One of the games that legendary Nintendo developer Shigeru Miyamoto showcased during E3, 2014 was a game called “Project Guard”. It was an interesting concept but didn't seem completely fleshed out at the time. Well, this year it turns out that “Project Guard” is being turned into a real game called Star Fox Guard.
According to GameZone, Miyamoto's Star Fox Guard is a completely separate game from the upcoming Star Fox Zero, which is actually scheduled to release on April 22nd next month for the Wii U.
For those of you who remember the “Project Guard” demo you might remember that the whole point was to guard a compound from being attacked by various robots and creatures. The objective was for the player to use the GamePad on the Wii U to activate turrets and defenses to keep attackers out. On the main television screen all of the various cameras are up and available for viewing at the same time, so that those sitting and watching on the couch can help tell the GamePad user where to direct their attention and what creatures to stop in their tracks.
Miyamoto has apparently been refining the concept over the past two years and has made it where instead of it just being a generic compound with generic enemies attacking, players now don the role of a defender appointed over the compound by Grippy Toad, the uncle of Slippy Toad... yes, the same Slippy with a light voice who always seems to be in trouble and asking for help from Fox. Grippy will give players missions and commands and it will be up to players to carry out the tasks and survive the various attack waves in Star Fox Guard.
They don't mention if any of the other Star Fox characters will make an appearance or cameo in some capacity but that doesn't seem like an impossibility. In fact the game seems like it would be perfectly suited to see an Arwing make a bombing run over the compound to help clear out some of the enemy robots. Or maybe we'll see the Landmaster drive around and blast a few baddies down as a special call-in to help out when things get tough.
Again, details are sketchy but putting the “Project Guard” game concept into the Star Fox universe was brilliant. It opens up a lot of different possibilities, even more-so than if it were say Pikmin or Kirby or Super Mario. The only other setting that likely would have made a whole lot of sense is the Metroid series. It seems like it would make a lot of sense to have players command some sort of troops to fight off classic monsters from the Metroid universe using strategic defenses, and maybe get a special buff or call-in for Samus when things get tough.
Even still, having Star Fox Guard approach the series from a tactical strategy standpoint that can also double down as a party game of sorts is a neat approach that Nintendo is taking with the project. You can look to pick up Star Fox Guard with Star Fox Zero starting April 22, exclusively for the Wii U.
