I didn’t want to risk spamming the main page with stuff about this game and putting people off, so I thought it much better to have a dedicated thread here.
The brief description of the game is as follows;
Based upon the classic adventure strip hero who inspired the superheroes of today, The Phantom allows you to take control of The Phantom himself or Diana Palmer Walker as they traverse the world in order to stop the evil Singh Brotherhood.
It is being developed by Aussie indie studio Art of Play, and is going to be a hand drawn 2D brawler in the vein of Streets of Rage 4. You can the game’s official website HERE.
Here’s a bit more info on it.
- The Art of Play team want this to be perfect. Lead Ash is clearly very passionate about the character.
- There will be a good deal of fan service, but of a more subtle kind than seen in other media.
- Game will be set in the 1930s.
- Devil (The Phantom’s pet wolf) assisting them.
- At least one level will see you riding Hero (The Phantom’s horse).
- There will be 5 chapters of three levels each, for a total of 15 levels.
- While players CAN kill, it will be dissuaded in-game. You will get different endings depending on your actions, including how violent you are.
- The game will span the world. Only Australia was confirmed, but Ash said “countries where The Phantom is most popular” will be at least some of the locations.
- The legacy aspect of the character will be important to the story.
- Cut scenes will be like an “animated comic”.
- While it won’t be exactly the same, Ash mentions the game will feature some similarities to the game XIII with comic panels popping up on the screen during certain events.
- Other, “bigger” companies had pitched Phantom games, but they didn’t have “anything behind them” and were turned down by King Features Syndicate (owners of the character).
- There will be a collectors’ edition of the game released via Limited Run Games. There will be a Kickstarter for this.
- 20, 000 digital copies need to be sold for Art of Play to make their money back (so buy a copy for every system you own!)
- Digital copy will be roughly $40AU.
- Will probably be an Android and iOS version at some point. It will be a slightly cut down version of the console version.
- There will be voice over work in the game. Ash is putting a pitch together to try and get Billy Zane to at least do the intro, but hopefully the voice of the Phantom.
- There may be DLC. One idea is to be able to choose the colour of the Phantom’s costume so you can match it to your country.
- At the moment the game is only going to be released in English.
- India will be getting a physical release, as will Australia, Europe and America.
- Ash wants all the fans to know he and the team are VERY serious about The Phantom and making the game as great as possible.
- If all you’ve seen of The Phantom is the 1996 Billy Zane movie, do not base your expectations on that.
Phantom fan site ChronicelChamber have interviewed Art of Play twice, which you can hear HERE and HERE.
A mock up of the PS5 and Switch game cases can be seen HERE.
HERE you can see an animation test.
Several screen shots can be seen HERE.
Finally, the game can now be wish listed on Steam. I’d really appreciate it if everyone could wish list it (I don’t expect you to buy it) to help support the game leading up to release.
I realise this all sounds like something of a sales push, and I guess in a way it is, but that’s only because I have a vested interest in this game. Like most Australians, it was The Phantom that introduced me to comics way back when, and the character has been part of my life ever since. I ran the aforementioned fan site from its inception in 2006 up until 2017. I know several of the people behind the Aussie Phantom comic personally, and have made lifelong friends with many of the fan community. Me doing the SEGA book actually about because plans for a book on the history of this character fell through.
However, despite the importance of the character to the history of comic books, he’s relatively unknown outside of Australia, India and Scandinavia (and one or two other places). Even in America he’s far from being a well known character, even though characters such as Batman owe him a huge debt.
My hope is that by providing info about this game people will become excited about it and check it out, regardless of if they are already aware of the character or not. Similarly, I’m always up for supporting Aussie game devs.
So if the game looks interesting to you, if you like 2D brawlers, I really hope you’ll keep this one your radar.
