Lock 'n Load 2 brings real-time 3D deathmatches to mobile
Swede's dreams are made of this
The Swedish are masters of teamwork. Last night they worked together to hold England to a two-all draw in the final World Cup group qualifying stage – today Stockholm-based mobile games publisher Blaze is teaming up with two high tech outfits to deliver Doom-like 3D deathmatches on Symbian mobile phones.
Blaze's Lock 'n Load 2 employs two bits of whiz-bang technology to bring its first-person multiplayer shooting to life: Terraplay's MOVE 3.1 platform, and sister company Synergenix's mophun engine.
All very well in Swedish, but what on earth does it mean in English?
Well, Lock 'n Load 2's rendered 3D environments are made possible by mophun – software that enables developers to plug-in lots of basic but fast functionality so they can get on with designing their game.
"Using the latest mophun technology, Lock 'n Load 2 pushes the mobile hardware to its limits and will overshadow all mobile 3D first-person shooters" reckons the glass-half-full Martin Forsling, Blaze's European general manager.
The Terraplay's MOVE 3.1 platform meanwhile is what enables Lock 'n Load 2's multiplayer gaming. It's basically a bunch of networked computers dedicated to finding you other mobile gamers to take on, and then matching you up and keeping everyone in the loop on who's committing what carnage.
Lock 'n Load 2 will support up to eight players via these Terraplay servers, across four different multiplayer maps. There's also a Bluetooth mode for taking on a nearby friend where you can see the whites of his eyes, and a ten level singleplayer mode.
Lock 'n Load 2 will be locked and loaded for Symbian handsets by August (including Symbian 9).