Scaling the Cursed Mountain
A new survival horror game built from the ground up for Wii.
by Matt Casamassina

July 30, 2008 - On Wednesday, publisher / developer Deep Silver revealed to IGN its new Wii-exclusive survival horror game, Cursed Mountain. The title, set in the late 1980s, follows an experienced climber who sets out to scale a huge mountain in the Himalayas in order to find his recently-lost brother. According to Deep Silver, "As he ascends the mountain, he encounters an ancient curse: the souls of the people who died in that region are stuck in limbo, caught in the Shadow World." Players must content with villagers, pilgrims, mountaineers, Buddhist monks, and evil ghosts and demons as they unravel the mystery of the location. And for what? The climber isn't at all convinced that his missing brother is still alive.

"With a fresh setting, gloomy atmosphere and the innovative use of the Wii controls, Cursed Mountain will deliver a unique, terrifying game play experience," said Hannes Seifert, Managing Director at the Deep Silver development studio. "Deep Silver is confident that Cursed Mountain will help to further establish our international presence, and help expand the survival horror game genre on the Wii platform."

According to Deep Silver, Cursed Mountain will boast advanced graphics and amazing scenery. Since the game is set on the "roof of the world," players will be able to see the entire game world from any level. In addition, the title will feature IR / pointer and gesture-based controls for exploration and combat respectively.

Although Deep Silver is still unwilling to divulge too many details about the project, we did get a few extra tidbits from Hannes Seifert, who also serves as executive producer on the game. Exactly who is the main character -- other than a climber, that is? "He is an experienced high altitude climber, well known in the international climbing community. He cares a lot for his younger brother, also a climber, and has deep concerns about his overambitious, high risk-taking nature," Seifert said. "Somehow he always knew his brother would get into trouble one day and sure enough, on a particularly difficult route that has never been successfully completed, his brother is lost."


Seifert also elaborated on the game controls. "Controlling the character in the physical world is straight forward. In certain situations we utilize motion sensing for climbing, balancing, chases etc.," he said. "But when you enter the Bardo, the shadow world, you sense the enemies with the IR pointer and you use praying and fighting gestures to defeat the evil sprits. Depending on the difficulty of your opponents you will fight with simpler or more complex gestures and with one or two hands."


Exactly how will the gesture system work? "Talking about gestures is like dancing about architecture (or so they say)," Seifert mused. "The basic idea is: simple to learn movements with your hands represent movements of attacking, defending and praying. You will sense what gestures can defeat the enemies and bosses, and then you can use the motions to 'redeem' them. I think we have been really innovative here but managed to keep it pretty easy to learn. It balances very well across the entire game."

With a wealth of gesture-based battles planned, can Wii owners expect an over-the-top violent game? "That's a difficult question," said Seifert. "What the player experiences is very scary and violent. Half of the people that climb these mountains die up there and are left behind. You will encounter dead bodies, frozen mummies, and fear inducing archaic Buddhist rituals. On the other hand the game is not about chopping up zombies or splashing blood all over the place. It's violent in the sense of ever present danger and very aggressive environments and enemies. But you can't be violent against ghosts and mountains. So Cursed Mountain is violent, yes, but in a very unorthodox way."


Although it definitely is a survival horror experience, Seifert doesn't believe that Cursed Mountain can be compared to a title like Resident Evil. "Besides the fact that both are horror games, you can't easily compare them. Resident Evil is a great game in the normal horror mould, but Cursed Mountain is about exploring a realistic environment coupled with a very versatile fighting system," he said. "You encounter spiritual enemies and it's about the main character discovering his physical and mental limits in a very hostile part of the world. These are just two really different games, but both would probably appeal to a similar audience."

Deep Silver has developed a game engine that makes the most of Nintendo's console. "The entire game is realtime 3D," said Seifert. We really push the Wii hardware regarding lighting, shaders, geometry, audio, and animation. Cursed Mountain is not about technology, but about the gameplay experience, but many current games really seem to underutilize the hardware."

