Sony Confirms Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale

Do you remember, two years ago, when Sony announced inFamous 2, Killzone 3, LittleBigPlanet 2 and Motorstorm: Apocalypse in the lead up to E3, then rocked the show with the official announcement of Twisted Metal? If not, they did just that, and if history is any indication, the console manufacturer is lining up its cards to do it all over again. They have today confirmed the long standing rumours of a Super Smash Brothers styled mash-up of their characters from across the eras in Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale (don’t worry, I think the name is kind of stupid, too).

The announcement has basically confirmed the slew of leaked details that has so far emerged about the project. It is in development at Superbot Entertainment, a new studio that was “hand-picked” for the job. Although the studio has yet to release a single game, the team is made of up people that have worked on Marvel vs Capcom 3, Mortal Kombat and the UFC and WWE games, among others, so there is clearly a very broad base of fighting games for them to build upon. Six characters have been confirmed thus far, these being: Kratos (God of War), Sly Cooper, Fat Princess, Parappa the Rapper, Colonel Mael Radec (Killzone 2) and Sweet Tooth (Twisted Metal), each bearing a unique fighting style and Super Moves. Stages are also designed as mash-ups of some of Sony’s biggest franchises, with those already revealed including Hades being invaded by Patapons and a LittleBigPlanet-inspired stage that builds itself until Buzz appears. A further interesting aspect to this is that, again as rumoured, each stage will have interactive elements, usually involving the background damaging the players in some way.

Several sources have gone hands-on with the title and the reports seem to be almost unanimously positive, with praise going to the simple controls that promise more depth than can be had on the surface, as well as the diversity between the characters and the sheer amount of fan service that the game contains. With up to four players in the ring at any given time, via online or local play, the battles promise to be decidedly chaotic and should serve well those people asking for this type of game on the Playstation 3. Besides this, a single player campaign has also been promised, so we’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for details on that.

If those hands-on sources can be trusted, this could turn out to be an ace in the hole for Sony this holiday season, which is currently the targeted release window. Eighteen years of history wrapped up into one entrancing bundle. This could definitely give Nintendo’s seminal series pause for thought. We’ll keep you updated on this title throughout the year but for now, let the speculation begin: What characters do you want to see put in an appearance?