Life's a game

Editor's Note: Cletus Clay is a rootin', tootin' platform brawler created and animated entirely in clay. Being developed for PC & Xbox LIVE Arcade, it is the latest independent game from acclaimed game designer and animator Anthony Flack (Platypus) - author of this blog.

Anthony, over to you...

Firstly, I should point out most emphatically that this is indeed a clay-animated game. Which means that all the graphics in the game are made from real clay models - they are NOT CG renders made to look like clay.

There are a number of reasons why I decided to work with clay and not CG, and I'll try to explain my reasoning in more detail in a later post, but basically it comes down to this: I like to experiment with unconventional methods. And also I think clay models are really neat.

There have been other clay animated games made in the past (my own previous work included), but this is the first clay game of the next hardware generation and with all that lovely new power available, we've been able to do some nifty new things that take it to a whole new level. But more about that later.

As far as genres go, it's an action-platformer of the old-school side-scrolling variety, so if you think of games like Contra and Metal Slug you won't be too far off the mark. I'm a die-hard action game fan and I like those kinds of straightforward, fast-paced games where you get to run all over the place making everything explode without having to worry too much about learning complex rule-sets, managing inventory items or getting hopelessly lost. So expect to find plenty of running and blasting, racking up high scores and trying to beat your best time. Lots of things will blow up. There will be armies of baddies, giant robots and grenade launchers and bosses the size of buildings. It's that sort of game.

It's not quite a straight-out shooter though - the players have no default weapon, so you have to fight with your fists and feet and grab whatever weapons, explosives, hay bales or passing farm animals you can make use of along the way. The weapons don't last long either, so you'll have to keep changing tactics and use whatever is at hand.

The idea is to keep the gameplay quite fluid and dynamic, and open to experimenting with different tactics. The two-player co-op should be especially chaotic, as each player is able to poach weapons off the other and you're encouraged to play dirty to beat your partner for the end-of-level bonuses, or when going head-to-head in the bonus rounds and mini-games.

And in case the artwork didn't give it away, it's not a game that takes itself too seriously. Cletus is a loudmouthed hillbilly and he's fighting an army of dimwitted spacemen. If you're looking for the kind of game where you get to throw a pig at a flying saucer, then this is exactly that sort of game.

When I showed it to my Nana it made her laugh.