Rock of Ages (video game)
Encyclopedia
Rock of Ages is an action-strategy video game, developed by ACE Team
. Unlike Ace Team's first and previous game, Zeno Clash
, Rock of Ages is powered by Unreal Engine 3
. It is for Windows
, and Xbox Live Arcade
and was released by Atlus
on August 31, 2011.. The game has yet to be released for the PlayStation Network and no release date has been made official.
strategy with a rolling ball mechanic similar to games such as Marble Madness
and Super Monkey Ball
. The aim of the game is to use a large stone boulder to attack the enemy's castle at the bottom of the hill, whilst using various defensive structures to defend your own. Players can use a variety of obstacles to defend the path leading up to the castle, such as buildings, dynamite, windmills and animals. Players can also plant money farms in order to raise the funds needed to use certain objects. The player can only add obstacles on green colored landscapes, which turn unusable when obstacles or money farms are planted on top of them. When ready to attack, the player can take control of a boulder and roll it down the hill, avoiding obstacles in order to attack the enemy castle's gate. If the player has enough points, he can equip the boulder with power-ups, such as armor or magma, which enhance the boulder's defensive or offensive capabilities, though they will lose this power up if the boulder takes sufficient damage. Once the boulder hits the gate, or their boulder breaks after taking too much damage, there is a small recharge period before another boulder can be launched. The player wins if he can break through the castle gates and place his boulder in the centre of the castle, killing the opponent.
The game will have a story mode, which is loosely based on the myth of Sisyphus
and features various stages and boss levels, and several multiplayer modes. "War" features two players attempting to break each other's castle gates, whilst "Skee Boulder" requires players to race down a lane hitting targets before landing in skeeball-style board while attempting to land their boulder in the target with the largest score multiplier.
Rock of Ages features a chronology which spans across five time periods: Ancient Greek
, Medieval
, Renaissance
, Rococo
and Goya
. Each time period features a unique, Pythonesque art style during gameplay. The team narrowed their selection to these five periods from a larger pool of 16 time periods which included Neoclassic
, Prehistoric, and Impressionism
.
ACE Team
ACE Team is an independent entertainment software developer based in Santiago, Chile. ACE Team has licensed the Source Engine to develop and distribute its debut game Zeno Clash. Most of the members of the team have experience working on PC games, the Xbox Live Arcade platform and game...
. Unlike Ace Team's first and previous game, Zeno Clash
Zeno Clash
Zeno Clash is a 3D fighting game or brawler, with some elements of a first-person shooter. It is the debut game of Chilean developer ACE Team and uses Valve Corporation's Source engine. It was first released for download through Valve's content delivery service, Steam, on April 21,...
, Rock of Ages is powered by Unreal Engine 3
Unreal Engine 3
Unreal Engine 3 is a computer game engine developed by Epic Games. It is the third generation of Unreal Engine, designed for DirectX 9/10/11 personal computers , the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation Vita, the Wii U, Android and OpenGL-based operating systems such as iOS and Mac OS X...
. It is for Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, and Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
and was released by Atlus
Atlus
is a Japanese computer and video game developer, publisher, and distributor based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for developing the console role-playing game franchise Megami Tensei. The first Megami Tensei was a Nintendo Entertainment System video game published by Namco based on a trilogy of...
on August 31, 2011.. The game has yet to be released for the PlayStation Network and no release date has been made official.
Gameplay
The game combines tower defenseTower defense
Tower defense is a subgenre of real-time strategy computer games.The goal of tower defense games is to try to stop enemies from crossing a map by building towers which shoot at them as they pass. Enemies and towers usually have varied abilities, costs, and ability costs...
strategy with a rolling ball mechanic similar to games such as Marble Madness
Marble Madness
Marble Madness is an arcade video game designed by Mark Cerny, and published by Atari Games in 1984. It is a platform game in which the player must guide an onscreen marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a...
and Super Monkey Ball
Super Monkey Ball (series)
The Super Monkey Ball series is a series of arcade platform games developed by Amusement Vision and distributed by Sega. It features 4 characters : AiAi, MeeMee, Baby and GonGon...
. The aim of the game is to use a large stone boulder to attack the enemy's castle at the bottom of the hill, whilst using various defensive structures to defend your own. Players can use a variety of obstacles to defend the path leading up to the castle, such as buildings, dynamite, windmills and animals. Players can also plant money farms in order to raise the funds needed to use certain objects. The player can only add obstacles on green colored landscapes, which turn unusable when obstacles or money farms are planted on top of them. When ready to attack, the player can take control of a boulder and roll it down the hill, avoiding obstacles in order to attack the enemy castle's gate. If the player has enough points, he can equip the boulder with power-ups, such as armor or magma, which enhance the boulder's defensive or offensive capabilities, though they will lose this power up if the boulder takes sufficient damage. Once the boulder hits the gate, or their boulder breaks after taking too much damage, there is a small recharge period before another boulder can be launched. The player wins if he can break through the castle gates and place his boulder in the centre of the castle, killing the opponent.
The game will have a story mode, which is loosely based on the myth of Sisyphus
Sisyphus
In Greek mythology Sisyphus was a king punished by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this throughout eternity...
and features various stages and boss levels, and several multiplayer modes. "War" features two players attempting to break each other's castle gates, whilst "Skee Boulder" requires players to race down a lane hitting targets before landing in skeeball-style board while attempting to land their boulder in the target with the largest score multiplier.
Rock of Ages features a chronology which spans across five time periods: Ancient Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, Medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
and Goya
Francisco Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era...
. Each time period features a unique, Pythonesque art style during gameplay. The team narrowed their selection to these five periods from a larger pool of 16 time periods which included Neoclassic
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
, Prehistoric, and Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
.