Education, flash, pc, shakespeare, speare

Shakespear's Shooter - The Game's The Thing

What do you get when you cross the fun of a space shooter with an English Literature class focused on the great bard himself? You get 'Speare, a computer game by ApolloGames.ca aimed at teaching children about the works of William Shakespeare by using a futuristic space shooter.

It sounds crazy but it just might work. The game is your standard flash shmup in which you have to collect the text of Shakespeare's plays from enemy ships, periodically scanning items to reveal information about his works, which you will be quizzed on later. You can even pick from different ships with names like Juliet's Dagger, Baited Bear, Star Crossed, and the Guardian Globe.

Here's some text from the intro to give you an idea of how they're working this:

Peace reigned in the galaxy until a civil war broke out in the Verona System between planets Montagor and Capulon, who were entrusted with guarding Shakespeare's ancient text Romeo and Juliet. Distracted by their squabbles, the Verona System is left open to invasion by the ever-encroaching drones of the power hungry Insidian Army.

Crafty, eh?

There is a flash demo available to try out at the ApolloGames.ca website, with the full version available for purchase for $20. Give it a look see, and let every eye negotiate for itself. Michael Fahey

'Speare Download and Demo Page [ApolloGames.ca via CTV]

10:20 AM on Wed Apr 25 2007
By Mike Fahey
2,187 views
21 comments

Comments

Alegery at 09:39 AM on 04/25/07
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I finished watching Throne of Blood minutes before coming here and finding this. Weird.
el_gordo at 09:42 AM on 04/25/07
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Today is Shakespeare's birthdaaaaay!

Cool theme.

For Hecuba!
Doomstink at 09:43 AM on 04/25/07
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Some kid is going to answer his quiz on Romeo and Juliet saying it was all about the Montagor and Capulon planets feuding in a galactic battle in the Verona system and his teacher is going to be all WTF?
Doomstink at 09:44 AM on 04/25/07
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@el_gordo:

I think he was born on the 23rd and died on the 23rd.
topgeargorilla at 09:49 AM on 04/25/07
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Uh, ok, cool. This still can't top oregan trail or number munchers. Those were AWESOME
Gooche at 09:50 AM on 04/25/07
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I think this is cool as long as the tool actually get's through to the students. Some people play games especially shooters for mindless action.

I would have loved learning about Shakespear in English class with games.
Skylar at 09:52 AM on 04/25/07
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I've been looking for a vertically-scrolling space shooter that will have the words "Bite my thumb at them" onscreen as long as possible.
db2 at 09:52 AM on 04/25/07
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Remember back in the days of the Apple II when educational games regularly kicked ass like this? It was a video game first and foremost, with a side of education included, kind of like Typing of the Dead.
miss_ali1984 at 09:55 AM on 04/25/07
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Sweeeeet. I've always wanted to read "Richard III" while blasting space ships.
NihonTiger90 at 10:00 AM on 04/25/07
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Pretty sweet. Can't wait to battle MacBeth!

Oh wait... MacBeth isn't a boss in this game? Damn.
CyricZ at 10:01 AM on 04/25/07
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Crafty or incredibly cheesy. Not that there's anything wrong with that. :-P
Sai-kun at 11:19 AM on 04/25/07
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The Game's The Thing, eh? Nice reference =P

Anyway. Uh..Shakespeare. Great. D:

Do we get to go to the planet MacBeth? X3
Hater3000 at 11:23 AM on 04/25/07
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Blast or not to blast,that is the dilemma...
MindKiller317 at 11:42 AM on 04/25/07
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It actually amazes me that someone hasnt even proposed a shakespeare game ever. I think that a Kingdom Hearts type adevnture through the different plays would be so awesome.
NewtypeS3 at 02:26 PM on 04/25/07
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Gradius, Gradius, where for art thou, Gradius?

This honestly sounds pretty cool. I'll have to check it out - not to mention put up a copy for the Shakespeare class I'm in.
Rohsiph at 03:52 PM on 04/25/07
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I could use a version based on "The Winter's Tale"--having trouble finding time to read this as the last play in an English-major only college s
Rohsiph at 03:54 PM on 04/25/07
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that was supposed to end, "in an English-major only college level Shakespeare class" but mysteriously sent itself before I finished typing . . .

Eh, Winter's Tale version would be useful--but I'd actually like to see Radiant Silvergun retold with lines from Titus Andronicus.
swift at 06:42 PM on 04/25/07
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@el_gordo: his birthday was 2days ago buddy
bVork at 11:53 PM on 04/25/07
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I'm not really impressed. The word collection mechanics are fairly interesting and reminiscent of Twinbee bell juggling, but the rest of the gameplay is fairly poor.

Ships have inertia, which is frustrating to deal with when trying to dodge shots. Speaking of shots, enemy shots are difficult to see and it's hard to tell when you actually get hit. To top things off, enemy ship patterns are completely uninteresting.
LoopyChew at 05:05 AM on 04/26/07
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That's funny. I thought 'Speare was all of Shakespeare's works combined into a single musical revue.
Duane at 08:06 AM on 04/26/07
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Better than a standard Flash online game, it's also available for offline play (via the new Apollo dealie) as well as for purchase like a traditional Windows app.

I think they might be aiming a bit too high, what with the trivia bits and the quiz later and so on. They should have stuck with "collect the words to complete the quotes", at least that would have drilled some of the more famous bits into the kids heads (since you have to collect every word and you can't repeat them, you have to actually pay attention to what words you have). They could do storylines between the levels or something.

Duane
http://www.shakespearegeek.com