The PS4 build of the game is being developed by Tarsier Studios and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The primary goal is to bring the game up to a full 1080p resolution and the developer is currently targeting a constant frame rate of 60 frames per second. Tearaway Unfolded currently has a 2015 release window.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

The reveal of Tearaway Unfolded came during Gamescom of 2014 when Sony took to the stage to announce that they would be bringing the game to the PS4 with Media Molecule assisting Tarsier Studios to make sure the essential elements of the game were in place.

The PS4 build of Tearaway will take advantage of and make use of some of the features exclusive to the PlayStation 4. This includes the Dualshock 4’s Lightbar and possibly the touch button interface given the touch screen tech that was used in Tearaway on Vita. The game will also make use of the PS4’s Share functionality as well, at the minute more details haven’t been revealed.

Tearaway is one of the few games that makes use of an art style that blends both the 3D and 2D worlds into one. That being said, the game itself isn’t played in a 2D world, gameplay takes place in a 3D space that the serves as the game world.

The major implementation of the 2D components in the world is the texturing of items. Most 3D objects in Tearaway are designed to look as though they are constructed out of sheets of paper, lending the game it’s very distinct paper-craft style.

Sony have spoken about the visual styling of Tearaway. When the game first came onto the scene they said that the game would be an “Adventure through a vibrant papery world with your new friend iota, a plucky messenger with a unique message to deliver—to you!”

Story

The plot of Tearaway follows Iota or Atoi, a male or female messenger that’s off on a mission to deliver a special message that is unique to the player. Along their journey they will encounter small scraps of paper enemies that will try and stop the delivery.

The main goal of the game is to make players enjoy the experience of the having played it, making them value the gameplay rather than having them focus on a plot heavy narrative.

Gameplay

As mentioned in the story portion of this wiki, the game was designed around having the player adventure through a lovingly designed paper-craft world. The adventure would be focused on the characters Iota and Atoi, a male and female paper-craft being respectively.

Tearaway Unfolded is a third person adventure game. In the original demonstration footage of the game that was revealed for the original PS Vita build of the game, the player was shown how to use texture implementation as part of the game. The demo involved an Elk character that need a new skin, which the player would provide by way of the PS Vita’s camera. Given that the PS4 is a distinctly separate piece of equipment from the PS4, it’s not yet known how this function and piece of gameplay will be implemented into the PS4 version of the game. It’s entirely possible that the player will be given an in-game camera to use in the game world. Once the play has managed to find a suitable substitute for the Elk’s coat, the chose texture is then applied to the Elk, acting as its new skin.At this time, information that gives gameplay specific information is limited

When the PS Vita original version the game was designed, it was created to effectively implement all of the PS Vita’s features, this was of course to make sure that they were meaningfully used opposed to having them feel like a gimmick.

A number of the original gameplay features made use of the cameras and internal gyroscopes to let the player look around inside the game world. Features like this are expected to still be in the PlayStation 4 build of the game, but with a new control scheme. It’s possible that moving the Dualshock 4 may allow for some similar functionality, or perhaps there’s going to be integration with the PlayStation 4 Camera. At the minute, this is largely supposition.

A video trailer for the PS4 build that was released showed that the player will use the touch pad in a number of ways with different gestures reflecting different mechanics in the game world. It also showed that at some point the player will even have to shake their controller to proceed further into the game.

In the original PS Vita build, the player would use the rear touch screen to press their fingers into the game world and interact with it. Features like this were a main selling point of the game, but the Dualshock 4 is missing these pieces of tech, so this feature may be entirely replaced or removed.

Another separate demo for the PS Vita version of the game shows off the player’s ability to cut out paper shapes for the characters featured in the game by using their fingers on the Vita’s front touch screen, this will likely be mimicked on the Dualshock 4 touch pad.

When Tearaway shipped on the PS Vita, it was very well received by the public at large and by the media. With the PS4 build on the horizon, a number of outlets have started to express worrying opinions that this heralds the death of the Vita with Vita exclusive game’s being ported to the PS4.

