Previews

GDC '09: Hands on with Unbound Saga on PSP

Download-only brawler shows PSP still has some fight left it in

GDC '09: Hands on with Unbound Saga on PSP
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PSP
| Unbound Saga

Circle to punch, Triangle to throw, and X to kick. Mashing these for brutal combos is the only way for Rick Ajax to make his way through the waves of scumbags littering the backstreets of Toxopolis.

Unbound Saga chronicles his quest to meet The Maker: his nemesis, the hand that has drawn Rick Ajax and his female counterpart Lori Machete to life. Eager to escape the endless brawling of the comic world, the duo intend to confront The Maker in this tongue-in-cheek, self-referential adventure.

Unbound Saga is thoroughly comic from the graphic novel-style visuals to the cheeky dialogue priming each fight. It's an incredibly stylish side-scroller with beautifully drawn levels and slick touches.

Pummelled enemies fly across the screen, garbage splatters on the ground, and each foe is literally drawn by the hand of The Maker that rushes onto the screen in a desperate attempt to stop Rick and Lori.

Story mode takes you through ten episodes, the first couple of which we played. Each episodes consists of individual panels that act as stages within the larger level itself. Just like a graphic novel, you move from panel to panel defeating the hordes of enemies doing their best to halt Rick and Lori.

Rick's all-out bar brawler style of fighting delivers satisfying blows. Along with the basic moves outlined above, you can pick up objects in the surrounding environment with a tap of the R shoulder button. Snapping up a plank of wood from a broken table and slamming it against a thug's face, snatching a beer bottle and smashing it over a dude's head - the action promises to be as visceral as it is varied.

Lori provides counterpoint to Rick's bombast with sleeker, slinkier moves. At any time during the game, you can switch between the two on-the-fly with the Select button to access Lori's shadow arts.

Instead of picking up objects, pulling down on the R button prompts a contextual menu tied to the D-pad. The four directions correspond with special abilities: poison gas that deals direct damage to enemies, health regeneration to replenish Lori's strength, confusion gas to causes foes to attack each other, and shadow clone for distracting enemies with a decoy.

Your brawling won't be without reward. Unbound Saga wisely marks your progress with skill points awarded at the end of every episode, as well as appearing randomly from defeated enemies.

Using this points, you can unlock and upgrade combos, slams, talents, and powers. Combos and slams provide you with a greater range of physical attacks, whereas talents increase your core attributes. Powers, naturally, relate to Rick and Lori's special abilities.

This character development system ensures depth in what would other be just another stylish beat-'em-up. Instead, Unbound Saga hints at a rewarding side-scrolling scuffle that attempts to bring a little sophistication to a classic genre.

About the only thing missing from the game is multiplayer. Ad-hoc bouts between you and a friend could only serve to boost the game's value.

It's unlikely to be added before its mid-year release, but even without it Unbound Saga looks to pack a punch when it arrives exclusively on the PlayStation Store for download.

Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.