Turning Point: Fall of Liberty

When you see the opening sequence to Turning Point, it feels like whatever alternate-timestream creating entity that created Turning Point's reality should have also plucked Paul Revere out of 1775, dropped him into alternate-1952 New York, and have him ride around shrieking, "the Nazis are coming, the Nazis are coming!" The images of massive zeppelins dropping off Wehremacht paratroopers, bombers peppering the streets with fire, and tanks demolishing skyscrapers in Manhattan are bold and compelling, and should help distinguish Turning Point from other WWII-era action games.

The American Reich
"We didn't want to make just another shooter in either the Pacific or European theater. And we didn't want just another rendition of D-Day or a similar battle," comments producer Dean Martinelli. To that end, the development team at Spark did some reading on what the Third Reich would have done if given the chance to invade America, and extrapolated those plans into the game's fiction. In the Turning Point universe, Churchill is killed in 1931, England surrenders in 1950, and the Axis steamrolls over America two years later. Other influences for the game's feel and tone run from obvious fare such as Guns of the Navarone and Bridge over the River Kwai, to less obvious ones like The Pianist and the Ratchet & Clank series of all things (mostly for the "vertical" feel of the level design).

Besides the crazy "Nazis win and invade America" setting, the other interesting facet of Turning Point is how you play just a normal dude. You're not a soldier or a handpicked agent for the newfangled OSS, you're just a guy in construction working on a Manhattan skyscraper. As you navigate the various beams and girders, buildings explode, zeppelins crash, and even the very building you're on starts to crumble. As you balance your way to safety, you occasionally slip and fall, only to be find yourself grabbing onto a girder in the third-person perspective. Designer Robert Berger comments, "originally, Turning Point was all first-person, but that felt a bit claustrophobic and awkward at times (such as when trying to climb up an unstable building). So in response, the game automatically switches to third-person for certain sequences."

This is like D-Day, but with the roles flipped and blimps instead of boats

There's also a grappling attack system. We didn't get hands-on, but from what we saw, the grapple system seems to be a fusion of Quick-Time Event-style gameplay (think Shenmue) and context-sensitive actions. When you enter a grapple, you need to quickly decide what action to do; possibilities are determined by a multitude of factors such as whether you're sneaking up on the target, how close he is to the wall, whether something is dangling above, and so forth. For the first grapple, you're approaching a Nazi soldier from behind. You can either just smack him, or grab him to use his own weapon in a choke hold, or just shove him over the side of the skybridge.

Guerillas in the Mist
Again emphasizing the more everyman nature of the protagonist, you find yourself using the environment more than the weapons. In Turning Point's universe, Americans are put in the rare position being guerrilla fighters defending their home turf. Yes, at its base level, Turning Point is still a first-person shooter, but you can't really carry that many weapons; a couple at most. Guns will be handy here and there, but you'll rely more on your fists (for simple takedown and combat disarms) to throwing Nazis out of windows or straight-up smacking them against walls.

Martinelli summarizes the core game into four Rs: run, regroup, resist, and retaliate. The opening level is the blitzkrieg on New York, and you spend much of the early game just being on the run from the Nazis as they roll into the U.S. Cut forward a few weeks later, after the Nazis have fully occupied the country, and the game places you in Washington D.C., as the American resistance starts forming up. It's over in D.C. that the alternate fiction feel is more palpable. German propaganda (with slogans such as "The Third Reich provides for you! You must provide for it!") litter the walls while the Nazi banner drapes down from the walls of the Capitol Building. Additionally, German equipment follows the extrapolated progression of a 1940 victory, hence all the gear is a theorized evolution of "real" WWII equipment.

Hence, the new "Angriff Luftshiff" zeppelins that are used in the invasion of New York, or the elite Natchjager corp officers who use infrared goggles to spot insurgents at night. Later levels will have you participate in mass raids (don't expect squad-command gameplay, just other folk on your side in the same general area), and you'll even hop over to London at one point when it comes time to retaliate.

Occupied Washington D.C. is a scary sight indeed

When questioned about how linear the beginning looks (in light of Spark's involvement with the Call of Duty series, which is commonly compared to rollercoaster rides in terms of spectacle at the price of restricted freedom), Berger commented that the opening level is, indeed, very linear. But that's mainly for tutorial purposes, and that while Turning Point won't be mistaken for an open sandbox game, it will be less restrictive than a Call of Duty title. We really like the presentation and spectacle seen so far, and we'll keep you posted on later parts of the game as they're shown.

Codemasters have today announced the UK release date of Turning Point: Fall of Liberty as March 14. As you probably know, Turning Point is an alternative take on the WWII title, where following the fall of Europe, Nazi forces launch an invasion on the US. You play as Dan Carson, a construction worker caught in the blitzkrieg. The action goes from NYC, to Washington and finally onto a Nazi-run London.

Head over to the official website for more information.

Press release follows.

Tuesday, 26th February, 2008 – 11am PST – Presenting explosive action in a unique and provocative World War II scenario, Turning Point®: Fall of Liberty™, the alternate reality shooter from Spark Unlimited™, is now shipping to U.S. retail stores nationwide Codemasters® announced today; the title’s UK launch will follow on March 14th .

Pitching gamers into a WWII like no other, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty is set in an alternate 1953 where, following the fall of Europe, Nazi forces launch an invasion on the gateway to the United States. Opening with decimating attack on New York, players assume the role of construction worker Dan Carson caught in the middle of the blitzkrieg.

As the city is taken block by block, players must survive the initial assault before regrouping with a team of resistance workers and lead a fight back against the oppressors. With the Third Reich’s sights set on the seat of government, the action takes players to Washington D.C. and, eventually, to a startlingly different London, which has been flying the Swastika under Nazi rule for over a decade.

Prepare to fight afresh on these very different WWII battlegrounds when Turning Point: Fall of Liberty arrives. See Carson in action and join the resistance online at www.turningpointgame.com

Turning Point Fall of Liberty sees history take a catastrophic turn for the worse: the game opens as Nazi forces launch a decimating attack on the gateway of the United States eastern coast – New York.

Nazi battleships quickly take the harbour, monstrous Zeppelins fill the skies, jet aircraft execute bombing runs and, as armed paratroopers descend on to the streets, the city is taken block by block. As New York falls and the enemy set their sights on Washington D.C., Turning Point: Fall of Liberty becomes a very personal battle for players.

Taking the role of Dan Carson – a reluctant New York City construction worker turned resistance fighter, gamers must survive the initial invasion before regrouping with other resistance members to fight back. Always outmanned and outgunned, players must use a handful of guerrilla tactics and hand to hand grappling combat as they attempt to stop the world’s most notorious war machine.

Developed by U.S. studio Spark Unlimited, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty is not another typical WWII game set in the European or Pacific theatres. It’s set to deliver an explosive action/FPS experience in a world where famous locations and landmarks appear startlingly different under Nazi occupation.

With such a unique story at its core, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty's visuals are also set to strike a chord with players. Everything from the historic landmarks over run by Nazi forces, to the innovative use of the camera and the new hand-to-hand combat grappling system, to the technologically advanced German weapons and vehicles will consistently remind gamers that this is a different WWII experience than they're used to.