The lights are on
When I was in high school, my friends and I went through a phase where as far as we were concerned, the massive Wheel of Time books were the greatest pieces of literature ever written. Since we were also hardcore gamers, we were excited when a Wheel of Time game was announced (the 1999 FPS from Legend Entertainment) and disappointed when we actually played it.
With today's announcement from Red Eagle Games, though, it seems like our old dream of an awesome game based in the Wheel of Time universe may yet come true.
Red Eagle has signed a deal with Obsidian Entertainment -- the developer known for Neverwinter Nights 2 and currently working on Alpha Protocol and Fallout: New Vegas -- to help work on a new Wheel of Time game that will be distributed through the EA Partners program. Rather than going it alone, Obsidian will be working with Red Eagle's in-house development team on the project.
Red Eagle Games CEO Rick Selvage commented on the news:
"The development team at Obsidian Entertainment has demonstrated time and again that they can successfully blend storytelling with technology to craft a superior RPG game experience. Obsidian Entertainment is the ideal development partner to help Red Eagle Games take [author Robert] Jordan's beloved characters from the printed page to exciting new forms of interactive media."
Of course, if Obsidian and Red Eagle truly hope to match the level of bloatedness that the Wheel of Time novels eventually reached, future 20-to-30-hour games will have to move the overall story forward in painfully small increments while introducing an increasingly convoluted web of characters. Who thinks they can pull it off?
maybe square or naughty dog
Nerding out a little over here. Obsidian has never really felt like a top developer to me, having generally been handed the reins of prior successes and handling them with questionable results depending on who you ask.
Doing a franchise like Wheel of Time gives me that same feeling, and while I'm mainly basing my thoughts on them off of KotoR2 and NWN2, I think they could pull it off. The Alpha Protocol rumors and delay don't help, however.
I remember being a big fan of The Eye of the Storm.....that was the only book I finished in the series, I think I read about half of The Great Hunt, but it was still an awesome series. In fact, the only reason I didn't continue with the series was that I sort of just forgot about it, maybe I should pick up the other books in the series and get back into it.
Idk about the game though, it could be good, but the series (or atleasr from what I read of the first book, had slow character development, which is a good thing since it makes you care more about the characters, but....would it translate well into games? We shall see.
If only Bethesda or Bioware could get their hands on Mr. Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I agree with BloodyMurder, Obsidian's KOTOR2 and Neverwinter Nights 2, while "okay," never really matched the originals done by Bioware. Good luck Obsidian. Please make it worthwhile!
@BloodyMurder: Agreed. Obsidian's always stuck me as almost there in terms of being a triple-A RPG developer but not quite. Stuff like Alpha Protocol, Fallout: New Vegas, and this game *could* finally put them over the top...if they end up panning out as intended.
I just about had a heart attack when I saw the picture for this article on the GI front page. WoT is easily my favorite book series of all time and I can't wait to play a video game based on it.
Obsidian has a lot to prove in my mind; I have enjoyed their previous projects but this is going to be a huge undertaking. I really hope they have what it takes to do this series justice.
I thought Robert Jordan said he never wanted his books turned into games or movies because it wouldn't be able to do them justice. Hopefully Obsidian can prove him wrong. They did do KotoR2 well.
I just hope the do it "right." Though I bet you'll be controlling tangential characters instead of Rand, Mat, and Perrin. After saying that though, it would be a blast to move through that world, and with about 12,000 pages of material I'm sure there is some corner of the world that they could carve out for the game.
This it perilous ground to try to stand on. I LOVE the Wheel of Time series, have read every book (except the most recent, which I'm half through), and am excited about the idea of the game. That said, I think there is a real danger that the game won't live up to what WOT readers expect but will also fail to appeal to non-WOT readers.
What non-WOT readers don't know, though, is that this is a literary series that is approximately 6 times the length of LOTR and is much, much more complex. They certainly can't create one book that runs the length of the series.
The only way I can see this being successful is if they either (a) limit the first game to the events of Eye of the World and allow players to play as each Rand, Mat, and Perrin; or (b) take it out of the context of the WOT story and simply place a game in the WOT world. I would be excited about either, but feel like we're just being set up for disappointment.
Now we just need a Song of Fire & Ice game.
I wonder if this will end up sparking controversy if it ends up like the Wheel of Time MUD. I always advocate MUDs because most are so much more in-depth and fun than any MMO can be. The Wheel of Time MUD has been around since 1993 and is even officially authorized by Robert Jordan himself: www.wotmud.org/robert-jordan.php
I can guarantee that this new game these guys are trying to create is never going to amount to anything as spectacular as the MUD. I do however wonder if these companies are employed by players of the WOT MUD. Could we see another legal battle like the one with Everquest and DIKU MUD?
I tried to play WOTMUD. I clearly missed something. Text-based adventures just don't do it for me anymore.
Well , this is certainly interesting news . Clearly they will never be able to satisfy diehard fans of the series ( myself being one of them ), but with 12,000 plus pages of material to work with they should at least be able to stick with the source material . I'm intrigued , hopefully they pull it off , as I'd love to play this game if it's done right .
no way... i hope they do this well, its a great story.
Never heard of Wheel of Time...
The fact that "Red Eagle" Games shares its name with a hugely important symbol in the WoT universe leads me to believe that they will hold the standard for quality very high because they seem to care about the material they are trying to bring to life. This could just be speculation on my part, but it makes me feel better.
i don't think that this can be done well, the more i think about it the more i am like "too many characters, too long of a story".
I read the title of the article and got a tingling sensation in my loins. Then I read the actual article and felt my loins burst into flames. If a good game can't be made out of 12,000+ pages of source material then I will lose faith in video games as a whole.
@Liegia: I believe they share that name because they were created specifically to create new Wheel of Time extensions in other forms of media.
Bethesda, Bioware, or Irrational Games. This would be a very interesting game.
@Phil: That was my understanding as well. If that is the case, they must have some vested interest in making the name one worth remembering right?