It is exactly this engine that enables some impressive multi-tier views of the expansive world. "The setting requires a great impression of distance. The entire country is set at such high altitude that looking up at over 26,000 feet high mountains and also looking down again is a vital part of the experience. You start from a typical Himalayan valley and continuously get higher and higher," he explained.

So does Seifert have ay final words for fans who might be intrigued by the concept powering Cursed Mountain? Absolutely. "We think Cursed Mountain features a very original and also current topic that's been unused in video games so far. We are really picky with staying true to the real thing. Based on that, we've worked hard to bring you a game that's easy to pick up for the majority of Wii players but that will lead you into what's called 'hardcore gaming.' I think we've come a long way already and hope that casual and hard core players will really enjoy the final results," he said.

According to Seifert, Deep Silver is about 25 people strong, but because the game is being developed across multiple companies -- Sproing Interactive, Rabcat, Perspective Studios and more -- the team working on Cursed Mountain is actually comprised of more than 140 people. The title is scheduled for release next year.

Deep Silver has not yet released any gameplay screenshots or movies of Cursed Mountain in action.

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Doesn't sound bad to me.

Guess I'm gonna keep my eye on this one. The Conduit, Creatures,Madworld and Fatal frame 4 and this...seems I might finally be gettingsome good third party games on my Wii afterall

Trust me, only you and VF care.

This sounds like a very interesting concept for a survival horror game. It's really different compared to the rest out there. Now all that's needed is to actually make this work ;)

immortaldanmx


Trust me, only you and VF care.

Wrong.

killemoff

immortaldanmx


Trust me, only you and VF care.

Wrong.

Anyone who owns a 360, PS3, or decent computer should not give a shit about this game, its that simple.

To Quote IGN "Deep Silver has not yet released any gameplay screenshots or movies of Cursed Mountain in action."

They make all these promises about how great the game will be, and only have 2 renders, most likely cutscenes, to show? And look at the track record, a AAA Wii-only 3rd party game? Lol.

Anyone who owns a 360, PS3, or decent computer should not give a shit about this game, its that simple.

Wrong Again.

This sounds like a very interesting concept for a survival horror game. It's really different compared to the rest out there. Now all that's needed is to actually make this work ;)

Sounds interesting indeed.

Youre a fanboy. A 10 year old stuck in the body of a grown man. You telling me Im wrong would be like George W. calling me a war monger.

I'm always interested in a promising third party title for the Wii.

Do i believe it will flop? Yes. Can the Wii bashing stop, or is this fixation to strong to resist?

killemoff


I'm always interested in a promising third party title for the Wii.

Do i believe it will flop? Yes. Can the Wii bashing stop, or is this fixation to strong to resist?

He dos'nt like interesting or new, original concepts just gimped PC titles on his 360.

immortaldanmx


Youre a fanboy. A 10 year old stuck in the body of a grown man. You telling me Im wrong would be like George W. calling me a war monger.

I'm not sure you're in a position to call anyone a fanboy when you auto-dismiss a console just because it's underpowered in the graphics department. That's a rather fanboyish trait in itself.

GFX =/= BETAR GAEMZ. By your logic, the Game Boy Advance would have been irrelevant last gen. And if you're telling me the GBA had no awesome games worth bothering about, I think you really do have problems mate.

Before anyone starts, I'm only a fanboy of SEGA. So any fanboy claims are null and void if directed at me. Ta.

Meh. Just my opinion, but the way I look at wii games is it's not Mario or Zelda, therefore it is irrelevant on the Wii.

Dreadknux

immortaldanmx


Youre a fanboy. A 10 year old stuck in the body of a grown man. You telling me Im wrong would be like George W. calling me a war monger.

I'm not sure you're in a position to call anyone a fanboy when you auto-dismiss a console just because it's underpowered in the graphics department. That's a rather fanboyish trait in itself.

