Edward and Eric: Lakeside City Stories

**Edward and Eric: Lakeside City Stories** is an action-adventure open world video game developed and published by Chatterbox Games. It was released on October 20, 2009 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS systems. It was also released for Microsoft Windows on April 20, 2010. The game surprisingly sold well upon releasing, and it has generally received positive reviews, with critics praising its multiple protagonist design, open world, surprising amount of freedom, presentation, gameplay, and humorous writing. It is often considered one of the best Edward and Eric video games, and is a cult classic among the fanbase.

The game is backwards compatible on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X. It was followed up by a sequel, Edward and Eric: Joey's World, in 2016, with Joey as the sole protagonist.

## Gameplay

### Home console and PSP versions

The game is obviously based on Edward and Eric and set within Lakeside. The player takes control of any member of The Lucky 6 they desire (Edward Pearson, Eric, Joey Maldanado, Stanley Breault, Dallas Jones, and Constantinos Gargano), with each character having their own unique storyline. The open world design allows the player to freely roam the entire borough of Lakeside. The game is played from a third-person perspective, and its world is navigated on foot, skateboard, bicycle, scooter, and go-kart. Playing as Edward grants the player unique vehicles of his own, such as his flying saucer, rocket ship, speed-of-light shoes, and others. Dallas is the only protagonist who can drive a car without modifications.

The game has two boroughs to explore: Lakeside (obviously), and Manhattan. The developers were striving to make the game feel like "a world you could get lost in". At the same time, though, they didn't want a massive map, as they wanted to emulate the "feeling of being a kid again", and it "wouldn't feel right if we had a map the size of a typical *Grand Theft Auto* game," as one developer stated. "Unless you're playing as Dallas, then you're not going to be driving a car anywhere," Sauls said in an interview that took place before the game's release. "I mean, he's the only one who can legally drive, plus we wanted all these deep systems you wouldn't find in a GTA title."

The developers also implemented a lot of elements that would feel realistic, "but not realistic to the point where you're better off going outside." For example, NPCs will remember actions the players have done - whether they be good or bad. For example, if you were to pull a prank on Old Man Esmond, he'll remember it and greet you negatively in any future interactions unless you make up for your bad actions. Another example is that if you were to rob a store, you can't just walk back inside a few minutes later as if nothing happened. The store clerk will remember the player and ask them to leave. Speaking of stores, a majority of the game's buildings are accessible, either by normal means or forced entry. As one developer put it, "If you can see it, chances are you can go into it."

Further elaborating on the immersive features, a glass fragmentation system was put into place. If you were to shoot a window with a slingshot, for instance, instead of the glass simply breaking the same way every time, a chunk near the impact of the slingshot would break out. If you were to shoot some more of the glass, little individual chunks near where you actually shot would fall out. Furthermore, grass will grow in real time. If the player does the Lawn Mowing side-mission, grass will get lower for each time the side-mission is completed, and the lawn mower will create lines on the grass.

(WIP)

### DS version

Gameplay on the DS is practically the same, except the game is played from a 2.5D top-down perspective with a rotatable camera. Minigames are also played via touchscreen controls.

## Downloadable content

Shortly after the game's release, three downloadable packs were assigned for release as well, and each were made available on different, separate dates.

* Wayne's Stories - (TBE)
* Tony and Skipper's Stories - (TBE)
* Walker and Goodman's Stories - (TBD)

The DLCs became available on the PlayStation 2 on May 3, 2011, as part of a physical bundle called Edward and Eric: Episodes from Lakeside City.

## Trivia

* The game's title is a parody of the *Stories* series from *Grand Theft Auto* (*Liberty City Stories* and *Vice City Stories*).
	+ Ironically, the police sirens in the game are reused from *GTA Vice City* and the *Stories* titles.
* Each time Eric screams whenever he falls down a great height or gets sent flying a far distance, reused audio of him screaming from The Hall of the Weens will play.
* This was the last game by Chatterbox Games to be released for PlayStation 2.