E3 first look: Spawn for PS2, GameCube and Xbox!

LOS ANGELES - Todd McFarlane is still looking for the perfect Spawn.

The creator of the popular comic book, movie and animated hero says that in all his experiences writing, drawing and directing, he still hasn't got it exactly right.

"In 120 issues of Spawn, I still can't say I've done the perfect Spawn," McFarlane said. "Now that we've done all those things, what's next is to continue to live and grow in those mediums."

Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn

And, on occasion, take off in a new direction. On Wednesday at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, McFarlane and Namco Ltd. announced plans to develop and publish a Spawn-based game for the PlayStation2, Nintendo GameCube and Microsoft Xbox gaming consoles.

In addition, Namco revealed that McFarlane Toys would be producing a line of SoulCalibur II action figures. In addition, McFarlane designed one of the SoulCalibur II characters, moves he said were almost accidental.

"I had just sold the Spawn rights, and in the discussion, it came up," McFarlane said. "We started asking 'What if?,' and it just went from there."

In addition to designing the Necrid character for SoulCalibur II, McFarlane also allowed Namco to include the Spawn character exclusively in the Xbox version of the game.

Namco plans to release the game, tentatively titled Spawn, later this year. According to a Namco news release, "Spawn is a mission-based action/adventure set against the backdrop of a darker near-future New York City environment."

Visitors to the Namco booth got a chance to play two special E3 missions, in which Spawn shoots, punches, kicks and flips his way through various hellish beasts in an attempt to maintain control of his city.

Special lithograph of the new Spawn video game

The game features a nice array of weapons, from paired 50-caliber pistols to a sawed-off shotgun and even paired miniguns, along with a giant double-bladed battelaxe. After destroying these creatures, players are expected to collect the freed souls, which come in several different colors and have special properties, from healing damage to opening warded and locked doors.

Spawn's special Hellspawn abilities also play a factor, as his chains sometimes act on their own to gather nearby souls and players can blast the hellish minions with necroplasmic bolts.

The death cutscene features Spawn's descent into Hell, and the hand of Malebolgia as it reaches up to grab the fallen warrior.

"We're trying to make the best game possible," McFarlane said, "so that even people who may not be familiar with Spawn, or who may even think he's new, will really enjoy it.

"I told the developers to just make a cool game. Don't limit my guy just because he has 10 years of history behind him."

McFarlane also said this isn't the end of the road for Spawn.

"This is our fourth crack at a video game," McFarlane said, "and we'll probably keep going. You grow with the medium.

It's not easy bringing a dead, damned soul back to life, but McFarlane keeps trying.

"Games breathe life into a creator's flat 2D (two-dimensional) images and bring them alive. That's something we want to keep doing."

Spawn*
Company: Namco
Release Date: Fall 2003
Platform: Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation 2
Web Site: http://www.spawn.com
ESRB Rating: Pending
Sabrehawk's Rating: 8/10
*Tentative title