War of the Worlds reviving the haydays of 2D

This one might be a little off some radars but it is no less important than the flurry of Mass Effect, Batman, Uncharted, etc announcements that we've been bombarded with (repeatedly, unnecessarily) over the last few months.  No doubt destined for the furtile marketing grounds of PSN and XBLA, Paramount's 'War of the Worlds' is a shining example of the healthy revival of 2d-platforming.  The developer diary found here should contain everything you want to know about the game as well as the introductory gameplay narrated by Captain Picard himself. 

So why get excited?  Well, it looks absolutely lovely for starters.  It features a voiceover by Patrick Stewart who narrates you through the game.  The soundtrack is recorded from a full-piece, cinema-inspired orchestral score and the script is written by noted author Chris Fowler.  Summing up the dev story, much of their inspiration comes from 2d legends of past fame such as 'Prince of Persia' (Jordan Mechner's original - not the 3D series), 'Out of this World', and Flashback.  (think 16-bit Genesis).  In other words, this game is being made by guys who love games and with Paramount's backing on production values, War of the Worlds looks to impress.

With the slur of predicatable and uninspired first-person games of recent years, it is highly refreshing to see studios put their faith in tried-and-true game formats.  What started with 'Limbo' and 'Shadow Complex' is quickly becoming the newest old-thing in gaming trends a.ka. high-gloss 2d platforming.  Not to mention the fact that it's one of the only genres that can actually run in 1080p native on our aging consoles ;)