GDC 2009: G-Force First Look

Guinea pigs are normally shy, unassuming creatures prone to collapsing from sheer fright when faced with any slightly menacing situation. But the guinea pigs in G-Force--the game based on the upcoming Disney live-action movie--are different. First of all, they wear night-vision goggles and rocket backpacks. And they also pack a serious arsenal of miniaturized weapons.

The Jerry Bruckheimer-produced film of the same name--which is due out in summer 2009--follows the adventures of a group of guinea pigs who have been trained by the government to become superspies. In the game based on the film, you take the role of Darwin, the G-Force commander, as he battles to stop evil billionaire industrialist Leonard Saber's plot to take over the world using killer robots disguised as ordinary household appliances. Along the way, you'll also have help from the fly Mooch, who can access areas inaccessible to the gallant guinea pig.

G-Force will be a third-person action game. It will be heavy on combat and will have some light puzzle-solving elements thrown into the mix. We were shown several levels of the Xbox 360 version, starting with an outdoor area that Darwin was trying to get past in order to infiltrate the home of Leonard Saber. Since you'll be playing as a guinea pig, the camera is naturally set low to the ground, following Darwin as he scampers underneath tables and up drainpipes to avoid the patrolling guards. Darwin has a jet backpack that he can use to help him navigate the human world--it can propel him over obstacles, such as fences, as well as give him a speed boost when he's running along the ground.

Once inside the house, Darwin comes across the first of the evil appliances we saw--a group of fire-throwing irons who use their heat plates as shields. Using the saberliser scanner--one of the main tools you'll have access to--Darwin can scan the irons and find out their weak points, which happen to be behind the heat plate shields. He then uses his plasma gun to soften the irons up, followed up by some quick slashes from an electric whip to finish the task. As you progress through the game, you'll get access to even more weapons, which you can quickly select from a radial menu a la Ratchet & Clank. There will be 10 weapons in the game, including a flamethrower, a freeze ray, a nano hacker (which can turn enemies into allies), and more. Each of these weapons can be upgraded using data chips dropped by enemies.

As for the fly Mooch, you'll need to switch to him in order to achieve certain objectives in the game. In the example we were shown, Darwin came across a rapidly moving door that he wasn't speedy enough to get through. Taking on the role of Mooch, our demo tester used the fly's ability to slow time to navigate past the door, before using his tracking beam laser to flip the switch on the other side to let Darwin through.

G-Force certainly has a cute premise, and we couldn't help but smile as the guinea pig Darwin took on crablike toasters, aggressive shavers, and angry blenders in our short hands-off demo. The game is due to coincide with the movie and will be available on a hoard of consoles and handhelds. Check GameSpot for more info on G-Force soon.