Joe Danger: The Movie Preview

If something goes right for you, you can do it again and you can do it better.  That’s usually the case when it comes to development teams returning to a popular property and making a sequel with it.  That’s exactly what happened with Hello Games who, back in June 2010, released Joe Danger for the PlayStation Network.  

Now the company has announced a sequel called Joe Danger: The Movie, and while the development platforms aren’t QUITE confirmed, it is looking like the sequel will be coming to Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.

As far as how Joe Danger plays, it’s very similar to the first game.  You take part in a number of events with Joe, the never-say-die stuntman who lives to get a good job done.  This time around, instead of trying to revive his stunt career on a number of dusty courses and tracks, he’s decided to tackle the movie industry by working with a number of directors on big-name projects.  

These range quite a bit, from skiing down the slopes in a James Bond-style adventure to cruising the streets on a cop’s motorcycle, to riding in a mine cart, Indiana Jones-style, taking on loop-de-loops, track switches and more.

You can still perform stunts of derring-do as you fly through the air and make key landings, controlling your speed using the left and right triggers while accelerating through certain areas.  You also have access to turbo just in case you need that little burst of speed to get to the finish line.

The Movie really changes the Joe Danger formula in its level design.  You’re still moving from left to right but the locales change immensely with each new level you encounter.  One minute you’re racing through a tunnel in a mine cart, fighting to make it out in one piece; the next, you’re cruising through city streets, CHiPs-style, looking for criminals to bust while keeping your status quo on the patrol.  

The skiing levels look very good too, with plenty of snow-capped trees to skim past, and there are plenty of rockets to shut down (enemy agents are up to no good in those mountains) and explosive fireworks to set off.  These guys really set their budget to maximum for their films and now it’s up to you to make them shine in the long run.

Like the original game, Joe Danger: The Movie will thrive with its online potential.  You’ll be able to compete with others through online leaderboards, posting the best times and scores for each track and seeing how much you can unlock with additional star ratings and points.  The better you race, the more you open up, which is just the way that Hello Games likes it.  

There’s no word yet if multiplayer would be a part of the game, nor if The Lab would be making a return with all new levels to modify, but considering that was such a fundamental part of the Xbox Live Arcade release we don’t see why the developer wouldn’t include it again to some capacity.

Now we’re just waiting to see when the game will release.  Hello Games currently doesn’t have a release date posted for Joe Danger: The Movie – it’s just “sometime in 2012” at this point – and, again, platforms haven’t been specified either.  (Let’s not forget that the team is also working on bringing the original Joe Danger to the mobile front, which is no small feat.)  

Regardless of when it arrives, this sequel looks to carry all the qualities that made the original so fun while adding new scenarios and features that will keep players coming back for more of Joe’s antics.  Be sure to keep an eye open for new information, which may be coming sooner than you think.  Bring on the Danger!