Pirate Beat 'Em Up

I've been thinking for a while that the world needs more awesome pirate games. Ninjas, robots, aliens, zombies, vampires and medieval creatures of all varieties have all been staples of the videogame industry for decades. Pirates, however, have gotten the shaft and deserve far more attention. So, when trying to come up with a cool new take on the 2-player co-op beat 'em up genre (think Double Dragon, Final Fight or Streets of Rage), my first immediate thought was to make it about pirates. So here we go!


Atmosphere

A rough plot for the game goes something like this. Amongst all of the pirate vessels in the Caribbean, yours is considered something of a tall tale. Stories speak of a four-man crew, a small ship designed for blinding speed, that attacks unknowing vessels from the periphery. Launching rapid volleys, the ship simply cripples one key area of its target, allowing the small team to board the larger boat through the new doorway that's been ripped in its hull. Upon invading the larger ship, the meager team of invaders beats the unholy hell out of just about every living thing available, loads up as much treasure and swag as their ship can carry and then leaves their target a limping derelict in the middle of the sea.

Your crew consists of three men and one woman. The Captain is the quick-witted helmsman that steers his ship to conquest. He is a sort of visual cross between Jack Sparrow and Captain Hook, with a tri-corner hat, a long coat, a single engraved flintlock pistol and fierce hook on his right hand. The Cannoneer is the ship's ranged weaponry specialist, brandishing a pair of flintlocks and cutlass, dressed in typical "pirate underling" attire: eyepatch, sleeveless shirt, tattered trousers, bandanna. The Raven is the crew's sole female, and serves as the ship's lookout. With a long blonde braid, a pair of long curved daggers and a large quantity of throwing knives, she also plays her combative role like a graceful assassin. Finally, The Mule is the ship's deckhand and "mechanic", doing all of the tough lifting and heavy hitting. Armed with his bare fists, and sporting filthy, torn clothing from numerous hours cleaning and repairing every inch of the ship.

My concept of the presentation is a 2D, sidescrolling brawler with a bold color palette and a lot of depth to the backgrounds. I see character sprites that don't dominate the screen real estate, leaving a lot of room for verticality and acrobatics, but also allowing for some charming detail in their design. Stages will be designed with multiple platforms and levels of play-area in mind. Basically, imagine a pirate-themed Gunstar Heroes that focuses on melee rather than ranged combat, with flashy colorful current gen 2D graphics to boot.

I see an overall level progression moving from an enemy pirate vessel on the blue seas in daytime, to a dense jungle littered with the remnants of dark stone structures, to the interior of the enemy pirate crew's half stone temple/half wrecked ship base. Then moving onto a battle through a pirate harbor under a starry night, across its twisted mass of piers and docks, into the grimy lantern-lit town, and through its underground smuggling catacombs. Eventually, the adventure leads to an attack on a royal port city, eventually through the mansion-fortress of the island's lord. Finally, through a whirling thunderstorm at sea, the team assaults a massive ghost ship and its hellish crew.

All in all, I don't want the presentation to be seen as a Saturday-morning cartoon kind of thing. The game should be colorful and vibrant, but not a super deformed cute-fest. I'd like it to be geared more towards a slightly older crowd, but not so much that we've got severed heads and foul language flying around. A comfortable medium is what I ask for.


Gameplay

To begin, the four characters to choose from share common ground in terms of general capabilities. They can run, jump, use melee attacks, ranged attacks, context sensitive actions (like opening doors or flipping switches), and use some form of screen-clearing super attack. The way in which each character uses these basic abilities, in addition to others, is what sets them apart. One major aspect of the gameplay I'd like to address is the ranged combat. I like the idea of this being a flashy, acrobatic sidescrolling beat 'em up, but I also like the idea of each character being equipped with a flintlock, or daggers or something to that effect. Not to turn it into Contra, mind you, but rather to offer an alternate attack option and mix up the gameplay somewhat. I see the ranged weapons having a longer pause between uses, due to their archaic nature, but I see a single shot wholly eliminating a tier one or two enemy. I also like the idea of the ranged attacks being either aimable in any direction, or fitted with a lock-on option so no shot goes to waste.

