Since we started development, a lot of people have commented on how much they love the music of Okabu, created by our very talented partners at Resonate. Liam and the Resonate team have blown us away with what they’ve managed to create, and they’ve made a behind-the-scenes video to give you a bit of background. I’ll let Music Director Liam Paton explain in his own words!

With the release of Okabu almost upon us, we wanted to share a short film that documents our last 12 months working on the soundtrack to the game. It has been such a great project to work on and hopefully the footage captures the fun that we had along the way.

Meeting and working with an amazingly talented group of musicians, learning to play the Kalimba properly and working out how to record six-feet wide Marimbas have been just some of the highlights of the year. It feels like a long time ago since Simon first showed us that early build of Okabu last October and it’s really exciting to know that people will soon be playing the results of everyone’s hard work.

So check out Okabu in the PlayStation Store tomorrow and also part of this month’s “Only on PSN” program – we really hope you enjoy it! We’d love to hear what you think of the game, so come say hello on Twitter and Facebook.

We got a slightly carried away during development, and the game ended up quite a bit bigger than we’d originally imagined. Personally I blame Shane (OKABU’s level designer), who kept on suggesting awesome new ideas that we felt we really couldn’t cut. As a result the four worlds are pretty huge, so big that OKABU features a Platinum Trophy, earned through tracking down all the medals throughout the story campaign, finding the numerous secrets tucked away throughout the world, as well as besting the four minigames.

Following on from last week’s post about the Heroes of OKABU, we really wanted to demonstrate how their different skills fit together, so we’ve got a fresh video below that shows longer sections of gameplay. It also shows how two players can work together when playing in Co-op mode.

In the video above, you can see clips from three of the four different worlds from the game. Each of the environments is totally unique, featuring a whole new set of elements to interact with, from giant magnifying glasses and railways, to charging goats and drivable bulldozers.

Lake Waka
The homeworld of the peaceful Yorubo tribe, bursting with exotic vegetation, inquisitive creatures and tropical shores. Its here that the adventure begins, as the Doza’s destructive march finally reaches the borders of the peaceful Yorubo.

Karibu Valley
Karibu Valley used to be a lush river delta, filled with a huge amount of marine life and surrounded by fertile fields. As the Doza stormed through the valley, they constructed an enormous dam, which stopped the flow of the Karibu river. As a result, the lands in the valley have almost dried up completely.

Noko Woods
Noko woods has been visited very little by the Yorubo since a party of adventurers disappeared there many generations ago. There have been rumours of Doza activity deep in the woods, and some strange creatures have been spotted nearby.

Doza Fortress
The homeworld of the Doza, the Fortress was constructed on a huge island. Filled with giant machinery, smog-belching factories, and a near-bottomless quarry, its here that the enslaved Yorubo are rumoured to have been transported.

There’s only a few more days until release, so not long to wait now! Don’t forget to check out the PlayStation Store on 18th October and try out the free demo on launch day. If you’d like to find out more about Okabu, you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

So the big news is that we finally have a release date! OKABU will be hitting PSN on October 18th, and there’ll be a demo available on launch day that’ll let you take our cloud-flying heroes for a test flight. With launch only a couple of weeks away, we wanted to share a few more details about the game, and what you’ll be doing as you guide Kumulo and Nimbe through the four worlds that make up the story campaign.

Since we started development one of our biggest goals has been to pack a ton of gameplay variety in the game, from physics-play and drivable vehicles to the ability to control the creatures that fill the world. These powers come from the cloud-flying heroes in the game, which you can pick up and drop off to swap abilities on the fly.

With our previous trailers we’ve been keen to show off everything that you can do in the game, but I realize that there is a lot to take in such a short amount of video! With launch coming up, we thought it would be good to go into a bit more detail with each hero and give you a taste of what each of them brings to the table. Without further ado, here’s a video showing each of the characters in action:

The four guys you see surfing on the backs of the cloud-whales are Okabu’s cloud-flying heroes: Captain Monkfish, Picolo, Roki and Kat. Each provides a unique set of abilities to the player: need to pull down a drawbridge? Pick up Captain Monkfish and fire his harpoon. Need to charm a bull to smash through a wooden barricade? Pick up Picolo and get charming!

The puzzles and action challenges that make up each level center around the skills of these heroes, and its up to you to work out how best to use them together. If you’re playing single player, you can swap between the two clouds by pressing Triangle (so you can always have two heroes handy). If you’re playing with a friend, each of you can take control of a cloud-whale as you work together to progress through each level.

We can’t wait to get OKABU into your hands, and can’t believe we are so close to launch! Next week we’re going to delve a little more into the puzzles and co-op mode, so join us back here on the PlayStation.Blog, or follow us on Twitter for more details as we get closer to October 18th.

HandCircus is a really small team — there are only five of us at the studio! In addition to myself, we have Mikko and Matt handling art needs, Luke spearheading programming and Shane tackling level design. We’ve also been working with Resonate Music, who have been crafting Okabu’s original, authentic African-inspired soundtrack. Their studio has been filled to the rafters with all manner of exotic instruments like Marimbas, Kalimbas, Vibraphones as well as some extremely talented vocalists. Read on to learn more about how we’re implementing co-op, physics puzzles and minigames to make Okabu our most immersive game yet!

