Yesterday, Sumo Digitals Steve Lycett began dropping hints that ASRT would be getting a new update. For PC owners, the update has just gone live and… ASRT has a new character, and you will not believe who it is, because it’s technically not a videogame character, or a real person, in fact, if my understanding is correct. It’s a characterised representation of a metaphor.
Let me explain.
The character is called ‘General Winter.‘ Who is General Winter? Well, we need to do a bit of history. In the past, nations have tried and failed to conquer Russia in times of war, famously, Hitler and Napoleon attempted to invade and suffered heavy losses and defeats. Why? Simple. The winter.
Russian winters are notoriously cold. Over the years, as nations have invaded Russia, once the winter hits, their resources and supply lines are heavilly drained and eventually the invading force becomes crippled and has to either retreat or surrender. Hence the name ‘General Winter.’ General Winter is a metaphor, it’s the name given as the reason why well known military leaders in the past have failed to conquer Russia.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ_IKRda6jM[/youtube]
Now… in the game Relic game Company of Heroes 2, (Relic being a studio recently purchased by Sega following THQ’s collapse) there is indeed a character called ‘General Winter’ Who is based off this metaphor.
So ASRT’s newest character is from Relics game, who is a characterised incarnation of a metaphor based off a real life phenomenom. When you put it like that it’s simple. Before anyone asks, it would appear that this character is exclusive to the PC version of the game.
In other news, ASRT is free to play this weekend on Steam.
Source: Sonic the Hedgehog Facebook page & Thanks to SSMB member Xenn for the image.
Seriously?….That’s it?…….*yawn*
And here I thought it was either Billy Hatcher or a Burning Rangers character. I still hope we get someone from that poll, or at the very least somewhat of an interesting character available on all consoles. A slightly generic, non-Sega character that’s exclusive to the PC version (and doesnt really fit with the other racers) doesn’t exactly get me excited.
what the a russian pff the heavy is part russian
*sitting there with this absolutely dumbfounded look through the whole video* … What the hell am I looking at? This is seriously our first DLC? And it seems to be only for PC? What kind of… What?
Uh.
He’s from Company of Heroes.
Which is a SEGA game.
Im upset that it isn’t Segata Sanshiro, but then I remember, Relic is part of Sega now.
And you know what? I hope that a Necron lord is in All Stars Racing now. Because Warhammer 40k is the shiznit.
Я ожидал большего, я думал, что лодка превратится в водку, а самолет в медведя.
А вообще чего-то у них время сбито сейчас уже лето, зима была пять месяцев назад!
I expected someone more….. *thinking of a word* colorful
hahahHAHAHA.
well well happy 4th of July everyone! *giggles*
well that’s cool I guess…
I’m guessing his air transformation is a MiG?
That’s a large gap between the top row of characters and the “CHARACTER SELECT” line. Maybe a lot of new characters?
I’m surprised anyone who’s not a fan of Hetalia or Russia in general knows about this guy.
It’s an interesting choice, and as I heard, he’s a character selected by the poll….
Regarding his vehicles, I think it’s alright. His tank should sound a bit more… Tank-like, and not like an undersized jet-engine, and the idea of having (presumably nuclear) submarine as his water transformation (probably based on the Red October, albeit it doesn’t really look like it) is certainly more creative than, let’s say, having toy-ship version of the battleship Aurora.
As for the red star…
I already had my brow raised when I saw the red stars as goals within recent Sonic games, but this just takes the communist cake.
They should really cut back with it – not that I have a problem with it, after all, General Winter is most often associated with Soviet Russia, but I also know that half of Europe (the Eastern half) will throw a fit when they see it.
Anyways, it seems Team Fortress 2’s Heavy will find a surprising alley among his competitors.