Characters

As mentioned above, the game has two main characters. One of whom is Atoi, the other is Iota. Both of these little characters are papercraft-like beings that are on a mission to deliver a special message.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

Tearaway was without a doubt one of the best games released last year, and also one of the best games on the PlayStation Vita so far, period. Media Molecule’s built from the ground up for Vita platformer was charming, inventive, and really like nothing else on the market, a game that could not have been possible on anything but the Vita.

At Gamescom, Sony announced that they would be bringing the game over to the PS4 as well, with Media Molecule reworking the essentials to make them work on Sony’s newest console. Now, you can find all new screenshots of this game up above, to see what the gorgeous world of Tearaway will look like on the PS4.

The PS4 edition will have loads of new stuff, and will be taking advantage of the PS4’s unique features too, including the DualShock 4 the Lightbar, the Share functionality, and more.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more.

In Europe, Sony actually cares about the PlayStation Vita a little more than they do over here in the States. So, from time to time, we see some surprising moves on their part to sell the system- which is, again, more than can be said of SCEA, who seem content to let the system languish and die.

Anyway, SCEE, on the other hand, just announced a new PS Vita Mega Pack, this one themed with adventure games. And it seems like a hell of a deal, packing, as it will, five exceptionally good games.

Here are the games that the Mega Pack will have:

• Uncharted: Golden Abyss
• Tearaway
• Gravity Rush
• Escape Plan
• TxK

The Mega Pack can be purchased in two ways:

• A memory card bundle comes with an 8GB memory card and a PlayStation Store voucher code to download all five games.
• The PS Vita + memory card bundle also includes an 8GB memory card and a voucher code for all five games, as well as a PlayStation Vita system to play them on.

The first bundle will set you back only by €39.99 RRP- that’s the cost of one full price game, but instead you get five- while the bundle with the system included is €199.99RRP, or the price of the system itself. Essentially, you get five games free.

Holy shit, Sony. Advertise the hell out of this thing.

In what must have been one of the most unexpected announcements at GDC, Media Molecule took the stage during Sony’s presentation to announce that their gorgeous, charming, inventive little platformer from last year, Tearaway, made ground up and exclusively for the PS Vita, will be coming to the PlayStation 4, and that it has been completely re-imagined to utilize the PS4’s unique functions.

It’s some great news, in a way, because Tearaway was a wonderful game that deserved much better than the abysmal reception that it had on the Vita. But it’s also terrible news, because it basically seals the Vita’s fate (as if the thorough cold shouldering that it received at Sony’s conference wasn’t enough): the system is dead, Sony doesn’t care, and one of its best, most inventive games is now no longer an exclusive.

Oh well, I guess. At least more people get to experience this gorgeous, beautiful game this way.

Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us may have swept Game of the Year Awards for various publications (including our own) along with the recent D.I.C.E. Awards but it’s not done asserting its aesthetic dominance just yet. The latest news on the BAFTA UK game awards has revealed that the game has been nominated in 10 categories.

They include Action & Adventure, Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Best Game, Game Design, Multiplayer, Music and Story. There are also two Performer nominees for Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker for their vocal performances of Ellie and Joel respectively.

Other games include Grand Theft Auto 5, which has 9 nominations and PS Vita platformer Tearaway which has been nominated for 8 awards. In total, 43 games have been nominated for awards in 17 different categories and include indie hits like Papers Please which has four nominations.

The BAFTA Awards take place on March 12th. Which game will you be rooting for? Let us know in the comments below.

Media Molecule released a new video today which featured a look at the music from one of the most charming games released in 2013, PS Vita-exclusive, Tearaway.

The video takes us behind the scenes at Media Molecule, where the PS Vita title was developed, where we sit down with Kenny Young, the head of audio production on the game.

Young tells us that the goal of the soundtrack was to reinforce the game’s main idea that the entire is made of stories. As such, the music featured is of the folk genre, which, as you can probably guess, is quite heavy on storytelling. Young goes on to say that their main goal overall, beyond reinforcing the storytelling-theme of the game is to ensure that, above all else, the experience of playing Tearaway is one entirely unique to the gamer.

