Julian Gollop's 3DS game

[Kolzig]

In Chris Remo's Gamasutra article about the 2k developed "X-Com" game, Julian Gollop wrote some interesting inputs in the comments.

I thought the man and his game deserves an own thread so here goes:

In the comments he revealed for the first time, at least to me, that he is developing a 3DS game and it will be a launch title. What is known is that Julian is working for Ubisoft these days and it could be an upcoming Ghost Recon game according to some rumors I read, but it could also be an original title as there is nothing official about this yet as far as I know. There are apparently some screenshots already available somewhere in the net about this Ghost Recon 3DS game.

Personally, I would have gone with a turn-based game system - but no one asked me. Actually, I was developing an X-Com style game called Dreamland back in 1999 - turn-based but 3D (actually very similar to Valkyria Chronicles in the way it worked). Sadly, it didn't see the light of day.

Publishers run a mile from anything with turn-based mechanics - it is regarded as too niche. RTS games pretty much killed off turn-based strategy games in the mid-90s - but now even RTS games are regarded as niche. So all my experience working turn-based games from 1983-1997 is now somewhat obsolete, despite the success of X-Com. However, I am now working on a turn-based tactical RPG which will be a 3DS launch title. Thanks to 'Advance Wars', 'Fire Emblem' and 'Final Fantasy Tactics' it seems turn-based games are not totally dead - at least for Nintendo handhelds. I would also argue that Pokemon has a lot of parallels with X-Com in its game system, despite being classified as an 'RPG'. The core of Pokemon is a turn-based tactical battle enriched by a sophisticated higher level meta-game that allows players to experiment with many game elements and combinations of forces - and Pokemon is the second most successful game franchise in the world. If done right, would an X-Com game with a turn-based combat system be successful? Absolutely!

I've always rated Julian as high as I rate guys like Eric Chahi, Michel Ancel, Frédéric Raynal, Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer and Warren Spector.

Julian's last game was the Gameboy Advance game Rebelstar: Tactical Command from 2005 which was very much in the way of X-Com, but due to the limitations of the GBA, it felt a bit thin to me.

Julian and his brother Nick are most famous for developing X-Com: Ufo Defense/ UFO: Enemy Unknown back in 1994 and the third game in the series X-Com: Apocalypse in 1997. Before that they made the excellent Laser Squad and Rebelstar games.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Kolzig

[Sleepdance]

Something is telling me that I just need to play x-com, and now with my shiny new card with which I can actually buy stuff(even on Steam) I have no excuse. Or maybe I'll just wait for a Steam sale....

[soupface]

I don't care to speculate and can't add much to this beyond saying, yeah, I'm eager to see what Gollop is talking about.

[Kolzig]

Fresh three page interview with Mr. Julian Gollop:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-11-28-the-story-of-x-com-interview

The weird thing about this interview is that it seems that it's cut short. It feels like it should be five pages long as the interview ends on Mythos being liquidated, but then there is really nothing about Laser Squad Nemesis or Rebelstar: Tactical Command or the new Ghost Recon 3DS game. Except the end part after the interview bits.

Confirmed:

Julian now develops for Ubisoft. His current project is Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, a squad-level turn-based tactical game, and launch-title for the Nintendo 3DS.

The X-Com licence was acquired by Firaxis in 2005, and now lies with take Two Interactive. 2K Marin, owned by Take Two, is currently working on the 50's-themed franchise reboot, XCOM.

Earlier I saw the name to be Ghost Recon: Lead the Ghosts, but I guess the production name has changed now. Edited November 29, 2010 by Kolzig

[Hermie]

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Warface.

[Kolzig]

First proper trailer

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Some pics can be found from here:

http://3ds.nintendolife.com/games/3ds/tom_clancys_ghost_recon_shadow_wars_3d

Bring it on Julian Gollop.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I never got into X-Com... maybe I should give it another go?

[Kolzig]

Of course. The first one is great and the third one is also pretty good.

The second one was not really from the original team and it just used the existing assets with some new graphics slapped on top. Microprose wanted to get a "quick cash sequel" and Mythos did not want to do it.

The games are cheap in Steam so go get!

[Kolzig]

Julian Gollop narrates a new gameplay trailer:

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I have a feeling the Tom Clancy Ghost Recon name will hurt the sales quite a lot. This would be a lot better with a unique property name.

[n0wak]

^^ OMG at the comments at that YouTube page

[Salacious Snake]

I have a feeling the Tom Clancy Ghost Recon name will hurt the sales quite a lot. This would be a lot better with a unique property name.

You're talking crazy talk. Ghost Recon games sell lots of copies, so it's a good name to use. Original IPs are scary and hard to sell.

Look at it this way: people who care about turn-based tactical combat games will be interested in this one regardless of the license, and at the same time, a bunch of interest will be created among people who normally wouldn't be into that sort of game thanks to the name. At least I imagine that's what Ubi is thinking.

At least the name sounds a bit like Shadow Watch, the other action point-having tactical strategy Tom Clancy game. Did anyone here play Shadow Watch? I always thought it looked neat.

[Kolzig]

I shouldn't look at forums too much, but overall I've seen that people are dissing it pretty much without even looking because of the name "Tom Clancy game eh, well meh."

Of course forums consist for just a small percentage of actual people who go out buying games so you are propably correct. And internet stupidity is at it's max in places like Youtube comments, so those never give any picture about the actual people who buy games.

I really do hope this game is great and I hope it will sell. When and if I get a 3DS at some point I will be propably buying this one as one of the first games for the handheld. At least Julian's track record is so good so far that I'm hoping Ubi Sofia has what it takes to make a great game.

[ThunderPeel2001]

You're talking crazy talk. Ghost Recon games sell lots of copies, so it's a good name to use. Original IPs are scary and hard to sell.

Grand Theft Auto sells a lot of copies, too, but not on the DS. I think I see what Kolzig was saying: If it hadn't been a Tom Clancy game, it could have been more fantastic, like the X-Com games... which would probably have had a broader appeal to DS players.

[toblix]

I auto-ignored the game based on the prefix Ghost Recon, not because Ghost Recon is terrible, but because I have this notion that portable versions of bigger games are all terrible, and I imagine low-res men running around barren fields doing a limited subset of whatever the original console game let you do. I'm sure I'm wrong, but that's what made me ignore Shadow Wars anyway. Maybe they should do a two-pronged marketing thing where one focuses on the bro segment, and the other did the "From the makers of X-COM: Terror from the Deep" appeal to people exactly like me.