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Pro-G: How will experience affect Spartan's skills during the game? How much scope is there to make your warrior unique?
You can customise your Spartan as you progressSophie: We have a simple but rewarding RPG-style system where you're awarded a number of points at the end of each level, which you can attribute to one of three skills: Power of the Gods (PotG), Health or Damage. This allows the player to customise the Spartan optimally for their playing style; if they use the Power of the Gods to reinforce their attacks, they should probably focus on raising this stat which will give them a larger PotG bar in the game. If they find they're more into the sword-to-sword combat that the game provides, adding points to their health and damage is wise.
AdvertisementPro-G: Can the Spartan use any magic to take down enemy soldiers?
Sophie: Oh yes indeedy! Each different weapon discovered along the journey has its own unique magic associated with it. The Twin Blades of Athena produce an electrical lightning attack; while the Hammer of Beowulf shakes up encircling foes with a violent earthquake. The Medusa shield calls upon the Medusa's petrifying powers to stop the enemies in their tracks, and the Spear of Achilles has innate fire-based powers. You'll find it's important to keep varying your attacks, experimenting to find the best way to take out each new enemy type.
Pro-G: The game looks to have a large number of environments. Are any of these interactive in any way?
Anywhere you can see in the game, you can get to and explore.
Sophie: We're really chuffed with the fact that all the locations are totally explorable, 100% pre-rendered and therefore fully interactive. Anywhere you can see in the game, you can get to and explore. The entire environment is loaded at the start of a level, so there's no annoying loading breaks in between sections of levels. You'll find hidden secrets to collect, such as Arena Bonuses, which open up cool powerups and pickups in the Arena mode of the game. You can also discover unlockable concept artwork. We've also made NPC characters interactive, so that civilians and prisoners talk to you and each other, sometimes revealing game tips or secrets. Take your time to really investigate your surroundings and you'll be pleasantly surprised at the level of ambient detail.
Pro-G: Can players expect to face any bosses at key stages of the game? If so, how do these differ from the hordes of soldiers that you face throughout the majority of the game?
The game looks stunning on all platformsSophie: As each level culminates, the player will encounter some fantastic bosses based in Greek and other ancient mythology. Watch out for the Minotaur's overwhelming charge and the Medusa's petrifying powers! Again, with each new boss, the player will have to figure out the best way to defeat them as they all have unique properties, attacks, defence systems, and combat techniques.
Pro-G: The Arena mode looks to be a place for die-hard fans to test their skills. Will you have any online leader boards so players can compete for the best survival times?
Sophie: Yes. At the moment we have internal leader boards so the whole team can try to get the highest score - so far the testers are excelling and whupping our asses, but we have enough time between now and release to change that.
Pro-G: Combat is clearly the focus of the game, but will this be accompanied by any puzzle solving or other gameplay types to give the game a little more variety?
Sophie: There's plenty of stuff to do besides fighting - allied NPC characters will call on you to carry out search and destroy operations to take out particularly threatening artillery machines. There are also stealth elements where you get to sneak around enemy camps, and reconnaissance missions which see you locating and protecting allies in trouble.
Pro-G: Are there are unique features to a specific version of the game? Have you played to any of the strengths of each console?
Combat is intuitveSophie: Because we've developed simultaneously across all three platforms, we've been able to milk each console. For instance, the Xbox version has depth of field perspective (blurring things in the background, for those non tecky peeps), while we've managed to get "bling" effects (High Dynamic Lighting Range) working really beautifully on the GameCube. Each console has its own version of the game, specifically crafted for it to achieve the best possible result on that platform.
Pro-G: Do you have any plans to take the game to other platforms? Perhaps the PC or PSP?
Sophie: I probably shouldn't discuss anything in the pipeline. ^_^
Pro-G: Finally, why should people be excited about Spartan: Total Warrior when it is released this winter?
Sophie: Ask yourself if you've ever been immersed in the heart of a bloody epic battle which rages all around you, surrounded by almost 200 troops, calling on magical powers and brutally decapitating anyone who tries to mess with you, impaling your foe on the end of your sword and kicking them 100 ft off the end, dodging incoming arrows and whacking opponents to the floor where you can follow up by fatally plunging your weapon into their visceral organs. If the answer is no, then there's a few damned fine reasons to be excited.
Thanks for your time. Spartan: Total Warrior is expected to be released in October for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube. Expect a thorough review near its release.
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