Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse is a third-person, local co-op game featuring Stewie and Brian as playable characters. The game is based off the alternate reality theory episode of Family Guy, “Road to the Multiverse.”
Instead of following from where the episode ended, Back to the Multiverse “continues the idea” of Brian and Stewie traveling to the multiverse” in a “completely original story” penned by Family Guy writers Mike Desilets and Anthony Blasucci, according to Activision producer Andy Owen, speaking to IGN.
Betram, Stewie’s half-brother, though dead, will make an appearance. “Since there are infinite multiverses, he could come into the Griffin family’s universe from one of the others,” said Owen. “We saw a good opportunity to use him as an evil force in the multiverse.”
The game itself is not developed by Activision. Heavy Iron Studios, whose backlog includes licensed titles like The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Game and the more recent UFC Personal Trainer, is behind the release. The game will put melee, guns, and power-ups to the test, and venture across universes including a world ruled by fraternity brothers and another ruled by the Amish. As characters enter new universes, their appearance will change to match.
Just don’t expect any cutaways.
The game will also feature additional competitive multiplayer levels, challenge levels, multiplayer maps, costumes, and playable characters that are unlocked as you progress.
Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse is due this fall for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. We should hear more when it appears at E3 next week.