Simon Edis of Ezone met with us at WWDC to show off their latest creation. Ezone has been responsible for such titles as Crazy Snowboard, Scarecrow and many more. When we first heard about that they were working on a hoverboard game, my initial thought was that they would simply be reskinning their existing snowboard game. But, instead of another downhill racer, they actually have created the beginnings of what feels more like a 3D exploration platformer.
Explore a turbo-charged 3D world of the future with your fully customized avatar. Hover World features high-speed racing, half-pipes, grinds, loops, exploration, fighting, puzzles, and infinite unlockables. Coming soon to iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
Central to the game is a world hub where you can fly around and get upgrades and customizations. From there, you can go to any one of many portals that take you to different levels with independent missions. We’re told these missions can be one of various goals including collecting gems, tricks, fighting and potentially more. The early version of the game that we were shown showed how you could get from one mission to another and the various environments possible.
On the hoverboard, you can perform tricks on supplied obstacles such as ramps, half pipes, loops and more, along with a trick system planned. Some of the other features they’ve listed show a pretty ambitious project:
- Collect gems (the in-game currency) to unlock items, upgrades, and character accessories
- Customize: play as male or female, change face, hair, hats, skin, clothing, boards, accessories, etc
- Discover hidden secrets by solving puzzles and completing challenges
- Create your own skate-park area with items you unlock
- Social game-play lets you visit your friends’ customised skate-park
- Episodic updates with additional content including new gameplay areas, missions, items and character accessories
- PhysX engine for realistic motion and collisions
Here’s Edis showing us the game hands-on at WWDC:
