''Age of Elements'' was a

fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

video game developed by the newly created studio Steamroll and intended to be published by Atari for

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

's PlayStation Portable. It was cancelled in 2007.

Gameplay

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

described the game's premise as a fighting game that was a mix between '' Tekken'' and '' Powerstone''. The game was to feature one on one battles with a shifting camera-view; when the two combatants were a large distance from one another, the camera would go into a third person, behind the back view, where the player could aim to shoot at the character, while when characters were in close proximity, the view shifted to a side by side view of both character commonly found in fighting video games. The game was planned to have multiple modes: a training mode for learning the game, a versus mode for basic fights, and a "story mode" to play through as well. Local multiplayer was planned, though online multiplayer was not.

Development

The game was first announced in June 2006. It was debuted by publisher Atari at

E3 2006 E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publishe ...

, who described its production at the time as about 40% complete. The game was announced to be developed by a newly created development team named "Steamroll". The game was made playable at the event. The game was planned to have a "Winter 2006" release, (late 2006 to early 2007) on the PlayStation Portable

handheld video game console A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the cons ...

, but the release was later cancelled in 2007.

Reception

It was nominated for "Best Fighting Game" for

's "PSP Best of

", but lost to '' Tekken: Dark Resurrection''. IGN described the game's premise as "promising and unique", but conceded that it was too early to make a call with the game less than half complete at the time of their preview. The game engine was specifically singled out as impressive, with IGN stating "Steamroll is already well ahead of the game with its graphics engine. The game was something of a stunner on PSP, running at an impressive framerate and full of special effects and special animations. Detail was good enough that we initially mistook the game for a straight-on 2D-done-with-polygons fighter..., Environments were expansive, filled with details such as running waterfalls and towering waterfalls in a fantasy outdoor environment as well as lit signs and identifiable store fronts in a battle set in a rustic town...with the size of its arenas, the abundant detail on character faces and outfits, and the special effects afforded by the smooth graphics engine, its looks are in line with a number of console 3D grapplers, here exclusively on PSP.

References

{{reflist

External links

Age of Elements
at

Cancelled PlayStation Portable games Fighting games