‘Go! Go! Rescue Squad!’ will release first as a downloadable PC product in February 2009. The game will be released on iPhone next with mobile formats arriving in April 2009, including Windows Mobile and Android. An Xbox Live Arcade version is in development, and the company is exploring routes to market for a Nintendo DS version later in the year making Go! Go! Rescue a true, multi-platform, brand.The initial release, as a downloadable PC game, places Go! Go! Rescue Squad! firmly in the casual games sector, an area which Connect2Media Directors have had much success in before. CEO of Connect2Media, Eric Hobson, commented, “The global web release enables us to get the game out to a massive audience from the off. Already there is a community building for the brand on-line and the release will fuel this making it a ‘must play’ title.”
Peter Scott, Connect2Media’s CTO, said “Our experience of the game is that if people play it, they fall in love with it, and so discovery via the web release will be a key part of the strategy for building a major brand. We also feel that this is a perfect product for today’s casual games market having had a number of hits in the past with games that have taken on a life of their own when released online.”
The Go! Go! Rescue Squad! brand is designed to have mass market appeal to both male and female audiences. The game has been developed at the company’s Manchester development studio and sees the player taking on the role of a brave firefighter in order to save ‘Darwins’, the hapless inhabitants of the town.
The game has a wide appeal combining compelling gameplay, original character and level design and unique gameplay mechanics in 64 puzzle packed levels over six themed districts. Gameplay sees the firefighter squad doing everything they can to save the various Darwins from fire, floods and explosions. The game has a gentle learning curve but its size and variety of levels gives it plenty of depth and hours of gameplay.