Heavenly Sword developer Ninja Theory has claimed that 28 Days Later/The Beach scriptwriter Alex Garland would have injected some much-needed improvements in to the 2007 PlayStation 3 exclusive had he worked on the project.
Quizzed by the chaps at Eurogamer as to whether or not Garland’s involvement would have improved things, studio co-founder Tameem Antoniades replied: "Yes, it would have been," adding, "He’s got something that as game developers we don’t have, which is this keen visual eye for storytelling. So undoubtedly, yes."
Antoniades went on to state that Garland’s story telling prowess would have ultimately resulted in a more rewarding gameplay experience. "Not only does that kind of approach make the story hold up, it actually improves gameplay," he said.
"If you can hit the mark, the game stops being a collection of animations, gameplay moments and story moments, and it can transcend and become this experience that you just immerse yourself in. And that’s the objective.”
"Honestly I don’t know if we’re going to hit that – you never know when you’re developing. But that’s what we’re trying our best to do."
Elsewhere, he denied that Ninja Theory is putting more effort in to its next project – namely, the PS3 and 360 outing Enslaved: Odyssey to the West – in comparison to Heavenly Sword.
"No, I wouldn’t do that," he replied.
"Actually, Heavenly Sword was really tough for a whole slew of reasons that weren’t to do with creative – they were to do with technology, the whole PS3 announcement and things around that. This was comfortable development where the tough part was on the creative side, and that’s a good place to be."