Last Guardian Trailer Impressions

It turns out that the leaked footage a few weeks ago dubbed Project Trico was right on the money. It is indeed Team Ico's new game for the PlayStation 3, and it was given its official name--Last Guardian--at this morning's Sony E3 press conference.

The trailer showcased at Sony's event was almost identical to the footage "leaked" earlier. It began with some ominous scenes of a boy running down a dark corridor, intercut with some close-up shots of an unidentified giant creature. The boy eventually ran out of the corridor and into the daylight, falling over a ledge and hanging on for dear life. A gigantic creature then ran out of the tunnel--it had a dog's face, four legs with talons, and a long ratlike tail. The creature screeched and then gently lowered its head to help the boy climb off the ledge. The boy then clambered over the large creature, resting himself on top of its head as they both looked out over what looked like a crumbling, ruined city.

What followed was a series of short scenes showing what we assume to be gameplay, with the boy and the creature having to help each other navigate obstacles. The boy used the creature to gain access to high spots and even at one stage went underwater while clinging onto the creature's large neck feathers. What was apparent here was the clear bond between the two, as both the creature and the boy seemed to show genuine affection for one another.

The trailer then moved on to show segments not seen in the leaked footage, including sections where the young boy has to take on armored soldiers by throwing barrels at them. The trailer ended with an extremely bewitching visual--the boy and creature at rest, with the boy lying next to his beastie friend as it watched over him.

No release date was confirmed for Last Guardian. For more from the show, check out GameSpot's complete coverage of E3 2009.