GFX =/= BETAR GAEMZ. By your logic, the Game Boy Advance would have been irrelevant last gen. And if you're telling me the GBA had no awesome games worth bothering about, I think you really do have problems mate.

Before anyone starts, I'm only a fanboy of SEGA. So any fanboy claims are null and void if directed at me. Ta.

Apparently you just decided to write a whole post for me, because I never said any of that, dumbass. Im not dismissing the Wii, I have all 3 consoles and a decent PC. Im dismissing 90% of the Wiis games, because they are garbage. No one said anything about the Wii's power, but thanks for pointing out that its underpowered.

Oh, and SEGA is dead. You know, just in case you missed their last 10 or so games.

As for VF, I play games on all 3 of my consoles. Something he should try, if he can get Shig. Miyamoto's dick off his mind for a couple of hours.

immortaldanmx

Apparently you just decided to write a whole post for me, because I never said any of that, dumbass. Im not dismissing the Wii, I have all 3 consoles and a decent PC. Im dismissing 90% of the Wiis games, because they are garbage. No one said anything about the Wii's power, but thanks for pointing out that its underpowered.

Oh, and SEGA is dead. You know, just in case you missed their last 10 or so games.

Oh no, my dear SEGA. You got me right where it hurts there. Very mature.

Yes, a lot of the Wii's games are garbage. I'm not denying that. You're right there. But your argument against this game isn't about that. You never argued that this is just another poor, shovelware esque title, because you've never seen it or care to notice it. Blind refusal of a game (unless it is blatantly shovelware) can only be attributed to one reason; you're jaded by the Wii, as a console and as a platform. So yes, you did dismiss the Wii as a platform. Regardless of the fact that you own one, doesn't make a shred of difference and makes for a pretty poor defence when you call people interested in a promising-sounding Wii game as a 'fanboy'.

And yes, you did make a subtle reference to how the Wii was underpowered, did you forget that you wrote this? -

Anyone who owns a 360, PS3, or decent computer should not give a shit about this game, its that simple..... They make all these promises about how great the game will be, and onlyhave 2 renders, most likely cutscenes, to show?

Hmmm, a promising sounding Wii game... dismissed by yourself because you have a 360/PS3/both (which then assumes that you're dismissing the console due to the other console's superior power), then you comment on the potential graphics of the game. Then you call someone a fanboy simply for sounding pleased that they may, for once, not be getting a Carnival Games/Petz-alike.

Then you say to me you never said that stuff, and call me a dumbass. To coin a phrase, "lawl".

Clearly I'm not a dumbass as I can read into the meanings of your posts, which makes for a pretty useless defence when you pretend you didn't write them. Next you'll be saying you didn't intend to mean it like that. Which is fine, I'm not here to judge you. But don't pretend you didn't say it.

I do agree with you about questioning the developer's track record though, have never heard of Deep Silver before. Who knows though, this could be the game that makes them. Not many developers started out shitting golden nuggets, not even Bungie (Marathon was/is effing terrible).

Meh. Just my opinion, but the way I look at wii games is it's not Mario or Zelda, therefore it is irrelevant on the Wii.

True, I'll keep an eye on it, but to be fair most of the Wii's library is utter crud. Hell, even Nintendo aren't making the franchises they used to (with the exception of the obvious two or three - where's my F-Zero?).

It's a shame that even with the success of the Wii, Nintendo's third party support still hasn't changed from the N64/Gamecube era.

Sproing Announces First Details Behind the Technology Driving Deep Silver's Cursed Mountain for Wii
Sproing discusses its involvement in the upcoming survival horror game set in the Himalayas.

August 11, 2008 - Sproing Interactive Media GmbH, Vienna, today announced that it's currently developing the Wii Survival Horror game Cursed Mountain for, and together with, Deep Silver. The player takes on the role of a fearless mountaineer as he climbs into the Himalayas on a quest to find his lost brother. As he ascends the mountain, he encounters an ancient curse: the souls of the people who died in that region are stuck in limbo, caught in the Shadow World. Deep Silver announced the first details of the upcoming Wii hit title Cursed Mountain on July 31st.

