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3DO's Four Horsemen Not Quite Dead Yet

Posted by simoniker on from the pestilence-unleashed-on-3do-creditors dept.

Thanks to IGN PS2 for its article discussing the seeming resurrection of 3DO's Four Horseman Of The Apocalypse, the PlayStation 2 "action-horror title" whose fate was unknown following 3DO's bankruptcy auction last year. Apparently, "After 3DO shut down, a number of investors founded a company called Four Horsemen Entertainment L.L.C. in order to purchase the property. The company officially obtained it on May 12, and development has resumed." According to creator Michael Mendheim: "The new company will begin by releasing comic books and a graphic novel based on the [Simon Bisley character-designed] property, and eventually release a completely revamped version of the video game for next-generation systems."

13 comments

  1. Nice move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Good work for those guys for resurrecting a doomed project. Hope it turns out for them.

  2. INSIDER DOES NOT DANCE! by BortQ · · Score: 1

    Are the people that bought it insiders by any chance? Like the coders, managers, etc. It would be nice if they were able to retake ownership of the stuff they created.

    --

    A Multiplayer Strategy Game for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux
  3. Rocks and Stones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... Comic books and a graphic novel ...

    There's a difference?

    1. Re:Rocks and Stones by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, you could call a graphic novel a comic book but you wouldn't call all comic books, graphic novels. The statement is probably meaning that comic books, around 28-32 pages or so, will be released in perhaps a monthly or semi-monthly schedule. A single graphic novel may also be released which would be of a greater size, at least 100 pages and without advertisements. Those are some of the typical differences between a comic book and a graphic novel.

      --
      I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
  4. More info by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    More from the story:

    The lost 3DO game will be retitled: Armymen: Sarge and the 4 Horsemen of the Apocolypse. Sequels are expected to follow and plans to port the game to everything from the X-Box, Gameboy, and Wonderswan color, to a pair of light equiped boxer shorts are in the works. Profits are expected to shatter the previous record held by the popular "Armymen" franchise, a total of about 63 cents as of june 10th 2004

  5. From the article... by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: 4, Insightful
    ""The Four Horsemen concept is cool because it is based on the most popular book in history, the Bible," Mendheim said. "Our fear factor isn't about zombies walking around. It's about plagues and torment. It's scary because of the realism. Everyday, people see and read about miracles happening, plagues, the devastation of famine or even a statue bleeding. Our concept is scary, because it just might be true."
    What now? Sure, people "see miracles" but usually they're poor and despondent and in need of something to get them through their miserable lives. I'd say that a government-created plague [i.e. Resident Evil] is quite a bit more likely than Revelations coming to pass any time too soon. But in the end, the storyline only adds so much to a game. The folks at 3D0 weren't exactly producing great games when the company folded. Perhaps it was mismanagement of talent but before I get excited about the upcoming toy line/tv shows/animated features/clothing line/ and, oh yeah, video game - I'll wait to see if there's any gameplay to note. I'm always concerned when a single video game hasn't been made yet and there's already talk of an entire franchise. Make one good game before you try to cash in.
    --
    I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
    1. Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

      You're forgetting about the lowest common denominator. Most people reading something like Slashdot (despite the occasional unpleasant poster), are more likely than most to be able to think for themselves. They're less likely to blindly follow a religion. Sometimes religions aren't to be taken literally... sometimes their values and stories are false... but there are always those who look for literal interpretations.

      Anyway, in this context, I can see that creating a game from something as base as an apocolyptic religious text is going to strike a chord with more people than most materials would. To a largely Christian audience, it's more likely to have a built-in horror factor to a major portion of the audience. It also wouldn't suprise me if somebody complained about the content somehow being sacreligious because it's not their intepretation of a biblical text.

      Personally I agree with your sentiment about governments / corporations being more likely to cause an "end the world" scenario. But, of course, if something like that happened, every religion would spontaneously put their own interpretation and spin on the events. For some, it is far too difficult to accept self-responsibility for our animalistic stupidity and greed - it's much easier to blame a vengeful supernatural entity called "god" instead.

