This year, our holiday bag-of-goods is slightly slimmer than usual due something as boring as scheduling conflicts. No, it's not the pandemic or anything bad even, on the contrary. But it has resulted in me not having the time to do what I originally planned – to make a full trailer reveal of the main TAGAP 4 antagonist.
But just because I didn't have the time to make the trailer, it doesn't mean we can't introduce this new penguin anyway, right?
So, without further ado...
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This is the TAGAP 4 key art and the current candidate for the game cover; Pablo versus the Nemesis.
TAGAP 4 takes place in a timeline different than the previous games – in one, where there was no 'rebellious Pablo' to save the world. Instead, in this world, Dr. Glowenko's plan was a success and he now rules the entire planet. Obviously this means his cyber-penguin plan, too, went without a hitch, resulting in what Pablo will know as The Nemesis.
The Nemesis is what Pablo was supposed to be – a cybernetic super-villain penguin doing Dr. Glowenko's dirty work. Nemesis' cybernetic modifications go way beyond those of Pablo, too; remember, Pablo escaped before his conditioning and modifications were complete!
What results is perhaps the most fierce opponent Pablo has faced yet!
The inspiration for the Nemesis came directly from the setting itself – the what-if scenario of the cyber-penguin project that generated Pablo being taken to its ultimate conclusion.
The visual design of the character was an interesting task to tackle. Since this is a cyber-penguin mostly stripped of its identity, having his face covered by combat visor felt appropriate. And naturally his whole body is fully armoured to reflect his super-soldier status.
Also, in this timeline Dr. Glowenko conquered the world, so it is safe to assume the Nemesis has had quite a few epic battles over the years. As his whole body is under armour, I couldn't do your typical 'battle-scarred villain' look, so instead I gave him a robot arm. The arm is, in fact the same as the Penguinator robots have – if Dr. Glowenko already has fully functioning robot penguin parts laying around, why wouldn't he use those instead of coming up with new ones?
But how is the Nemesis in the game then? Well, I don't want to spoil the surprise by telling you, I want to show you. This is where the aforementioned planned character reveal trailer would've come in, but it is safe to say this guy has quite a few tricks up his cyber-penguin-tux sleeves. And to fully utilize those tricks, the new AI core of the TAGAP 4 Engine really makes him worthy of the title 'Nemesis'.
On a final note, once more I don't know whether to pat myself on the back or cry. Despite me having this design locked down for over two years, knowing most folks are aware of my DOOM-fanboyism, many will see this as 'oh right, you got this from The Ancient Gods, didn't you?'.
I DID have a strong external influence in designing how the Nemesis works – but it wasn't DOOM. Heck, it isn't even a video game. I'll let let you know exactly what I mean when I've shown the character in action, in video form, in the not-too-distant future.
Playlist is a regular feature in our Penguin DT blog; A chance to highlight cool games both old and new that I've been playing. As always, I believe that in order to make games, you need to play them, preferably with a broad scope when it comes to genres, so each day I dedicate at least an hour to actually playing games. The rest of the free time? There is no such thing, it all belongs to TAGAP!
A short update this time, as since the last one I've since played only two games, as the other one of those is humongous. Well, two and that DOOM Eternal Master Level (insert 'double-Marauders in toxic goo' flashbacks).
The first one is one of the strongest GOTY-TIDE candidates for the year – meaning 'game-of-the-year that-isn't-DOOM-Eternal' – Mad Rat Dead from Nippon Ichi. In the game you play as a lab-rat that has been granted a chance to re-live his last day – and the rat decides to use it to get revenge on the human apparently experimenting on him. However, you are so weak from the procedures done to you, that you can only function properly when your heart beats. And your heart beats to the rhythm of the music.
This results in a fantastic blend of rhythm music game and a 2D platformer. Complete the package with what just might be my favourite story in video-games in years, combining brilliant contrasts shocking and heart-warming. Top it off with super-bright and borderline anarchistic designs mixing cute with grotesque. What you get is a winner, through-and-through.
I'm in love with the title and all I can say is 'just play it now'. If you have doubts, the game has a free demo available on PSN.
The big game I've been going through is Earth Defense Force 5. Holy heck, this game is huge – in terms of both content and scale. I'll go into more detail into it when I have completed it.
Just ICYMI, our Holiday Greetings from feature this year;
To share the card, use this permanent link: https://www.tagap.net/pow/p696.htm
Happy Holidays everybody – and stay safe friends!
