Hour of Victory Interview April 09, 2007 John JCal Callaham

Introduction

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FiringSquad: First, how did the idea for Hour of Victory come about?

Jeremy Ray: Midway concept tests all of the game proposals before they are greenlit. The WW2 proposal with the three different perspectives we have for Hour of Victory was one of the highest concepts that Midway has ever tested. The high concept test and healthy shooter market fit nicely with Midway’s desire to enter the military shooter genre.

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FiringSquad: There have been a ton of WWII shooters released in the past. Why do you think this game will stand out from the others?

Jeremy Ray:In Hour of Victory, Midway wants to give the player more choice. The player can choose to see battles from the three different perspectives of the British Commando, Army Ranger, and Covert Op. Each character specializes in different weapons and has different skills that enable them to snipe, sneak, and push their way to victory. There are also vehicles that the player can jump in and out of whenever they see fit, rather then only when the designer decides you can. The scripted game play is also kept to a minimum allowing for the player to experience battles differently each time they play. You don’t just memorize enemy locations you constantly think about your tactics during combat as you react to the changing tactics of the AI.

FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the game's main storyline and the three playable characters?

Jeremy Ray:Without revealing too much, here’s a little setup. The game story takes place during the WW2 years of 1942 – 1945 through the African and European theaters in North Africa, the Bavarian Alps, and culminating in a showdown in Berlin. The three playable characters have been specially chosen by the high ally command to use their unique skills to help stop a secret weapons program within the Nazi rank lead by Wilhelm Steckler. The story is historical fiction with an adventurous tone and fictional plot situated firmly within historical WW2 locations, uniforms, weapons, and vehicles.

FiringSquad: How does having three different characters change the gameplay design of Hour of Victory?

Jeremy Ray: The three playable characters are Ross the British Commando, Blackbull the Army Ranger, and Taggert the Covert Operative. It will be up to the player to determine which character they want to choose to accomplish their objectives, but the ultimate goal will require all three characters to work together. Each character’s skills, weapons, and game play are based on the different game play styles of run-and-gun, sniper, and sneak.

For example: Taggert uses a silenced sten gun and has abilities like picking locks and stealth knife kills. Bull uses a sniper rifle and has the ability to control his breath for more accurate shots or use his scaling ability to get to a unique sniper vantage point. Ross has the highest proficiency for taking enemies head on and can create his own cover by moving physics objects.

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FiringSquad: What sort of missions and locations will the game have?

Jeremy Ray: There are different gameplay missions that include things like action based first person gun combat, tank battles, infiltration, rescue, cable-car rides, Anti-aircraft gun combat, and protection to name a few.

These missions take place in locations including North Africa, Bavarian Alps, and the last days of Nazi controlled Berlin.

Hour of Victory Interview (con't)

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Jeremy Ray: The player has an array of authentic WW2 era equipment from US, British, Russian, and German forces. Including iconic weapons like the M1 Garand, MP40, MG42, PPSH, Thompson machinegun, Bren, Silenced Sten Gun, and combat knife.

You can play each character the way you like, but the Commando/Covert-op/Ranger specialize in frontal assault/sneaking/sniping respectively.

FiringSquad: Can you talk about how the AI of the game's enemies work?

Jeremy Ray:The AI use a system of hearing and vision to locate the player. In the game the player will notice three different demeanors for enemies that will change based on what the AI sees or hears. The first demeanor is relaxed and means the AI is on patrol or idling and basically unaware of any enemy threats. The second demeanor is investigative and this means the AI has heard or saw something they think might be a threat and they will search out the disturbance to investigate. The third demeanor is combat and this means the AI is aware of enemy targets and is actively trying to attack or defend.

The AI also has a number of reactions based on different gameplay scenarios including things like cowering or fleeing overpowered foes, diving out of the way of grenades, taking evasive maneuvers, melee attacking, and throwing grenades to name a few.

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FiringSquad: What sort of vehicles and items will the player get to use in Hour of Victory?

Jeremy Ray:Expect some of the most authentic looking era vehicles including tanks like the US Sherman and German Tiger and Panther, Kubelwagons, and troop transports. All vehicles in the game are made to be used by the player, and you can jump in or out of a vehicle whenever you see fit. You, not the game, choose the when, what, and where for your vehicle.

Jeremy Ray:You will also come across items like the infamous MG42 machinegun, Anti-aircraft guns, and battlefield radios.

FiringSquad: What multiplayer options will the game have?

Jeremy Ray:We’ll be making announcements on the multiplayer game modes next week.

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FiringSquad: What other unique elements will the game have?

Jeremy Ray:Let me try a few random elements to see if any of these work for you. :) Being able to play as three different characters with different skills and using vehicles as you decide rather then being forced to always play the ‘tank level’. A story driven WW2 experience with a more action oriented tone and look inspired by movies like Where Eagles Dare as opposed to the well covered somber tone of games inspired by things like Saving Private Ryan.

Hour of Victory Interview (con't)

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Jeremy Ray:Unreal Engine 3 provides a great performing well featured toolset that gives power to game designers and allows us to concentrate on getting to the fun quicker without the need for a huge bloated team that needs to sell 10 zillion units to break even. Obviously Epic recently has proofed that you can make a great game with their technology on the X360, and it is a pleasure to not have to sit around for months waiting for the first version of the renderer to barely work.

FiringSquad: Why was the decision made to make this game an Xbox 360 exclusive?

Jeremy Ray:We wanted to concentrate on providing the best experience that we could to the most amount of people, and for us that means focusing all of our attention on making the best Xbox 360 game that we can.

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FiringSquad: Are there any plans for a demo of the game to be released via Xbox Live and if so what will it contain?

Jeremy Ray:Yes we plan on having a playable demo that will be available on Xbox Live before the retail version ships. We cannot reveal the details of the demo at this time.

FiringSquad: Will there be additional content released for the game after it ships via Xbox Live?

Jeremy Ray:This is something that we have explored and would like to do, but no decision has been made yet.

FiringSquad: What is the current status of the game's progress and when will it be released?

Jeremy Ray:We are nearing Alpha with all of the levels playable with loads of tweaking and bug fixing and lots of motivated but sleep deprived team members.

FiringSquad: Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Hour of Victory?

Jeremy Ray:Thanks for your time and we hope you get a chance to enjoy Hour of Victory this Summer exclusively on Xbox 360.