It seems week on week we continue to get fantastic announcements regarding new downloadable titles for XBLA and PSN. When both services were launched at the release of the two leading consoles, it was hard to see past the ports of popular arcade hits. Now, following on from the incredibly successful Battlefield 1943 and last week’s Blacklight: Tango Down, we see swathes of FPS’s hitting the downloadable platforms. The latest, Illfonic‘s “arena FPS” Nexuiz, has in fact been announced to be using Crytek‘s technologically brilliant CryEngine 3, and will “push the limits of what gamers can expect from an AAA digital downloadable title”.
The arena-based, competitive FPS has been specifically built for consoles and will offer a number of multiplayer modes on release, with further maps, modes and models available post-launch as DLC. Set in a galactic war, Nexuiz also features an underlying universe history that could imbue its game play with unique features. The mark of the CryEngine usage is a huge step forward for downloadable games in general, in which both developers and publishers seem to be taking notice of the lower price point ideal in a time where full retail game sales are decreasing. If Illfonic can pull it off and deliver the AAA experience for a cut price, it could mark a major change for the industry as a whole.
For more information on Nexuiz, go to www.nexuiz.com or www.illfonic.com