I also would like to see the multi-level design of the stages put to use with cool acrobatic abilities and attacks. I don't want it to be Final Fight or Double Dragon, where there is depth of movement on the ground, but practically no aerial movement to speak of. I'd prefer level and character structure that emulates the original Ninja Gaiden, with a flatter field of movement on the ground, but a lot of neat platforming and jumping around. I personally see things like The Captain getting some sort of Bionic Commando style grapple wire for his hook hand, or The Raven getting Ninja Gaidenesque wall-clinging abilities.

Most importantly, I want a truly intriguing skill/ability tree system. One particular cult favorite amongst the beat 'em up crew is River City Ransom, the reason largely being the RPG-lite character building elements fused into the game. I want something similar, however, I'd prefer a sort of simple tree system, in which each player is guaranteed one upgrade after each stage, rather than having to grind for points or cash to afford the upgrades. I see each level presenting the player with a choice between upgrading their melee attack, ranged attack or movement abilities. Each upgrade should be unique to the character and the level after which it was purchased, so that an upgrade passed up previously will be unavailable at later levels. It would potentially make each playthrough a much more unique experience. In addition, I have to stress the importance of making each upgrade visually different. If you choose to upgrade your melee attack with The Cannoneer, his sword strikes will do more damage. However, it shouldn't just be left at that. He should get a new sword, one with a different shape and color, flashier attack animations, and even special effects like flame or crackling electricity. Upgrading your characters shouldn't just be a boring old stat increase, where the only effects of your decision are a barely perceived difference in how long it takes to kill an enemy. Every single upgrade in the game should offer something more badass to see, hear and use than the last one.

To flesh out the characters a little more, I'll explain why you would choose one over another. The Captain is focused primarily on melee, using his hook hand to get in close and nasty against foes. I see him launching a powerful uppercut into the gut of an opponent, skewering him, then swinging him in an arc overhead and slamming him skull first into the ground. He is equipped with a single flintlock, but going face-to-face with his opponent is his specialty. The Cannoneer wields both a cutlass and a pair of flintlocks, his expertise lying in the use of his guns. With the ability to reload one pistol while firing another, his speed with his firearms is double that of the other characters. Again, this doesn't turn him into Mad Dog in a pirate costume, but it allows him to rely on ranged attacks far more than other characters. The Raven is a character based around speed and agility. Both her dual-bladed melee attacks and throwing knives are quick, but less effective per strike than the other characters. She should also have a slightly larger focus on agility-based skills. The Mule is all about brute strength, standing much larger than the other crew members and waltzing into battle without even so much as a wooden plank to defend himself with. His ranged weapon should actually be the ability to grab weaker enemies and hurl them at great force against his targets. I would also like to see melee attack upgrades of his to include brass knuckles and the like.

I see this being a game consisting of somewhere around fifteen levels. I'd like the overall length to not be anything terribly long, maybe two hours for a second or third playthrough. I want people to play the game multiple times through, trying each of the characters and testing different upgrades. I see eleven of the fifteen levels being the primary sidescrolling design, with four levels intermittently presenting that whole "high speed assault" concept introduced at the beginning. I'd like to see a system in which you actually guide your ship speedily towards an enemy vessel, crippling a specific part of the boat with rapid attacks and eventually boarding. I don't have this particular element developed too deeply, I just know most great sidescrolling co-op games like Contra have some sort of alternate gameplay option that presents itself every few levels.

Oh, and as long as we're discussing co-op, I have to stress that this is a two-player game. Four characters to choose from, yes, but I don't want too many people cluttering up the screen at once. This isn't Gauntlet.


Technology

Really, there's not a ton to say here. Clean, crisp colorful visuals. A good amount of depth of vision in the backgrounds. I see the game played on a standard controller like the Dual Shock 3, XBox 360 Controller or Wii Classic Controller. I'm personally leaning towards this being a retail Wii release, simply because a smaller game released on a Wii disc is going to be easier for the public to swallow than on a 360 or PS3 disc. I also prefer the idea of a retail release because it would probably be a little large as a Live Arcade or PSN download.

That's about all I've got on this one for the time being. If you have any ideas of your own, or opinions on the concept, please share them. Thanks for tuning in!