting a bit of a reputation for picking up stray games lost in the wilderness (see Bayonetta series here) but one look at Devil’s Third and you can see that it makes an interesting, and independent, addition to the Nintendo library.
Like all Itagaki games there’s a certain level of tongue in cheek. Don’t expect much introspection or metaphysical musings. This is a third person shooter with a healthy dose of hack and slash thrown in for good measure. Devil’s Third puts the player in the shoes of a bald muscle head who looks as happy swinging a Katana as he does unloading an Ak-47. It’s set in a near future where the Kessler Syndrome Theory has turned out to be right. For those that don’t know, that’s the satellites orbiting earth coming into collision and creating a knock on effect that eventually sees each one of them gone. No google maps, no mobile phones and no Sky channels. Unsurprisingly this throws the world into something of a mess.
In terms of gameplay, from what we’ve seen so far, this seems to be a direct smash between Suda51’s No More Heroes series and Duke Nukem. With the latter adding both gameplay elements and a certain level of macho bravado. In fact, this looks exactly like an 80’s action movie so expect one-liners, clever quips, explosions and, because this is an Itagaki game, a few well endowed females.
The game will be a Wii U exclusive and while the use of the gamepad has not yet been confirmed Valhalla Studio has stated that Devil’s Third will be making use of it in some way. Currently there is no release date but one is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. We’ll keep you updated as we hear it.
