Project P-100 Preview and Gameplay

Project P-100 is a new game Nintendo announced for the WiiU. It has game elements like Pikmin, style similar to Viewtiful Joe, and giant boss battles like God of War.

A town is invaded by aliens and you must organize them to defeat the invaders and save the town. You play as one main character but control many townsfolk at the same time in a similar fashion to Pikmin. Unlike Pikmin you do not send out the people to do smaller individual tasks, but use all of them in unison to attack the enemies, form giant weapons, and dodge simultaneously.

P-100 Basic Controls

One joystick on the Gamepad controls the main character while the other can move the surrounding townsfolk. The other buttons on the gamepad will release different attacks like a bunch from the main character, lots of punches from all people, or super attacks. On the Gamepad you can draw various shapes to choose the type of super attack to use like a straight line for a sword and an L shape for a gun. You then push a button to release the attack on the enemies.

The controls definitely took a while to get used to though because there is a lot you can do. By the end of the 6 minute demo I felt fairly comfortable but initially it felt like button mashing as I tried to defeat enemies. After the initial learning curve you should be able to elegantly dodge an enemies attack, quickly form a giant sword and destroy a monster in short order. It feels very rewarding when you do master it.

Additional Strategy and Customization

One of the developers on the show floor confirmed that you can change the main character leading the group to utilize their strengths. One character might have a stronger gun attack and another may move faster. After defeating bosses objects that look like coins drop and can be collected. The developers wouldn't confirm, but my guess is you will use this money to buy new attacks and/or upgrade weapons.

As you move around town you encounter additional people asking for help. If you draw a "U" shape on the gamepad all the characters you control will create a "friendship rainbow" (this is what the lady demoing the product called it). The characters will form a U on the TV similar to the shape you drew and you can move all of them around the townsfolk and they will join your ever growing army.

The trailer below shows even more strategic elements that were not shown in the demo. Like different colored townsmen in what appears to be either a multiplayer mode or the ability to control different groups of your army independently.

Puzzles Inside Buildings

In P-100 there are some puzzle segments when you go inside buildings. The gameplay shifts entirely to the gamepad screen and the action changes to 3rd person perspective behind the main character. The demo showed a very rudimentary puzzle with you having to open a locked door by changing a combination of numbers. After solving the puzzle and leaving the room the game shifts back to the TV and control of all the townsmen.

Project P-100 Graphics

The game looks very good in motion. The designers did not attempt a realistic style but more of an animated, comic type of style but the WiiU pulls it off very well. The style reminds me of Viewtiful Joe in some ways with a bit of a comic book appearance to it. The main character in the demo even looked like Viewtiful in the puzzle segment with a big flowing cape and a similar jumping action.

Overall