FiringSquad: Are there any people in particular that inspired the science fiction and conspiracies in Deus Ex and Invisible War?
Harvey:: Sheldon Pacotti was the lead writer for Deus Ex and Deus Ex--Invisible War. He and Sarah Paetsch worked with the game design team on all the missions, and those two wrote the AI one-liner 'barks' and the conversations. Aside from drawing from seminal video games, 'paper' roleplaying games and their own fevered imaginations, people on our team have drawn inspiration from Philip K. Dick, Umberto Eco, (nonlinear stuff like) Karen Elizabeth Gordon's The Red Shoes and Milorad Pavic's Dictionary of the Khazars (to see how other writers deal with building drama when you don't know what sequence readers/players are going to encounter passages in), Alexis de Tocqueville (Democracy in America), Bertrand Russell (Principles of Social Reconstruction), the tv show "24," Thomas Pynchon, Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, the movie Blade Runner (and other canonical cyberpunk like) Snow Crash and Neuromancer. (As writer Sarah Paetsch said at one point, "We're not all that cyber, but it's the same landscape, overrun and blighted by commercialization and sprawl and sometimes some sort of apocalypse.") We also tried to stay up on current nanotech development and recent science reports.
Ship party again
FiringSquad: How different will the Xbox version be from the PC game, technically?
Harvey:: The PC version features high-res textures for the maps/environments and high-res textures for the characters. Also, if you prefer mouselook or setting the game at a higher screen resolution, PC is the way to go. However, the Xbox versions lets you lie on the couch and play with a controller, on your big TV, with your awesome home sound system.
FiringSquad: How does developing on Xbox compare to PC or PS2 development?
Harvey:: Xbox (console) is easier in some ways, since the hardware spec is totally fixed/known. In other ways it's harder, since you have so little RAM. As with many things, neither is 'better,' but both have trade-offs. Very much like game design decisions.
FiringSquad: Thanks for your time, we know you must be very busy in these final days of development!
Harvey:: I love talking about the game. We are very happy with Deus Ex--Invisible War. We think it turned out better than Deus Ex in every single way. It gets much better several hours into play, when players start playing with creativity, actually playing improvisationally. I hope that word spreads about the ways in which this is a different gaming experience.
Harvey speaks on FiringSquad about Deus Ex 2! So what do you think about the interview? Let us know in the news comments! Yes, anonymous posting is allowed!
Mass Effect 3 PC Demo Impressions Mass Effect 3, EA/BioWare's third iteration in their series of sci-fi action RPGs and one of the most anticipated titles of the year, is fast approaching its March 6th release. This week, though, they released a playable demo on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 that offers a glimpse into both the single-player and multi-player portions of the full game.
Whether you're waiting impatiently for your download to finish or don't have the time to check it out yourself, go ahead and read some impressions of the demo from resident FSers Synch and Vandy in today's article!
Batman: Arkham City PC Review Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to 2009’s smash-hit action game Batman: Arkham Asylum. As the name suggests, you will be reprising your role as the Caped Crusader and going against an even larger 'prison' filled with Gotham's criminals and villains. A textbook example on how to do a proper sequel, Arkham City takes what worked in the original, excised or improved upon what didn’t, and elevated everything to an even greater scope. The PC version suffered from a few months of delay, but in that time, Rocksteady worked closely to NVIDIA to implement some familiar technologies from the last game, such as PhysX and 3D Vision, along with new DirectX 11 optimizations. But how well was the whole package executed? Read on to find out!
Saints Row: The Third PC Review Saints Row is one of most unique series of games to build upon the open-world action template forged by Grand Theft Auto, and has met with plenty of critical and commercial success since it began on consoles back in 2006. This latest iteration, titled Saints Row: The Third promises the most outlandish fun and freedom of customization of them all, and in a much more PC-friendly package than its predecessor. Does it live up to those expectations and, more importantly, is it worth the price of admission? Find out in Will's latest review!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PC Review The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda Softworks’ latest offering in their series of epic fantasy RPGs, as well as one of the most highly-anticipated PC titles of 2011. As the Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn, prepare to take the fight to the mythical beasts that have returned to the realm after centuries of slumber, all the while exploring a huge and highly-detailed open world.
The PC version of the game promises enhanced graphical fidelity, standard RPG trimmings such as hotkeys and quick-save, as well as unbridled mod support, something we’ll all be thankful for once they release that SDK. Skyrim has already sold millions of copies and set records for play-time on Steam... Find out why in today's review, which happens to be one of the biggest and most in-depth articles on the subject out there!
L.A. Noire Complete Edition PC Review L.A. Noire, as the name clearly states, is a video game built on the tropes of one of the greatest periods of American cinema: film noir. Developed by the now defunct Australian developer Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games, this title has been out on consoles for a full six months before finally making its way to the PC. This “Complete Edition” of the game features improved graphics, keyboard/mouse controls, and every bit of previously-released DLC for free. But was it truly worth the wait? Read on and find out!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Xbox 360 Review
The self-appointed "most anticipated game in history" launched worldwide this past Tuesday. Why, it's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, of course (of course), what else? Unsurprisingly, the military FPS debate between this and Battlefield 3 rages on, but now that both have been released, surely we can take a look and objectively evaluate them both? Luke's taken the Xbox version of MW3 for a spin this week, so to find out what he thinks of it in today's review!
Stronghold 3 Review
The latest sequel in the long-running real-time strategy franchise from FireFly Studios, Stronghold 3 is all about building your dream castle and defending it against sieging enemies. Almost exactly one decade after the first game was released, this new title promises a return to the classic and well-received gameplay that has been strayed so far from in more recent iterations. Does it live up to those expectations? Will (AKA Synchronous Failure) tells us all about it in his first official FiringSquad review, so read on!
Battlefield 3 PC Review - Single-player Impressions
One of the most highly-anticipated PC games of the year is upon us; Battlefield 3 is now available in North America! EA/DICE have finally delivered a sequel to the core Battlefield franchise, a proper follow-up to BF2. Having played through the game's single-player campaign already, ahead of the multiplayer festivities kicking off around midnight, I figured I'd share my impressions ASAP. Is it really a worthy addition to the core Battlefield series, or just another bullet point on the back of the box? Read on and find out!
Wrecked: Revenge Revisited Supersonic Software Interview
Following up on our hands-on preview from earlier this month, here's an interview with Supersonic Software, creators of Wrecked: Revenge Revisited. The game's coming out on XBLA and PSN in a matter of weeks, but for now, Luke chats with the developer about its predecessors Mashed and Micro Machines, how difficult it can be to get an indie game published, the closure of Codemasters' Guildford branch, and more!
Orcs Must Die! PC Review Orcs Must Die! is the first release from an independent developer named Robot Entertainment. Fans of classic real-time strategy games may have heard that name before, as the outfit is comprised of many veterans from Ensemble Studios, creators of the Age of Empires series.
Equal parts action and strategy, this is a tower defense game that not only puts you in command, but on the front lines of combat, as well. Slaughter thousands of orcs, ogres and other vile creatures of fantasy that invade your fortresses through 24 levels of the story-based campaign. With high levels of replayability thanks to its scoring and leaderboard functionality, multiple difficulty levels, and various styles of play, it sounds a steal at only $15. Does it deliver on all that’s promised, though? Read on and find out!
![Deus Ex 2 Interview [ Ship party again @ 481 x 330 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/06-s.jpg)
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