Elsinore Baby! New Hamlet Preview!
Call him the Bard of Avon or England’s national poet or ShakeyP, there’s no doubt that William Shakespeare is one of the top contributors in the business today. That’s why we were positively exploding with anticipation when we learned he’d be dropping by our office with a recent build of his latest project, tentatively entitled Hamlet. To our disappointment, Hamlet wasn’t a cross between ham and an omelette, as tasty as that sounds. No, it’s a new play, one that according to its author will break new ground in the often staid tragedy genre. But will Shakespeare’s Hamlet really live up to all the hype? Hit the jump to find out how our demo went.
The scene we were presented with shows the titular Hamlet talking to his mother, Gertrude. Apparently, Hamlet’s father has been killed, and his uncle Claudius sits on the throne under somewhat suspicious circumstances. As best as we could make out, another man, Polonius, is spying on the conversation, and Hamlet, mistaking him for his villainous uncle, stabs him through a sheet. Or would have if the sword actually penetrated it– a Shakespeare rep was quick to point out that the plastic sword we saw would be replaced by a very realistic looking sword in the final shipping version of the play. After that, a ghost shows up and says some more stuff that we didn’t quite get– the plot gets very convoluted at this point, and all we could tell was that Gertrude was mad at her son and that he would be off to England. All in all, though, it was a pretty engaging scene and we were left with a definite sense of what Hamlet is going to be all about.
What did we like?
The words: If ShakeyP is famous for anything it’s for his way with words. Everyone’s speech was beautifully written and listening to the flowery soliloquies was like experiencing genuine literature.
The action: The only action sequence we got to witness was Hamlet stabbing Polonius, but we were impressed with what we saw. Hamlet convincingly lashed out and both Polonius and the sheet in front of him reacted realistically, with the cloth waving around and the old man dropping to one knee before he died. It’s nuances like this that have given Shakespeare the name he has today.
What didn’t we like?
Whiny young protagonist: Well, maybe ShakeyP’s been taking a little too many cues from the JRPG bag of tricks these days. Hamlet himself is a pretty unlikeable hero, one who spends too much time dithering about what to do and not enough time kicking ass. The devs are trying to portray him as a red-blooded young lad by giving him a love interest named Ophelia, but he seems suspiciously more at home with his buddies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. How gamers are going to identify with him is beyond us.
The words: Did we mention the play is long and full of words? We found ourselves nodding off a certain points. We suggested some kind of skip function, and the Bard seemed to like our idea, saying that not everyone really needs to hear all of that stuff. We’ll see if something like that gets implemented for the final version.
Graphics: The visuals have never been the strongest suit of Shakespeare’s works, but the ones we saw in Hamlet were a little bit concerning. The scene we watched only had three characters on the stage at any one time, and the bedroom setting was so sparse it looked like it could have been something from a couple generations back. Hopefully by the time the play comes out they’ll have passed a few more renders over the whole thing to bring it up to more modern standards.
Levity | June 23, 2009
Reader Comments (15)
...I also had a fishmonger joke in there somewhere, but I lost it.
Anyway, great preview!
Sigh.
ShakeyP has got to be the most overhyped playwright in the industry. I mean sure Julius Caesar had some pretty badass action scenes, but half of it was wordy crap just like his other crap he keeps crapping out.
so i loved the Henry IV trilogy back in day, that was awesome. why didn't he just keep making those? i kept hoping for Henry IV part 4. instead we got Richard III which was balls, and then a bunch of comedies. they were pretty funny but where's the action? if I wanted comedy I'd go watch the midgets at the fair lol!
I kept following his stuff though, until he totally sold out with R&J. wtf was that crap, i was like "why is my gf all of a sudden asking me to take her to a ShakeyP play" lol. it had that one good duel but the rest was donkey turds. he totally sold out to the mom and girlfriend crowd... cmon ShakeyP dont you remember who your real audience is?
i actually got my hopes up when I heard he was doing a Henry prequel, but then it turned out to be Henry IV. I wanted to see Henry VI kicking ass as a teenager dammit! I didn't even see Henry IV 1 or 2, but i know it wasn't even good enough for them to finish the trilogy so it must be pretty bad lol.
any1 who likes good action plays knows that ShakeyP sucks now. my friends and I arent even going to see Hamlet, we've pretty much gone back to bearbaiting until ShakeyP or some1 else gets their heads out of their buts and starts making good plays again
The matchmaking system was horrendous; the lack of public casual play was an inexcusable oversight and the Palace of the Duke of Albany map pack just proof of the fact that he rushed it. What a stupid idea that was. They could have released that as free marketplace content to everyone, but by ensuring only people who brought the play new had access to those maps they made them impossible to use. All you need is one player not to have them, in a given match, and no one can use them for the play. Stupid, utterly stupid.And what has he offered their loyal fans who've put up with all this crap? Expensive DLC. That's great.Personally I have no faith in Shakespeare; it's substance over style. Even Midsummer Night’s Dream had lag problems online - same play engine. King Lear was a massive step back and the playwright, the vastly overrated William Shakespeare has lacked the humility to admit they stuffed up or even offer the merest sop to the fans (at this point I'd be tempted to say suckers) who've made him a very very wealthy man.
So if you enjoy the play, that's great. But I choose not to settle for second best. Not when the market for plays is so overpriced. I won’t be watching Hamlet!
If it takes off, Hollywood will probably want to make a movie of it with all Brits, even though it takes place in Denmark. They never translate these things right. :)
Macbeth was released in piss-poor shape, to to get the patched up version without omissions or narrative gaps we had to wait till the third folio. THE THIRD!
I recognise it isn't his fault, it's idiotic mega-shilling outfits like the Globe pushing his work through too quickly just to fit in with the run up to Whitsunday. Kerching!
Love your work Shakey, but tell the money-men not to release your works until they're good and ready.
i mean no offense but u guyz r FAGGOTS lol hav u heard of izumo no okuni? no!!i knew dat cuz u guyz are bakas lmao
teh japs makebetter stuf neways n re more ahvant guard then shakeyPs (MORE LIKE SHAKEYPEEPEE HAHA)shit. [--kabuki is even more awesome bcuz i heard they only have hawt bitches play
i wish i cuould live in japan to get away from all the asswhole huffers here
Wtf is up with all this yammering about action, graphics and interactivity? It's all about the stories ffs. To be perfectly honest the graphics couldn't be less important. So what if the bedroom setting was somewhat spartan? It's the friggin dialogue one should pay attention to, not the blasted room itself.
Furthermore, I don't see why Shakey should dumb down his plays to satisfy the ridiculous demands of all these QQers, who - as a matter of fact - rarely watch plays, but instead spend their time whining about them in the square.
No, f**k this new generation of nublets and stay old school! Can't wait till Hamlet hits the stage!
ShakeyP is just the same old commercial crap, praised by new gamers, ignorant of the old classics.