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.