Always-on Co-op

Co-op is at the core of the game. Even single player is a co-op experience because it allows you to swap between Kumulo and Nimbe (and they hero that they may be carrying) at any time. Much of the game revolves around using the different skills of the heroes together – get Monkfish to pull open a door, then Picolo can lure a bull through and get it to take out a dastardly Dozabot. If there’s two of you the game is even more fun, as each of you can take control of Kumulo or Nimbe.

Let’s Get Physical

Physics plays a core part of the game. One of our key aims with Okabu is to give the world a real toybox feel, where all the elements and interactions are super-tactile. We want you to feel that you are really reaching out and touching the world. Toys like Big Loader, Kong Man and Screwball scramble were big influences on members of our team growing up, and capturing the physical magic of those toys has been an objective since we began development. Use of physics has allowed us to create some really fun interactions between all of the machines, vehicles, creatures and characters of Okabu, from a vacuum-powered truck and block-flipping goat to the towering Doza cranes and Bomb-bot cannons.

As well as a sizeable adventure mode, Okabu also features a number of endless minigames that allow you to compete for scores via online leaderboards. Each minigame focuses on a different style of play, with one featuring Captain Monkfish attempting to round up a number of Bushybeasts that have been rampaging around a Yorubo village by luring them with tasty fish. Another sees Picolo charming various goats and bulls to take out marauding Dozabots.

Okabu is Coming Soon!

We’re really excited to be bringing Okabu to PSN this summer, and can’t wait to share more about the game. If you’d like to keep up to date on all things Okabu, you can visit the HandCircus Blog, follow us on Twitter, or drop us an email at hello@handcircus.com.

Hi all! We’re slightly over-excited about the upcoming release of our brand-new PS3 title Okabu. While we’re best known for creating handheld titles (we are the creators of the Rolando series), we’ve found the allure of developing for PlayStation 3 impossible to resist, and so have swapped our touch screens for Dualshocks. For the last two years we have been beavering away creating a brand new world and an all-new adventure, Okabu, that will be coming to exclusively to PSN in the coming months.

Okabu is a co-op action-puzzle-adventure, following the exploits of a two Cloud-whales, Kumulo and Nimbe, as they battle to save their people and their world from the industrialized threat of the Doza clan (a rather unpleasant collection of machinery-obsessed tyrants). The tale of Okabu begins in the ancestral lands of an ancient race of Cloud-Whales – as vast clouds of toxic pollution have risen from the surface, the sky-dwellers have become struck by a great sickness. Two of the remaining healthy Cloud-Whales (the brothers Kumulo and Nimbe) are dispatched by the Cloud-whale elders to the surface to discover (and put a stop to) the source of the pollution.

Meet Kumulo and Nimbe, the Cloud Whales of Okabu

Kumulo and Nimbe do not fight alone! As they explore the surface of the world, they discover the Yorubo: a tribe of people with a deep affinity with nature. They too, have had their lands consumed by pollution and their people have been enslaved: the Yorubo farmers and fishermen have been shackled and imprisoned – forced to work in the factories and mines of the Doza.

The Yorubo have decided that enough is enough – its time to strike back! The best and the bravest of their tribe offer to join the adventure, each bringing their unique skills to the quest. We were a little inspired by the late 70s Japanese TV show “Monkey” (Saiyūki), and the exploits of the Cloud-flying Monkey king – it was a hugely popular tea-time show when I was growing up as a kid in the 80s. We felt that there needed to be more cloud-flying heroes in games, and so it was a natural step to have our Yorubo heroes cruising around on Kumulo and Nimbe’s backs.

Enter the Four Heroes

Each of the heroes brings a totally different style of play to the game. From left to right:

Captain Monkfish: The first cloud-flying hero you meet is the aerodynamic fisherman Captain Monkfish. Using his trusty plunger, Monkfish can harpoon all manner of objects in the environment. Allows a huge amount of interaction with the game world, from yanking open gates and catching fish, to pulling down drawbridges and wrenching exploding fruit from trees.

Picolo: A master of charming, hypnotic rhythms, Picolo can bring to his aid a variety of creatures and friendly Yorubo. Once entranced these creatures can be persuaded to perform all manner of tasks, from operating switches and climbing ropes, to healing trees and making bulls charge and smash though planks of wood.

Roki: Horrified by the actions of his own people, Roki took a stand against the Doza to join the fight, helping Kumulo and the others to clean up the lands and free the Yorubo. He can take control of many Doza machines and vehicles, from bulldozers and turrets, to giant robotic spiders and wrecking balls.

Kat: Teamed up with her flying pet, our Yorubo warrior’s swiftness and combat ability are unsurpassed. Don’t let her pet’s appearance deceive you, this can be one vicious little creature thats more than happy to sink its teeth into a Doza. Her pet can be used to get into narrow areas that Kumulo and friends cannot, as well as neutralizing Doza foe and rewiring Doza circuits.

Check back next week for a closer look at the wide world of Okabu!