No one would have believed, in the last years of the nineteenth century, that human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space. No one could have dreamed that we were being scrutinized as someone with a microscope studies creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. Few men even considered the possibility of life on other planets. And yet, across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely, they drew their plans against us.
Orson Wells narrated it during his infamous radio play. Morgan Freeman narrated it in Spielberg’s excellent film adaptation. Now, Patrick Stewart’s going to take a wack at the famous narration of The War of the Worlds in yet another format- games. He’ll be lending his voice to the upcoming video game adaptation by developer Other Ocean.
Now before you get excited about some massive alien-blasting first person shooter, this is a side-scrolling platform game that seems to be more in line with something like Limbo, and will be released over Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network. It’s using the 1953 film as its setting, paralleling the timeline and events but also includuing a new story arc and characters. You play as an everyman trying to get through the alien invasion and get back to his family, and they’re promising a gameplay experience that pays homage to Flashback and Out of This World.
As for the narration, I don’t have to tell you how perfect Patrick Stewart will be.
“As a young boy, I remember watching the The War of the Worlds so many times I was quoting the lines,” said Stewart in a press release. “The alien invasion both terrified and fascinated me and the movie has stuck with me since then.”
Other Ocean will release the game sometime this summer. Keep an eye out for it and forget your flu shots this year!