Michel Gagné is an artist I became familiar with during my time as a bookseller. His most prominent work in my mind has been Insanely Twisted Rabbits, a collection of sketches based on the titular theme. His story books tend to show strange landscapes and creatures being traversed by a hero on a quest. For example, in The Story of Rex, a fox searches for enlightenment by passing through all manner of danger and darkness.His latest and most ambitious project, mentioned recently on joystiq.com, uses the video game medium to bring his drawings vividly to life.
"We imagined a side-scroller that would combine old school arcade style game play with feature film quality design and animation. Thus was born Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet," Gagné said on the game's web site.
I had actually hoped for a long time that Gagné might inspire an animated film of some sort, but this is much more than I could have hoped for. Many years have passed since I'd initially read his books, and he had more or less passed from my mind. This new project has reminded me why I loved the art style of Gagné so much. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet looks simply amazing.
From the trailer posted on gametrailers.com, the game appears to be a side-scrolling shooter in the tradition of Gradius or R-Type, but with much of the visual style portrayed in silhouettes. When done well, I find these kinds of shooters to be immensely satisfying. I still fire up Steel Empire (for the Genesis) every couple months, when I get a craving for the genre.
Truth be told, I've been getting a bit of first-person shooter, free-roaming sandbox and third-person brawler fatigue lately. This looks to be a breath of badly needed fresh air in a game market over-saturated with similar feeling products.However, the game's unique visual style could very well be a mark against it as several games with similar artistic ambitions did less than stellar in the mainstream market. I'm thinking of Okami, Jet Grind Radio or perhaps Mad World . Patapon could be considered a possible exception to this, though the relatively low PSP install base handicapped its sales numbers.
By the way, I've already seen some comments saying the game has "art like Patapon." If anything, Patapon has art like Michel Gagné and I hope he gets the proper credit he is due for it.
For the time being, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is only shown as being developed for the PC, but the game's site states they are looking for investors "who can help us bring this title to the marketplace." One would assume they would want to do this via as many platforms as is workable while still retaining the game's high graphical quality. The Holy Trinity of Steam, Xbox LIVE and PSN come to mind.Ultimately, I fervently hope this game doesn't end up being another World of Goo. By this I mean, a game made by a small, self-funded developer that gets pirated so much it drives the creators of the game into bankruptcy. That was a sad commentary on how apathetic and thankless my fellow gamers can be about where they get their games.
Below is the trailer. I have to say, I watched this about six times in a row, and I just can't get over how absolutely beautiful it is, simultaneously simple and complex. Please enjoy!
all artwork by the insanely twisted Michel Gagné
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