Swarm will buzz onto PSN, Xbox Live next year

"Intense, entertaining, and suicidal battles." That's how publisher UTV Ignition Entertainment describes the meat of the action in Swarm, a comedic strategy game set to invade the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2011.

Swarm is being developed by Hothead Games, which you may know as the creators of DeathSpank and the gory fart-riddled Penny Arcade Adventures.

In the studio's latest creation, players control 50 tiny creatures called Swarmites who must battle their way through "gauntlets of death and destruction" to reach the end of each trap-filled level. At least one Swarmite must reach the end, but the other 49 are free to be used as sacrificial tools.

"The Swarmites are both lovable and deliciously expendable at the same time-the game's creation is proof positive of the dangers of excessive exposure to Saturday morning cartoons we were warned about so many years ago," wrote Hothead director Joel DeYoung in a statement.

The studio claims Swarm is the first in the world to have "mass character control," as you take control of all 50 creatures at once. Sounds more like something Nancy Pelosi does on a daily basis. And kind of like Pikmin, but that's more RTS-ish, perhaps. (And don't forget Lemmings.)


Above: The trailer, obviously

In any event, Swarm will be coming to the PSN and Xbox Live Arcade next year, but we're not sure how much, what the date will be, or what the ESRB will tag it with. We do know that killing off part of your team is an encouraged part of the game, though, and that's really all we need to know.

Nov 18, 2010