In a world... where humanity has been eradicated... one Pomeranian... wearing a pretty cute little sweater... will do anything to survive... the Tokyo Jungle.
That's basically the set up for the Tokyo Game Show 2010 demo version of Tokyo Jungle, the new post-apocalyptic wildlife survival game for the PlayStation 3. The goal? Hunt to stay alive. Feed on the flesh of your foes—cats, chickens, crows, bunnies—to level up.
Tokyo Jungle is a 2D survival platformer. Playing as a Pomeranian, the only animal playable in the TGS demo, you must sniff out (R2) your prey, which appear as glowing dots on a Tokyo street map onscreen, then sneak up on them to viciously take them down. Creep left or right by holding the R1 button, camouflage yourself within wild brush, then pounce on a rabbit or chicken with L1 + the triangle button. Feast upon their bloody corpses by tapping triangle. Chow down multiple times on the same animal carcass and they're reduced to nothing but bones.
It's relatively simple stuff, but there are a few tricks. After killing some animals, like the tutorial rabbits, a pack of crows will swarm overhead, waiting to peck at your scraps. Leave the body of your furry victim alone and the crows will land. That's when you pounce for a combo meal!
Beyond the stealth kills, you'll engage in simple paw-to-paw combat with kitties, slashing at each other until going in for the kill by rapidly tapping the triangle button. Every kill grants you "Fine Hunt!" kudos and count toward a string of combos.
Your health is always on the decline in Tokyo Jungle, forcing the player to keep searching, to keep leveling up for bigger hunts.
There are some simple platforming elements in the TGS demo. The Pomeranian can jump from street level to the beds of delivery trucks to the ledges of buildings, traipsing through broken structures and across downed power lines.
The TGS demo for Tokyo Jungle was incredibly simplistic, offering only one animal type—silhouettes for deers, horses and other dogs weren't accessible—and very limited play time. Tokyo Jungle may not be what we were expecting when the PlayStation Network game was announced, but the game has promise, if only for its quirky appeal.