Set for release at an undetermined time later this year in North America and Europe is Freedom Wars for the PlayStation Vita. If you were curious after watching the above story trailer, SCEA’s Nick Accordino confirmed that the game won’t have an English dub. “We’re sticking with the original (fantastic) Japanese audio and adding in subtitles for multiple languages,” he added.
Japan Studio Producer Junichi Yoshizawa wrote up this message regarding Freedom Wars, calling last week’s Japanese launch successful (check back on Wednesday for full sales numbers):
Last week, we were finally able to release Freedom Wars in Japan. To celebrate the successful launch, I wanted to take a moment to write a message to our eager fans in North America.
Freedom Wars is a title I created to realize a dream of mine. My vision was to develop a PS Vita game that took advantage of the handheld system’s unique features, enabling gamers to come together via ad-hoc and Wi-Fi to overcome terrifying enemies. PlayStation has a storied legacy of creating innovative experiences and our collective goal was to create a Vita game that brought gamers together in a socially connected, location-based, co-op experience.
In order to do that, I gathered a number of well-known developers with an impressive pedigree for creating some of Japan’s most beloved titles – developers Shift and Dimps. These two developers both produce high-quality, interesting titles, but in this case I wanted to utilize both of their strengths, so I asked Shift to be in charge of game design, character design and story, while Dimps handled programming, graphics and direction.
The collaboration between these two developers has been wonderful and the “Freedom Wars” that they have helped create has three distinct strengths:
The first is the outrageous world and story, where prisoners are bound by 1 million years of penal servitude for the sin of “living” and need to fight for their freedom.
The second is a new game where the goal isn’t to just defeat your enemy, but to save people from your defeated enemies and create a multiplayer experience where you can clearly divide up responsibilities among your teammates.
The third is a ranked competition where players can contribute to the areas they actually live in and battle on behalf of their own “city state.”
With the coordination of each of these pillars, we created Freedom Wars – a testament to our collective vision of delivering a frenetic, co-op action game that we believe will please the Western community when it launches later this year.
Take care!
Junichi Yoshizawa
If you’re unfamiliar with Freedom Wars, here’s a recap of some of the things you can expect:
In the future, atmospheric pollution has devastated the earth. Harsh penal communities called “Panopticons” now battle to secure what few resources remain.
Born into incarceration, you must work together with up to 7 others in a frenetic blend of action and strategy. Complete your missions, reduce your sentence, and fight your way to freedom.
- Co-operative online combat with up to 8 players.
- Intense blend of action, shooter, and strategy gameplay created in collaboration between studios Shift and Dimps.
- Select the city you represent and help your city rise in the global ranks as you battle users from other cities and countries.
- Customize your fighter’s appearance, class and weapons.
Will you be buying Freedom Wars later this year?
[Source: PS Blog]
