Trick or Treat...

Ah, October…the month of magic and mayhem. And my birthday! But let us forget this auspicious occasion for a moment; let us instead put it to the back of our minds to recall at a later date. Perhaps when you’re out shopping…

I am of course referring to the enchanting event that is Halloween and the delightful, frightful fascination we Homo sapiens have with it. One group of Homo sapiens in particular, at Double Fine Productions (founded by the legendary Tim Schafer of Monkey Island fame) have created an aesthetically charming, downloadable game available on XBLA and PSN, dubbed Costume Quest, with a Halloween release date.

Double Fine attribute the game to Tasha Harris, lead animator. The inception took place during a time known as “Amnesia Fortnights”, when Double Fine was without a publisher. During this period, the team diverged into four groups, each working on their own projects. Once development resumed on Brutal Legend however, the projects weren’t pursued. When it later came to light that EA had not authorised a sequel, Tim Schafer once again turned his attention to the fantastic four with a view to developing these into smaller games. Schafer succeeded and THQ opted to publish two of the games as downloadable titles; Costume Quest being the first of these.

Costume Quest is an action RPG that takes place on Halloween. A brother and sister (twins called Wren and Reynold) are off for a spooky night of trick-or-treating. One of them is allocated the responsibility of looking after their twin by their mother; the choice is up to the player, as this is the character you’ll subsequently play through the game with. And so the evening begins….

Things very quickly take a darker turn as your sibling is kidnapped! And all because of their provocative outfit…But fear not! This isn’t a discourse on the seedy underbelly of the society in which we live today. The perpetrator is a gluttonous ghoul with a sweet tooth, who mistakes your other half for a giant piece of candy.

The task at hand is clear. You must navigate your way around the neighbourhood, battling monsters, witches and bullies, scouring the streets for clues to your sisters (or brothers) whereabouts. Along the way, you’ll encounter NPC characters you can befriend to help you in your endeavours as you collect candy, points and quests to rescue your twin and save Halloween!

This all sounds very pleasant. But scuttling about in a cardboard robot costume yo’ mama made isn’t necessarily going to make you feel like Mister Big Balls. But an interesting twist awaits you…When Reynold engages in battle, he morphs into a gargantuan beast, not dissimilar to Optimus Prime, bestowing the feeling of being a bit of a bad ass upon you. So once again, all is right with the world. The costume related super powers extend to all of the characters and the morphing cut scenes put He-man to shame!

Costume Quest looks set to be a super sweet downloadable game. The juxtaposition of the cutesy cartoon style of the RPG portion of the game works superbly with the action segments, with an animation style reminiscent of a Japanese Manga. You genuinely will be in for a treat this Halloween.

Watch the trailer at http://www.costumequestgame.com/