Paradox is best known as a developer of grand strategy titles, but as a publisher they have released titles across a vast amount of genres. They replied to a joke this morning by posing the question “Which of our game worlds would work best in that |team-based tactical third-person shooter| genre?”
We thought we’d accept the challenge, with a twist. Below you’ll find the good and the bad, and most importantly, our reasoning behind them.
The Good
Prison Architect
The game all about building your perfect prison already includes an escape mode, putting you in the shoes of an inmate desperate to tunnel through his toilet bowl. As a third person shooter, you could work with your gang to steel tools from the workshop or spoons from the canteen, playing the model inmate while beating down rival gangs in the yard. But be careful, if the riots start before you can escape, wave after wave of riot police would swarm in, forcing you to fight your way to freedom.
Battletech
Stomping around in giant mechs is already possible thanks to this turn-based brawler that features a surprisingly lengthy campaign mode. Dump the turns, lock you in a single cockpit, and switch out the hundreds of missions for a branching tree of a dozen epic scale maps. Season with several score enemies, from missile toting infantry to mechs that make yours look like a cereal prize, and you’d get a varied and replayable loot crawler with upgrade opportunities between missions.
Magicka 2
WIZARDS! I’m not sure what else needs to be said here… but for clarity; wizards with awesome element-twisting magic that combines with the magic of your teammates. The games in this series are already set up for a perfect transition to third-person. Sure, you’ll be shooting spells instead of bullets but when you cross the beams and all hell breaks lose, you won’t be lacking for explosions. Don’t forget the graphics that would add a real charm to a genre normally dominated by gritty realism.
Surviving Mars
So you’re living in a beautiful domed city surrounded by deep red dunes, and some plonker upstairs keeps building stuff in entirely the wrong places. Take up arms with your Martian brothers and lead the rebellion against the incompetent corporate behemoth making you walk that extra few feet a day. Big domes, space suits, possibly a funky little buggy - to us that sounds like a recipe for success.
The Bad
Victoria II
While the setting would lead itself to some brilliant battles, the reign of Victoria was fraught with inequality. The Zulu war is perhaps one of the worst examples of a leader going rogue, and a shooter glorifying British Imperialism would get some serious bad press. Probably best to steer away from the topic and into a more acceptable time period.
Hearts of Iron IV
While a third person tactical game based in WW2 would be socially acceptable and probably pretty fun, the premise has been done too many times to warrant another attempt. Can you say ‘boring’?
