Way Of The Warrior 2009

 I have often said that someone should make a new 2D, digitized fighting game. Actually, I think instead of "someone" I've said "the Mortal Kombat team." And then after I realized that they'd probably never do it, I started telling Vinny that we should put our green screen to good use for a change and start making our own fighting game. But that's beside the point. After checking out a story on Arcade Heroes, I was led to this:

That's a shot of a finishing move from Dark Presence, an arcade game currently under development at an indie company called Galloping Ghost. It's a 2D fighting game featuring fully digitized characters, just like the old Mortal Kombat days, but at a much higher resolution and with way more frames of animation, if the developer is to be believed. 

Sorry, I have to put that hint of doubt in there. Because this whole thing looks too crazy for me to take at face value. It looks like some kind of long-lost sequel to Way of the Warrior, only instead of digging up some drunk-looking dude and filming him with a pool stick in his hands (like Naughty Dog seemed to do back on the 3DO), Dark Presence has dudes like Vamphyrial here:

Also, I'd like to just say that MIND MASTER is a great name for a character. Overall, the costumes look kind of like one of those high-quality "shot on film" porno movies, where they try to cram in a story between all the... cramming. I... actually mean that as a compliment. Perhaps I've said too much.

Anyway, Galloping Ghost intends to release Dark Presence as an arcade game at some point this year. The game has already been in development for over two years, and to make things even crazier, the company already has plans for a sequel called Conquering Light, which will feature 18 characters... only three of which will be returning from the first game! Didn't they learn anything from Street Fighter III and IV? You need to bring everyone back for the sequel, guys! For the fans!

Honestly, all of this stuff leaves me totally flabbergasted. I can't believe this product exists. I can't believe they have shots of it running in a cabinet on the game's official site. Most of all, I really want to try it. Even though the character design and costume quality gives me a serious Way of the Warrior flashback, I can only hope that it plays better than that.

Please leave a comment and confirm for me that this is all actually happening and that someone didn't spike my drink or something. I figure with Arcade Heroes reporting on it and both Destructoid and GameSetWatch picking it up after the fact, there has to be some sort of merit to it, right? And if this all turns out to be some kind of weird hallucination on my part, my apologies in advance.

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