Zoids Return on the 360

Today Atlus announced that Zoids Assault will arrive on the Xbox 360 on August 26th. Being a fan of all things Zoids, I've watched the animes, played the GBA and GameCube games released here, and even assembled (and customized) some of the cool models. And, of course, I had already seen the trailers off a Japanese Live account, so I was already excited for the game (called Zoids Alternative in Japan), but figured that the game would never come over to the US because Zoids just aren't hot in the US anymore. So why did Atlus decide to release Zoids Assault in a market that's been without them for years? Who cares! That fact is that they are releasing it and pretty much anything that Atlus touches tends to turn into gold.

Zoids Assault is a strategy RPG where you command an army of Zoids and can customize the weapons and look of the mechanical animals. What's great about this game is that the Zoids look more like real war machines than the usual brightly and/or primary colored Zoids in the animes. Atlus has already put up a Zoids Assault site off the main Atlus site with loads of screenshots, info, and extras regarding the game. The 360 also has another Zoids game in Japan. So, maybe if Zoids Assault does well enough then Atlus will bring over the other game? Maybe? Thanks, Atlus.

This is really how we need to start fighting our wars: with desert camo wolves and dirty steel ligers. 

The press release follows.

- Shawn - 05/13/08

 

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA — MAY 13 — Atlus U.S.A., Inc., hailed as publisher of the month by "Hulking War-Machine Weekly," today announced Zoids Assault, a gritty militaristic strategy RPG featuring enormous beasts of steel, exclusively for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Zoids Assault further demonstrates Atlus' commitment to Xbox 360® system and the strategy RPG genre, joining Operation Darkness and Spectral Force 3 in a stacked 2008 lineup.

Manage a team of elite war machines through a campaign of intense military conflicts. Advanced upgrade and customization options combine with challenging objective-based gameplay to offer a fresh new strategy RPG and a daring new vision of the long-running Zoids universe. Commanders, start your engines (of war)!

Zoids Assault is currently scheduled for release on August 26.

Visit the official site:
http://www.atlus.com/zoids

About Zoids Assault:
When war broke out between the world's two main superpowers, the Guylos Empire and the Republic of Helic, the effects rippled across the globe, dragging other nations into the fight. Two such nations were Maroll and Jamil.

During the war, Maroll's attacks on the neighboring Jamil were devastating, and even a decade after the war had ended, Jamil's economy and infrastructure hadn't fully recovered. Animosity, paranoia, and mutual mistrust between the two nations hindered their ability to find a common ground and complete their peace talks. For ten long years, the two nations found themselves in the middle of a cold war.

After a mysterious explosion at one of Maroll's military bases, two covert ops teams are sent into Jamil territory, their exact mission details never disclosed. Somehow, the events of the present are inextricably linked to the past—to the final days of the war, ten years ago...

Key Features:
• Command a Zoid army - Take control of a fleet of giant biomechanical life forms that blend the assets of beast and machine to create fierce weapons of war.
• Advanced military tactics - Facing armies that far outnumber you means optimizing your tactical advantages. Mastering the concentrated fire tactic, managing the scan gauge and support tactics, and utilizing the Electromagnetic Pulse System will be crucial to your survival.
• First-class customization - Take your units to the next level with upgrades, including melee weapons, rockets, rifles, machine guns, shotguns, cannons, and more

Zoids Assault has been rated "T" for Teen with Fantasy Violence and Mild Language by the ESRB.