Hideki Kamiya's Project P-100 Becomes The Wonderful 101

The Wonderful 101, previously known as Project P-100, was Platinum Games' first title to appear on Nintendo's new Wii U console. With Hideki Kamiya at the helm, The Wonderful 101 shares the comic book hero themes of another game he directed, Viewtiful Joe.

I got the chance to play The Wonderful 101 back when it was still called Project P-100 at this years E3. The player uses the Wii U Gamepad controller to direct a small group of heroes, while the touch screen is used to draw shapes. These shapes determine what weapon or tool the heroes combine into. Guns, giant fists, swords, and hang gliders are some of the forms I saw at the show. Civilians and military personnel can be recruited by tracing circles around them, bolstering your ranks with new heroes.

The gamepad also acts as a second screen when the player is inside of buildings. The TV screen still shows the exterior of the building while you control your character with the gamepads screen. In some situations this means you'll have to look at both screens to solve puzzles and progress. The game also features a cool visual camera effect that reminds me of tilt-shift photography, making everything look like toy miniatures.

I can't say if the gameplay has received any major changes since the unveiling of its new name today but based on the trailer below The Wonderful 101 looks relatively similar to what I played at E3.  The Wonderful 101 has no set release date at this time.

It looks like Platinum Game's are going to be making a big splash on the Wii U with The Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2. With Platinum's outside of the box concepts I'm looking forward to seeing what they can really do with the new hardware and controls.