14 DAY TRIAL // What we know:
Video game developer and publisher Paradox Interactive is best known for creating grand strategy titles but with War of the Roses they are trying to make a very different beast, a game which focuses on melee combat and is oriented towards the multiplayer experience.
The gamers will become a fighter of the Medieval era, choosing his weapons and his armor before joining a number of teammates in order to bash and cut the hell out of an opposing team.
The game will focus on the melee, but the developers will also implement a role-playing system, allowing for characters to progress up skill trees in order to better develop fighting abilities and create an overall style.
War of the Roses takes place between 1455 and 1485 and the initial announcement for the game says that it will also focus on treachery, which suggests that there’s at least one extra layer to the game.
Paradox Interactive also plans to implement a single player campaign which will be more of an extended training period for the multiplayer side, allowing a gamer to rise from a lowly peasant to a tough armored killing machine.
The developers are also promising pretty solid graphics, although it’s not clear what engine they plan to use.
Why it matters:
Paradox has grown steadily during the last few years, moving beyond Europa Universalis and Hearts of Iron to more exotic releases like Magicka and Cities in Motion, and War of the Roses, with its focus on melee fights and multiplayer, could be the project that makes them a more mainstream company.
But War of the Roses is very risky because of the two genres it is trying to marry and the game could end up only attracting a niche audience like Mount & Blade currently does.
The full Incoming 2012 series of articles can be read on Softpedia right here.