While getting our E3 demo last week of the Xbox Live Arcade and PSN game “The War of the Worlds,” it sure sounded like Patrick Stewart of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” fame was doing the narrative parts of the game. The dev team was coy at the time, but sure enough, today comes news that Patrick Stewart is, in fact, the narrator for the The War of the Worlds.
The War of the Worlds is Paramount Interactive’s upcoming side-scrolling platformer based on the classic novel by H.G. Wells. The game follows one man’s experience in 1950s London during a decimating alien invasion.
The War of the Worlds is a single-player, 2D action-adventure whose narrative parallels the timeline and events from the 1953 movie adaptation. However, it introduces a new story arc, characters, locations and sub-plots. The gameplay itself pays homage to classic cinematic platformers such as Out of This World (yes, I had many semi-frustrating memories of that game while watching the demo), as players follow the exploits of an unknown everyman struggling to escape the Martian invasion of London and rescue his family.
Players will be forced to outsmart an army of alien tripods, spiders and drones as they make their way through a landscape of total devastation.
Patrick Stewart is known to millions for his role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the popular TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as his performance as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film franchise. However, providing narration for The War of the Worlds is an experience that hearkens back to Stewart’s childhood.
“As a young boy, I remember watching the The War of the Worlds so many times I was quoting the lines,” said Stewart. “The alien invasion both terrified and fascinated me and the movie has stuck with me since then. Now, being part of this project will provide a new way for gamers around the world to experience a fresh new take on a classic.”