In what many consider to be a surprise announcement at this years EVO fighting game pro tournament this past weekend, Tekken 7 was announced. Surprise may not be the right word, I of course realize that a sequel to a popular franchise is almost certainly guaranteed, nonetheless while it seemed like just a matter of time until another core, numbered Tekken was announced, my money was on Tekken X Street Fighter, however the mixed reviews and public opinion of Street Fighter X Tekken seem to have caused Namco Bandai to revisit their deal with Capcom. I suppose there is always TGS for an announcement on that game, if it still exists. The next game in the long-running Namco Bandai fighting series was revealed with this trailer.
What does surprise me, however, is Namco Bandai’s choice of engine for their new game, Unreal Engine 4. Tekken 6 was powered by the Octave Engine, which many agree was a great fit for the series, why would they switch for the next generation? (the trailer does not specify what formats the title will appear on, this is purely speculation on my part). Perhaps Unreal Engine 4 simply better suits their needs, or maybe Octave was not able to squeeze 60 frames per second out of the hardware without sacrificing resolution / texture quality. Who knows, but knowing how resilient and adaptable Unreal Engine 3 was across the last generation, chances are we as the consumers will barely notice the difference.
While the brief video does not show anything by way of actual gameplay (a recurring theme of game announcements recently) it does seem that the core story of the game will center around the Mishima family. Fans of the series will already know that the story in the Tekken games is kind of silly, grandparents tossing sons & grandsons into volcanoes, wrestlers with leopard masks/heads, robots, dinosaurs & bears all share a stage with often strange results. The initial feel of the game based purely from this trailer alone suggests that maybe the developers are taking this one slightly more seriously, but if their track record is anything to go by, it’s still going to be one crazy ride. As someone who has enjoyed each Tekken game he has played, I am definitely intrigued by this announcement. While I might not have become invested enough to actually become any good at the games, I can hold my own against some of the harder A.I. difficulty levels. My time in Japan, however, tells me that there is an entire nation far more excited by this announcement than I could ever be. I look forward to being juggled the entire match by a pre-pubescent schoolboy’s seemingly infinite combo where I never touch the ground until the announcer yells KO!
This news comes shortly after Netherrealm Studios announced Raiden as a playable character for their upcoming title, Mortal Kombat X, earlier in the same tournament.