Young also goes on to say that due to the power of the PlayStation Vita, Tearaway didn’t face the audio restrictions that so many other handheld games face. In most cases there winds up being a compromise on the complexity and the quality of the audio. Not with Tearaway.

In Tearaway you get to play either as Iota or Atoi, two very unique personalities. Iota and Aoti are actually envelopes and depending on what the player chooses to play as, one of them falls into the Paper Dimension. For the sake of keeping it simple we are going to refer Iota as our reference in the review. After falling, Iota is surrounded by bits of paper which magically create his arms and legs, and this where our little adventure begins. Iota has an urgent message to deliver to you, the player which is represented by a face in the Sun. Iota’s message is different for every person and will change depending on what you do and create in the game.

"Tearaway makes use of the PlayStation Vita's features in great ways and at no point did I felt like the controls were tacky or forced like the underwhelming Uncharted Golden Abyss's rope climbing mechanic."

It wouldn’t be a Media Molecule game if you couldn’t customize Iota in whatever crazy way you want. As you play through the story you will collect confetti that you can use to buy different things like camera lens, filters and decorations which you can use to personalize Iota to your liking. Decorations range from different eyes, noses and mouths to random things like hearts and faces. These decorations can be made bigger or smaller in size and can be put anywhere on Iota as well as on other inhabitants of the Paper Dimension. This gives Tearaway a LittleBigPlanet feel which fans of the series will definitely appreciate.

Tearaway makes use of the PlayStation Vita’s features in great ways and at no point did I felt like the controls were tacky or forced like the underwhelming Uncharted Golden Abyss’s rope climbing mechanic. In the past not many games have managed to use the rear touch-pad in a way that worked well. Fortunately, Media Molecule have made good use of it without all the annoying hassle of having to be very precise or accidentally hitting it at an inopportune time.

As Iota travels through the Paper Dimension he will come across blocked paths and will look to you, the face in the Sun for help. There are areas where you can poke your finger into the Paper Dimension from the rear touch-pad to interact with objects in Iota’s world allowing you to do things like clearing paths, destroying scraps [the enemies in the game] and raising him off the ground to reach higher areas. It all works very intuitively and looks graceful and smooth.

"At the end of the day some more complicated puzzles would have been welcomed to make you stop and think for a second."

However there is one small issue that I think needs pointing out. When you get to these areas where you need to use the rear touch-pad, that part of the screen turns grey and has PlayStation’s signature button symbols floating around inside of it to show where you can interact. These areas feel like they don’t have any life or texture in it. Its not that big of a deal especially considering how great everything else in Tearaway looks but it makes these areas of the game look unfinished.

Other parts of the game use face buttons and tilt features to open paths that are blocked for Iota making the platforming in Tearaway diverse. It’s never very challenging to figure out what it is you have to do, making the game fairly easy to run through in a short amount of time. However if you are of the explorer type than you can extend your play-through by finding all the hidden collectibles around the world. At the end of the day some more complicated puzzles would have been welcomed to make you stop and think for a second.

Let us talk about the enemies in the game who are merely called Scraps. Scraps come in a few varieties and require different tactics to defeat. Your normal Scraps will jump on you and if by any chance they missed hitting you, the player can pick them up and throw them on the wall. Other Scraps have a bounce pad attached to their backs which Iota has to jump onto to flip them over. However the player needs to tap the Scrap on the touch screen to crush them while they are flipped over. Overall I found the combat to be overly simple and weak in some cases.

"Everything in the Paper Dimension is as its name suggests, is made out of paper with objects folded in origami style to create an engrossing world."

During Iota’s journey you will meet all kinds of people who need help. The Scraps seem to enjoy stealing things from people including their color, property and facial features. When Iota meets these people you can draw your own things. For example I ran into someone who had their crown stolen and asked if I could make him another one. The gameplay screen then changed into a table with different colored papers which you can use to make a crown by drawing it on the touch screen. This is something I found to be pretty inventive and thoughtful and I am sure many players will be intrigued by this interesting gameplay mechanic. Given how cute this feature is, it might actually put a smile on your face.