"Aside from the challenge to develop an innovative title with spectacular levels and new controls, the focus in Cursed Mountain is the overwhelming environment of the Himalayas," said Harald Riegler, CEO of Sproing. "It is really important to us that the player experiences nature's powers as realistically as possible, and that the game's viewing distance allows the player to see the monumental landscapes at all times. We are also going to great lengths to make the dead souls look as convincing as possible in order to deliver the level of immersion necessary for really effective and believable survival horror."

To deliver on these goals, the Sproing team relies on its proprietary "Athena" game engine, which is rendering the Himalayas on Wii at a quality never seen before. The engine highlights of "Athena" include amongst others, HDR-Rendering, shader simulations developed especially for Wii in order to display ice, heat and water (realistic reflections and refractions), an ultra-fast particle system for amazing snow storms, soft particles for realistic fog and smoke, depth of field, motion blur, dynamic soft shadows, spherical harmonics lighting, as well as a high performance level-of-detail and streaming system in order to provide long viewing distance of the entire surrounding. In order to create an exciting atmosphere when battling the ghosts, the game employs a number of custom-created special effects such as the shader simulations as well as a newly developed post-processing framework. "Our engine technology really takes the Wii hardware to its limits and Wii gamers can really look forward to a heart-stopping, and breath-taking world that comes alive with this title," said Gerhard Seiler, Technical Director of Sproing.

Cursed Mountain will be released worldwide for Wii in 2009. More information is available at: http://cursedmountain.deepsilver.com

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Well all nice promises and all that about the graphics.

If they can pull it off then that's great...but I'd have to see something first to actually believe them on all of that.

As for the site...no info to find really all you can do is sign up for a newsletter and get a wallpaper.

What happened here? Why are some people...
You know what, never mind.

If the game delivers on the scale, then something would
have to be good. Provided it doesn't look like Soul Reaver: Legacy of Cain. Which wouldn't put me off completely.
I hope it...

GC 2008: Cursed Mountain First Details
Survival horror is coming from Deep Silver.
by IGN Staff

August 23, 2008 - With the worry that the Nintendo Wii is going to be relegated to the casual mini-game fan, it's nice to see that there are publishers out there willing to keep things interesting on the system with mature titles and original IPs. Up and coming publisher Deep Silver is approaching both of these categories with a unique survival horror game called Cursed Mountain.

The game is still very early in development, so much so that all Deep Silver had to show on the title was a very short teaser trailer that offered up brief snippets of enemies and environments. But we had a chance to talk with the company about the game itself and what makes it a unique development on the system.

Cursed Mountain takes place in the 1980s where you're on a quest to find your lost brother, who went missing after a climbing expedition up in the Himalayas. Along the way up the mountain you'll start uncovering the horror of things to come: something indeed went wrong in the Buddhist community on this mountain, and the mountain has become cursed.

The game takes the idea of mountain climbing seriously, putting a lot of emphasis of the elements into its gameplay. The higher you go the tougher the climb due to the thinner air. You'll suffer altitude sickness which will cause hallucinations – sort of a play on the idea that Silicon Knights applied in Eternal Darkness where the player will be unsure whether what he's seeing in the game is actually happening or a trick of the mind.

It's also been said that the game will constantly keep things moving up: your goal is the summit of the mountain, so the camera will always keep that in view of the player to always taunt them that that's where they'll need to be going. The developers are also using true Himalayan references in the game design to add to the overall atmosphere -- how the Buddhists bury the dead is an image that could haunt players for weeks.

Though no gameplay was revealed at Games Convention, the teaser trailer did hint that there will be gesture controls to fight the spirits that will attack your character in his quest to the mountain's summit.

More will be revealed on Cursed Mountain as it gets closer to its First Half 2009 release date.

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Not much, just a little more background news. Hope they get the atmosphere right and that they don't over do it with the waggle for the combat