Swedish studio Avalanche has revealed to Edge its two-year secret project; AionGuard.
 
An open-world fantasy action title for the 360 and PS3, AionGuard exhibits a love of its inspirations. When observing one of the game’s in-engine sequences (a ‘pre-visualisation’ for the final form of the game), Edge declared that it’s the closest any game has got to recreating the cinematography of the Lord Of The Rings films.
 
AionGuard follows an army of elite soldiers, tasked with capturing fixed areas of land which are occupied by numerous mythical and magical creatures. But Odd Ahlgren, the game’s narrative director, is quick to address the presumptions that come with the fantasy theme, stating that AionGuard is an action adventure “like God Of War, but it’s a lot more open and you have lots more choice in how to tackle these situations. We’re not making an RPG, this isn’t about going to the woods and grinding.”
 
Speaking to Edge, Avalanche’s co-founder and creative director Christofer Sundberg explains that the development of the game has found friction with its previous publisher, before the team bought the rights back.
 
“There are obviously financial reasons why we will need a publisher, but while we are flexible enough to adapt we also need the game to keep its identity – it’s a very long-term project for us,” he said. The team has yet to announce a new publisher.
 
Ahlgren adds that the AionGuard army are like a mix of "WWI dogfighter pilots, Samurai and medieval knights. But instead of swords and aeroplanes they wield magic.” In regards to ‘dogfighter’, the team at Avalanche is touching on the player’s ability to pilot, yes, dragons.
 
More is revealed in the eight-page preview in Edge issue 198, which goes on sale this Thursday. Subscribers are reading about it now.