[E3] Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic IGN Hands On

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US, July 15, 2008 - A few years ago, PC owners were introduced to an interesting physics based fighting game where players could string together interesting attacks and kung fu attacks with characters that moved like puppets. The title was Rag Doll Kung Fu, and the developer was a small outfit known as Media Molecule. While they have moved on to their latest upcoming project (something known as LittleBigPlanet), Tarsier Studios have decided to pick up where the title left off, developing Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic, which is designed to be a direct extension of the previous title. At E3, we managed to get some hands on time with the brawler.

Fists of Plastic will have a single player mode, where you will select one of six basic characters and learn the various combat moves that are available to your rag doll, which are surprisingly diverse. Square punches and Triangle kicks, while Circle blocks and X jumps. R1 lets you grab everything from weapons and pots to noodles that replenish your health. L2 and R2 correspond to those arms, and by chaining those buttons with the analog sticks, you can pose your characters into any number of positions. These positions will build up your chi, which can be deployed in a number of ways. For example, players can pull on the L1 button to trigger the Chi, lift up and then slam down the controller to create an earthquake slam. By pulling L1 and shaking the controller, you can build up a larger fireball before flinging it towards your enemies. Even turning the controller upside down puts your fighter in a lotus position, allowing them to float into the air and heal damage. A surprising amount of flexibility would be an understatement.

The single player mode will translate into unlocking new objects or items that you'll use to customize your characters, adding masks, costumes and other features to make the fighters your own. From there, players can enter the multiplayer arena, which will support up to four players in off or online play with six different modes available. There were two modes in the pre-alpha build that were being shown: King of the Hill, where you gain points the longer you remain atop a structure and perform martial arts poses, and Capture the Fish, which is akin to Capture the Flag, but you need to grab a fish and throw it into a basket.

We tried our hand at Capture the Fish, which was a rather frantic battle over three minutes as we battled for the respawning item. Not only could we throw the fish at our opponents as a weapon, which stunned them long enough for us to come in and hit them with a fast combo of fists and feet, we could attempt to toss the fish into the basket from across the screen (think about a distant aquatic three pointer). Players could even accidentally help their opponents that were running with the fish, as a kick or aerial combo could sent both them and the fish flying towards the goal. It was intriguing, and with it only being a pre-alpha build, it'll be interesting to see how much is added before the game is released this winter.

Source: http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/890/890244p1.html

[whYeNQue]

i still have the original rag doll kung fu on my pc :D the controls are something new and interesting, but it gets annoying after about 15 mins of play...

these look like real marionette puppets in the screens. any suggestions how much it will cost? might be a cool lil game to play with lots of friends after a night out.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

I really like the style of this game, it could use a bit more colour though.

Looking forward to it :yes: