Ecolis: Save the Forest announced for UK May DS release
The game Swampy would play, whiling away the hours in a tree
We're not sure where games would be today if it weren't for trees. They feature quite prominently when you think about it – in games like The Sims: Castaway where you shake them to get some random fruit to eat, and in countless shooters where you cower behind them hoping your enemies assume you're a hopelessly lost botanist and leave you alone.
Of course, the world wouldn't be too well off without them either. In fact, we'd all be dead. So it seems only fitting a game should be made that involves saving our precious trees rather than just using them for personal gain. And if nothing else, playing Ecolis: Save the Forest should even out any karma imbalances if you've been holed up with Manhunt 2 for a week.
The eco-friendly strategy game has been knocking around for a while and was released in Japan in August last year. Today, though, comes the news it's secured a European publisher in the form of Rising Star Games, which plans to release the game here on May 30th.
So, what can eco-warriors expect from Ecolis? Fortunately not just a big long lecture about how evil the human species is (we already know that). The game is striving to be both a real-time strategy affair (in which you control different units of woodland creatures) and a game (sponsored by the WWF – no, not the wrestling people) that raises awareness of issues such as deforestation, pollution and global warming.
The different species of woodland creatures – Ecolis, Ecoby and Ecomon – each has its own unique skills and can be nurtured to evolve into new ones, too. These skills are necessary to complete the game's 40 missions, and so is planting new trees in the Mana Woods to help recover the polluted surrounding land.
On top of the main game, there is a Land Make feature included that enables you to build and play your own maps. And also a two-player mode playable over wi-fi and a four-player alternative supported by single-card download play or ad-hoc multi-card play.
Imagine, Ecolis: Save the Forest could be the game that saves us all. We bet the Daily Mail wouldn't admit it if it did – 'Video Games Save Mankind' doesn't quite have the same ring to it as 'Child Forgets to Breathe Because of Video Game'.
We're genuinely hoping the game's good, though, because the message at its core is worth communicating. Right, now if you'll excuse we'll get back to blowing things up.
