Sony aims for new genre
'Voice action adventure'?
The same issue of Famitsu that gave the Dead or Alive girls' volleyball antics a respectable 31/40 has awarded a much higher 37/40 to a relatively unknown Japanese Sony title called Operator's Side. Just to clarify, 37 translates to one 'perfect' score of 10 and three individual 9s from the mag's panel of reviewers. That's pretty impressive stuff - so what the hell is Operator's Side?
According to The Magic Box, Operator's Side is a 'voice action adventure', something of a first really, and requires a USB microphone bundle to play. The premise is simple: you are trapped inside the operator's room of a spaceship, and the only survivor in contact with you is a waitress called Rio de Janeiro. You must direct her to safety.
However, her safety is by no means assured. In order to get her off the ship, you will have to use voice commands to direct her in battle with the alien entities swarming all around, whilst monitoring her health and watching for chinks in the alien armour. On the way you'll run into a number of other survivors, including a security guard, and most of them will be happy to help.
It sounds like an intriguing prospect and we can't wait to get our hands on it. Were it not for the language barrier, we'd be denting our bank balances to the tune of an import right now. As it is, we can't wait for it to hit the US and Europe - and if it doesn't then we'll be sorely disappointed.