Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard

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Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard

Eat Lead: the Return of Matt Hazard is an upcoming action game for PlayStation 3. The game is being developed by Vicious Cycle Software and will be published by D3 Publisher.
Matt Hazard pits players in the role of the title character, a "legendary" gaming hero who is "returning to glory" in a new video game, some 25 years after his debut game and 6 years after his last game. In reality, the Matt Hazard character is in his first video game, with a history made up by D3 Publisher to chronicle the character's rise and fall in popularity. The Return of Matt Hazard marks Hazard's fictitious "comeback" to the gaming scene.
The game itself is to be a parody of action-gaming cliches. The October 2008 debut trailer was done as a Behind the Music spoof called Inside the Game complete with Jim Forbes narration. It chronicles Matt Hazard's successes and hardships, including Matt claiming he "nailed that English chick who raids catacombs", directly referencing Lara Croft, stating it's "how she got the job".[1] It also is the first real game in a fictional series mirroring the progression of the Duke Nukem series of games, from early 8-bit to modern consoles.


Box Cover


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Plot
Little is known so far about the game's plot. Matt Hazard, a legendary video game character with over 25 years of video games to his credit, is attempting a "comeback" of sorts in a new game on next-generation consoles. In the game, Matt will be taking on all of his old adversaries from his previous adventures. In reality, the "comeback" game is being staged by one of his old enemies, the CEO of the game's company who grew to hate Matt Hazard through the difficulty of his games, who has complete control over the game world and manipulates the game world seemingly at will, similar to the classic Warner Bros. animated cartoon Duck Amuck.
The game is a spoof of gaming and, as such, will poke fun at many aspects of gaming and culture. Pete Andrew, vice president of product development at D3 Publisher, says, "Eat Lead parodies some of our fondest memories in classic gaming and pop culture, so gamers will have a laugh out loud experience every time they pick-up the controller."
2009's Eat Lead is Hazard's return to form and the thirteenth game in the series, albeit the first to actually exist.
The title character and the villain will be voiced by Will Arnett and Neil Patrick Harris respectively.

Trailer
Click Here

Development
In September 2008, a pair of websites appeared. The blog, "The Real Matt Hazard", as well as the website "Weapons of Matt Destruction", served as a viral marketing campaign to promote the game. Each would serve to establish Matt Hazard and his fictional video games as major influences that have shaped video gaming into what we see today. For example, a blog post identifies Matt's first arcade game, 1983's The Adventures of Matt in Hazard Land, as "the original 8-bit side-scroller", while other Hazard games are responsible for such gaming events and annoyances as "the Steamy Coffee Controversy", the ability to jump in a game, and longer development cycles. They also established the series' fictional developer, Marathon Software. Matt Hazard was "resurrected" by D3 Publisher when they announced the newest game in the Matt Hazard series, Eat Lead.

On October 3, 2008, Eat Lead was officially announced, alongside a third Matt Hazard website, "Matt Hazard :: The unofficially OFFICIAL guide to the world's greatest game hero ever created!!!". The site details the history of ten of Hazard's games, which all focus on a different gaming stereotype or parody other similar games of the era: A trailer was released for Eat Lead alongside the announcement. "Gametrailers World Exclusive Debut Trailer". Retrieved on 2008-10-04.In the trailer, a modern Hazard sits down for a Behind the Music-style interview (complete with voiceover from Music's Jim Forbes) in which Hazard and other characters (themselves cliches of the "old-school bad guy" and the "mandatory hot chick") reminisce about Hazard's rise in popularity as his polygon and pixel count grew, up until his fall when he was put into "kiddy games". The trailer concludes with Matt stating that he doesn't give up that easily and that he's making a comeback.
Game Informer notes that Will Arnett voices Matt Hazard, while Neil Patrick Harris portrays Marathon exec Wallace "Wally" Wellesley. The magazine adds further that "characters like Captain Carpenter and Master Chef are more overt references to specific franchises."

The game will be a third-person action game in which Matt takes on all of his old adversaries from his games. It will feature "hack effects", whereby the levels are manipulated on the fly, resulting in sudden and dramatic changes in the game world, including changes within the gameplay, graphics, sound and enemy AI.

Information:
Official Web Site: http://www.eatleadvideogame.com/
Official Blog: http://therealmatthazard.wordpress.com/
Trophies: Click Here
Release Date: March 3, 2009