    2. Re:From the article... by ChaoticLimbs · · Score: 1

      It's a fucking fictional game setting, man! Can you hold the sanctimoniousness for one fucking second? In case you're wondering, I AM deliberately being unpleasant.
      Anyway, the book of Revelations is fascinating from a horror standpoint. Have you seen The Omen movies? Come on, the notion of an "anti-christ", kind of a balancing evil figure rising to power is an interesting premise. The surreal nature of the book is so over the top that it would be difficult to write something that compared to it.
      And many Christians don't give a flying crap about the interpretation of Revelations, as it seems INTENDED to be cryptic. I don't know, maybe something about it being a puzzle to be solved at a later date. Even if it wasn't "divinely inspired" it's still way fucking weird. Think about it, man- an entire planet being used as a stage for a fight between good and evil. Classical storymaking. Okay, I don't get the cups, bowls, and seals, either. It's okay. Many great novels and movies have expanded on the concepts of the apocalypse as presented (or hinted at) in Revelations. And Pentagrams of blood are creepy. There was a FPS game in the early 90s with this theme, but I can't remember what it was.
      Anyway, if you have gotten this far, I want you to know all the cussin' was for dramatic effect. I have nothing against you. Truly I don't like evangelical atheists any more than I like Evangelical anything-else, but I meant no ill will. Just funnin'.

    3. Re:From the article... by ChaoticLimbs · · Score: 1

      They're less likely to blindly follow a religion. Yeah, whatever.
      L1NuX R0XX0rz c100c1Z! M$ iz t3h SuXX0rZ!

  6. Spawning a franchise by Crash+Culligan · · Score: 2, Insightful
    True, a franchise doesn't necessarily equate to a good game (pun in title intended), but this fills me with hope:
    After 3DO's closure, publishers neglected the title not because it was unwieldy, Mendheim explains, but because in its then-early stages it may not have been large enough. Publishers may have also been unwilling to provide the time necessary to complete the title properly.
    Who knows? If they take the time to get the game right, perhaps they'll actually get it right. This is a pleasant reversal of a trend I'd seen too often discussed here: pinheads in upper management become too enamored with pretty graphics and give the green light to crap. Meanwhile, people trying to put forth serious effort get slapped for trying to put the serious effort into the game rather than appeasing their corporate overlords.

    This development fills me with hope.

    And then there's this not-so-choice quote...

    "The Four Horsemen concept is cool because it is based on the most popular book in history, the Bible," Mendheim said. "Our fear factor isn't about zombies walking around. It's about plagues and torment. It's scary because of the realism. Everyday, people see and read about miracles happening, plagues, the devastation of famine or even a statue bleeding. Our concept is scary, because it just might be true."
    It may be the Biblical story that they're suggesting is scary, but how exactly the modern implementation gets carried out could make it worse. See also Neal Gaiman's and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens ... Famine and War are already working their wiles, and P-------- is probably farther along than you think.
    --
    You cannot truly appreciate Dilbert until you read it in the original Klingon.
  7. BattleTanx, sniff by kisrael · · Score: 1

    I wish they'd make a proper sequel to Battletanx, a great Tokyo Wars-like tank game on the N64.

    That WDL Thundertanks just sucked for some reason...you would think it would be dead easy to make a fun multiplayer tank game but somehow they blew it.

    As far as I can tell, this current generation of consoles doesn't have a decent multiplayer tank game...not even one as fun as the goofy tanks in Mario Party 2, nevermind the great one player and multiplayer of "Battletanx: Global Assault"

    --
    SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
    1. Re:BattleTanx, sniff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      mmmm battle tanx.

      My GPA never fully recovered from that game.

  8. Tahya al-Moqawama al-Iraqiya! by Moqawama · · Score: 1

    Tahya al-Moqawama al-Iraqiya!
    Fuck the American invaders!