E3 06: Snoopy vs. The Red Baron Preshow Hands-On

Over the decades, there have been many colossal rivalries that have shaken the world with the force of their titanic struggles. Ali vs. Frazier. Terrell Owens vs. Donovan McNabb. Brown v. Board of Education. You can now add one more rivalry to that list--Snoopy vs. The Red Baron. The fun-loving beagle will take to the skies to hunt down his hated crimson-colored rival in Namco Bandai's upcoming Snoopy vs. The Red Baron, a fun-looking flying adventure game starring Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang.

The story of this kid-friendly flying game involves Snoopy falling asleep on top of his doghouse and lapsing into a dream where he chases The Red Baron all across an imaginary version of France. The level we played at the recent Namco pre-E3 press event featured Snoopy roaming the skies in his trusty biplane looking to shoot down multiple enemy surveillance bots that are on the lookout for the famous World War I flying ace. As we hunted down the bots, we got a pretty clear picture of the big, open-ended world that comprised the level--multiple islands were strewn throughout the map, full of brightly colored terrain and plenty of buildings to check out as you fly around. There's plenty of action in the sky as well--in addition to the surveillance bots, there are plenty of enemy planes to engage in dogfights with. In other missions, you'll even run into friendly planes, usually piloted by Peanuts characters (we hear Franklin's a dead-eye ace in the game).

In fact, you can expect to see many of Charles Schulz's original Peanuts characters make their way into the game. Charlie Brown's little sister Sally will portray a spy in the game, and Snoopy's best pal Woodstock will be ever-present at Snoopy's side, usually manning the numerous secondary weapons aboard the plane. And speaking of weapons, in addition to the standard machine guns, Snoopy will be able to upgrade his secondary weapons to add some more punch to his arsenal--such as upgrading to a pumpkin shotgun that can really blast enemies at short range. In total the game will include more than 25 weapons and gadgets you can collect in the game.

Snoopy vs. The Red Baron will feature more than 50 missions across six distinct levels, and producers told us they are aiming to pack in about 20 hours of playtime in the game. This means that the game's missions are be a bit more complex than simple run-and-gun affairs--in some levels, Snoopy will be performing reconnaissance duties over enemy territory; in others, you'll be going up against level bosses in arcade-style fights on rails--which will offer a nice contrast to the more open-ended flight missions that make up the core of the game.

Controls in Snoopy vs. The Red Baron are very easy to pick up, befitting the cartoon nature of the game. Snoopy turns on a dime in the game and has plenty of tricks, like barrel rolls, that he can pull of when in a tight spot. As you progress through the game you can open up new characters to play with, as well as new planes Snoopy can pilot (including, of course, his famous Sopwith Camel doghouse plane).

With both team-based and competitive multiplayer support for up to six players (four on the PlayStation 2), Snoopy vs. The Red Baron looks to be shaping up as a kid-friendly game that parents probably won't mind joining in on as well. Expect to see more on the game in the coming months.