At a swanky penthouse suite in London’s MayFair Hotel yesterday (how very Bond,) PSU hooked up with Bizarre Creations, the developer behind the upcoming action adventure, James Bond: Bloodstone. Time was limited, but in between bouts of hands-on play with a Siberian-based driving mission and a peak at a brand new, never-before-seen level, set among the lush jungle setting of Burma (very Uncharted 2,) we had the chance to pit some questions to Lead Environmental Artist, Alan Mealor and Level Designers, Pete Collier and Vic Krengel.
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PSU: It was Bizarre Creation’s Design Manager Nick Davies who said recently that Bloodstone takes some of its inspiration from the Bond game Everything or Nothing and Sony’s action adventure, Uncharted 2, both of which are great games. Would you go along with that?
Pete Collier : We’ve taken inspiration from a lot of things. We’ve certainly taken some inspiration from the Bond games. If you’re making a Bond game it’s natural to take a look at other Bond games. What we’re trying to achieve with Bloodstone, however, is to deliver a cinematic experience for the player that’s authentic to Daniel Craig’s Bond and what he does in the films. From my perspective and a lot of people on the team, the films are actually the biggest influence. The whole team went on a trip to the cinema when Quantum of Solace was released and it was about watching the film and seeing what Daniel Craig brings to the role of Bond. That then helped us with designing the core pillars for the game.
PSU: And what is it that you think Daniel Craig brings to Bond?
Pete Collier: He’s brutal, gritty and aggressive and that’s what we’ve tried to capture in Bloodstone. The Bond games certainly had an influence but the films are at the core of what we’re trying to achieve.
PSU: Alan, this question is aimed at you. We know on passed projects, PGR4 for example, you’ve spent time in various countries to ensure that the backdrops look authentic in the game. In Bloodstone we’ll find ourselves in places across the Globe from Istanbul to Bangkok. Have you been globetrotting again for Bloodstone?
Alan Mealor: Yes. We sent a team to Bangkok and I’ve spent time in Istanbul to ensure that the overall look is an authentic one. Obviously, we didn’t spend time in Siberia but we designed the look from photographs and we also spent time in Loch Lomond where we got some of the inspiration for the Siberia level that we’re demoing today
PSU: We’ve heard plenty about the storyline and how it revolves around an International conspiracy, and we understand today that you’re not expanding on what is already publicly known, but can you talk to us about the game’s villains? Bond is seen confronting a character called Greco in the opening credits, yet in the passage of gameplay we enjoyed earlier we were chasing a guy called Pomerov. Is there more than one main villain?
Pete Collier: There’s quite a few villains. Greco is a superficial character that you’ll see in the pre-credits. That section is really about introducing the game. As the narrative progresses you get introduced to more villains and they all offer depth to the experience and push the narrative forward. Expect combat sections, boat chases and vehicle sequences when confronting enemies.
PSU: The team at Bizarre Creations obviously has pedigree in producing driving games. How big a part in the game are the vehicle sequences?
Pete Collier: Driving isn’t a huge part of the game. Driving sequences largely involve you being chased or you chasing someone. A lot of rumours went around when we were developing that we were creating a Bond driving game, but it’s really more of a 70/30 split with combat taking up the bulk of the gameplay. The driving levels help us punctuate the high intensity moments in the game. They help with the pacing and the narrative.
PSU: Judging from the passage of gameplay we’ve seen today, using cover effectively is going to play an important part in Bloodstone. How deep is the cover system?
Pete Collier: Everything that looks like cover will be cover. There’s high cover and low cover. You can walk over it, or shimmy around it. You can switch from cover to cover, and even perform Takedowns from it.
PSU: It does seem that the levels that we’ve seen so far have been designed in a way to encourage cover play and stealth play, was that a deliberate choice?
Vic Krugel: We always wanted to give Bond the option to approach the situation in the way that he would. And Bond is often straight at the enemy, but he’ll also often scope out a side route. You can play as Bond aggressively or stealthily and the levels have been designed to allow you to play either of those ways.
PSU: And what about Takedowns? The reward system for performing Takedowns, which grants you with the ability to perform Focus Aim (slow-mo) executions, encourages you to take down enemies in this way. How varied are these Takedowns?
Vic Krugel: The stealth takedowns that you can perform are very physical and brutal. There’s approximately 69 different takedowns that are all contextual. They depend on enemy alert status, the angle you attack them from, or if you’re attacking from cover. It’s one of the things we’re most proud of; it immerses you fully in being Bond. It’s so brutal. The takedowns are absolutely exhilarating!
PSU: We understand, and are every so slightly disappointed, that there will be no Bond-like gadgets in Bloodstone, but we will have the Smartphone. What does it do exactly?
Pete Collier: It’s an information gathering device. Daniel Craig’s Bond is very gadget light, he doesn’t use them a lot, but this is the one gadget that we allow him. It’s an augmented reality phone so it allows you to mine date from the environment. So you can scan secondary objectives to build on the back-story, use it to monitor patrol routes of enemies and see their state of awareness. Even what weapons they’re carrying. It also has navigation markers so more casual gamers can navigate their way through the environment. Later on you use if for mini-games, such as hacking . You can’t use it while shooting, it’s purely an information device. It also helps you find intelligence data.
PSU: What’s intelligence data, some form of collectible?
Pete Collier: Throughout each mission you can search for pieces of intelligence data as a mandatory objective. It gives that extra layer of depth to the game and builds on the narrative when you find them. Plus they’re linked to achievements.
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Ah, that’s it, time is up! The guys from Bizarre Creations got whipped away from us due to a busy schedule before we could ask any more questions! However, stay tuned to PSU for our James Bond Bloodstone exclusive preview shortly.
James Bond: Bloodstone is due for release on November 5, 2010, so we’re told.