Tearaway is a beautiful game to look at. Everything in the Paper Dimension is as its name suggests, is made out of paper with objects folded in origami style to create an engrossing world. The grass, trees and all the way up to the sun and clouds have that origami feel to it. Paper has never been as appealing as it is here and Tearaway’s use of paper to create its world opens up all types of cool gameplay mechanics.

As Iota travels through the Paper Dimension he’ll find curled up paper bridges and will need you to open them by swiping across the front touch screen to create a bridge for him to pass over. Another cool feature of having a game set in a paper world is that Iota will sometimes come across areas covered in glue that will allow him to walk along walls to reach higher places and hidden locations.

"Tearaway's few flaws do drag it down a little but Iota's journey through Paper Dimension is still fun to give Tearaway great replay value."

Iota also has a camera of his own that will let him restore color that the Scraps have stolen from different people. When Iota finds something that is completely blank he can take a picture of it giving back its color. Restoring color to something also unlocks a printable version that you can get at Tearaway.me. There are over 50 different things that can be printed once they’ve been unlocked.

Tearaway’s audio always manages to keep pace with what is happening in the game. The soundtrack is fun, upbeat and there is even a section that has turntables that lets the player mix the music as Iota walks across them. The inhabitants don’t actually speak but their emotions are represented by speech bubbles while making muffled yet adorable sounds.

Overall Tearaway is a good addition to the catalog of exclusive IPs that the PlayStation Vita has. Tearaway’s few flaws do drag it down a little but Iota’s journey through Paper Dimension is still fun to give Tearaway great replay value. Tearaway’s use of the Vita’s different features works perfectly and makes it one of the better handheld games that any fan of LittleBigPlanet or platformers in general should enjoy.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation Vita.

Did you happen to purchase Media Molecule’s critically acclaimed Tearaway for the PS Vita from online retail Zavvi and pick up a free handheld by mistake? Well great news! You’re obligated to return the handheld or face legal action according to a legal letter sent by the retailer to consumers. This happened when consumers purchased the game and purchased the bundle which contains both the game and the Vita.

Zavvi’s letter reads, “We are very sorry to inform you that due to an error in our warehouse we have dispatched the incorrect product. We are contacting you in order for us to arrange a collection of the incorrect item which is on the way to you. If possible, please keep the parcel in its original packaging ready to hand back to the courier.”

Some users aren’t buying it though and questioning Zavvi’s threats. According to one user, “The Distance Selling Regulations are very clear on this. If you’ve been sent unsolicited goods, you are entitled to treat them as an unconditional gift and do with them as you choose. You are not required to keep them for any amount of time and you are certainly not required to pay for them. Any attempt to demand payment (by threatening means or otherwise) is unlawful.”

(Source)

It’s also been revealed that the community website Tearaway.me is live along with a free trial of the game available on the PlayStation Store. If your curious to see how the game plays and whether it will be worth the purchase (though judging by the highly positive reviews for the same, we’d gather it’s worth it). Players can use the community site to upload in-game pictures along with papercraft models that they’ve discovered.

Tearaway will be releasing on the PlayStation Vita in both Europe and North America on November 22nd. Stay tuned for more details along with a review when the game launches.

Earlier today, Sony announced that their new PS Vita bundle will synch up for a promotional effort with the upcoming PS Vita release, Tearaway. As a matter of fact Sony Computer Entertainment has announced that there will be multiple bundles, each of which offering a different deal.

The first package includes a wi-fi active PlayStation Vita, and a copy of  Tearaway. The second bundle offers the PlayStation Vita, a voucher for the full Tearaway game and an additional 4 Gigabyte memory card that gamers can put into their handheld.

The third and final bundle will exclusively be sold in the UK, and will include the PlayStation Vita, a 16 Gigabyte memory card, and vouchers for both Tearaway and Little Big Planet, another game that was developed by Media Molecule, and happened to be hugely successful.

The release of Tearaway was originally scheduled for October 22nd, but delays in development have pushed the proposed release date back to November 22nd.