On behalf of the entire team at Zipper Interactive, I am proud to announce a new shooter, Unit 13, designed from the ground up for the new PlayStation Vita. It’s been very exciting developing a game for the first portable console with precision dual analog sticks, the perfect platform for a fast action, hard-hitting, third-person shooter like Unit 13. In addition, Vita’s front and back touch interface provided a unique and fun way to interact quickly with in-the-world elements of the game.
Fast action, on-the-go gameplay was a key goal for the Unit 13 team. The game is designed for players to move quickly into the action, choosing from one of six Operatives with unique abilities to tackle 36 action-packed missions across nine unique locales. Missions come in a variety of sizes and difficulty. Some are smaller bite-sized battles; others are longer, more challenging, multi-objective missions that are a good test for any skilled shooter fan. As you make your way through the variety of missions, you unlock the right to take on the tougher High Value Target (HVT) enemy battles. After completing an HVT mission, you can share them with friends and nearby players through PlayStation Vita’s “NEAR” feature.
The Zipper team put considerable effort into leveraging Vita’s WIFI and 3G functionality to provide exceptional social gaming and competition with friends and opponents from around the world. Unit 13’s live notification interface, enabled through 3G, keeps players up to date on leaderboard positions, new “Daily Challenge” content, new unlocks, shared High Value Target missions, and challenges from friends as they move past you on the leaderboards.
In Co-op, you can play Unit 13 with a friend all with high quality voice chat enabled through the PlayStation Vita. Coop teams compete for top positions on the global, regional, and friend mission leaderboards.
We’re super excited for all of you to give Unit 13 a try. We believe it’s the perfect portable shooter on the best portable gaming platform, the PlayStation Vita. And it’s available right around Vita launch!
See you on the leaderboards!
So, is the live notification interface exclusive to the 3G model? I have the First Edition Vita bundle on pre order, but because I’m in Canada it’s wifi only. Will I still be able to use the interface?
The notification bar works over either 3G or WiFi, though obviously with 3G you’ll continue to receive updates wherever you play and not just when connected to a WiFi hotspot. A big goal with this feature was to keep you informed whenever and wherever you play, be it at home or on the bus, and the 3G model allows for that.