We took a quick look at El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron to get a grasp on its story, and interesting art direction before its July 26 release.
The idea of El Shaddai started three years ago, as some of the folks over at Ignition decided to base a game off the Book of Enoch, which is part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. They decided it would be “cool” to have it made in Japan, with heavy influence from Japanese action games, more specifically Okami. Ignition approached Takeyasu Sawaki (character designer for Okami and Devil May Cry), who became fascinated by the Book of Enoch, and was recruited to be creative director behind the project.
In El Shaddai, players will control Enoch, who is sent by Lucifel (who is still an angel before becoming Lucifer) to bring the fallen angels, who have fallen in love with the humans, to justice before God destroys the humans. Ignition felt that this religious story makes for a good premise for a game.
Sawaki and his team have gone with a modern interpretation of the Book of Enoch rather than a complete retelling. The art direction is reflective of this modern interpretation. Since the Book of Enoch does not provide enough imagery for an art direction, Sawaki has gone with his own interpretation to design the world of El Shaddai, making each level distinct. The art invokes an anime aesthetic, rather than a photo-realistic look. The animation and color of El Shaddai are reflective of the anime direction, and from what I have seen so far of the game, I am glad to look at something refreshing and unique.
Gameplay is as varied as the world of El Shaddai. Combat is hack-n-slash and revolves around three weapon types. However, in order to use the weapons, Enoch must take the weapons from his enemies. Over time, it will become evident that certain weapons work well against certain types of enemies, allowing the player to become more tactical with their attacks.
There are different game play types that players will have to contend with as well. From 3D arena type segments to 2D platforming segments and an extended driving segment. Sawaki decided to keep the player guessing, which is the reason why El Shaddai presents different gameplay types.
With a only a few weeks until El Shaddai’s release, I can honestly say that this is one of my most anticipated titles of the summer. You can check out El Shaddai for yourself when it releases July 26 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
