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With only a couple of months left before release, MI6 caught up with Scot
Bayless, Executive Producer of the new Bond game "Everything
or Nothing" at Electronic Arts HQ in Redwood City, California, to find out
how things are shaping up.. | |
"Everything
or Nothing" - Exclusive Interview 2
19th August 2003
Following last month's interview about how "Everything or Nothing" is moving
the Bond games closer to a movie-style experience, MI6 caught up with Scot
Bayless again this week to find out more about the pure traditional-gaming
aspects.
"Going to third person has led us to hugely expand
the range of things Bond can do", Bayless told MI6, "particularly around stealth
and hand-to-hand fighting, Everything or Nothing is like nothing you've ever
seen from the 007 franchise."
"We've also worked hard to make our gadgets
into real tools that you, the player, can use when you want, where you
want and how you want. From day one, the goal has been to make the
gameplay feel open and to let the players decide the style of play. Do
you gunfight those henchmen in the open or spoof them into an ambush? Do
you sneak up behind that guy and knock him out or would the silenced
P99 be better? Maybe a strobe grenade? It's a long list and it's up to
you."
"We've taken some pretty bold steps with multiplayer. We've added
Cooperative play - the real deal. We have a full set of uniquely
designed cooperative missions that hook onto the fiction of the single
player game, but also extend it. We're not just repurposing single
player maps. This is a completely separate piece of the game. And
yeah, they're real co-op. You have to play as a team or you'll never
make it through."
"From the opening level, the game is designed with alternative
solutions
in mind. The phrase I've used with the team from the outset is "cloud
of opportunity". One of the signature characteristics of Bond is his
ability to come up with clever solutions on the fly. That's the
philosophical underpinning of the design of Everything or Nothing. We
want you to be asking yourself, "What would Bond do?" and then
reward you for begin clever, stylish and um... shall we say, non risk-averse?"
The last EA gaming outing "NightFire" came in for a little criticism that
it was too short for a Bond adventure. How are the team tackling this issue
with "Everything or Nothing"?
"We are planning longer missions and there will
be a lot more replayability. The depth of the missions goes way beyond anything
we've
ever attempted before."
Many experienced gamers reported they took very little time in disposing
of Bond`s enemies last time around. Extending the game length is one improvement,
but what about those with sharpened controller skills?
"The short answer is artificial intelligence. We have some of our best
people focused exclusively on NPC behavior. The AI's understand cover
and have strong survival instincts. They won't just stand there and let
you blast them and they'll try to use cover to flank you. They also
work together as teams. They'll cover each other in a fight and even
use sophisticated tactics like bounding overwatch. Bond isn't Bond
unless he's up against foes that mean something and we've put huge
emphasis on making sure the bad guys are smart enough to rate 007's
attention."
More levels, longer missions, tougher villains, sharper skills... "Everything
or Nothing" is looking like the first game that could rival the classic "GoldenEye".
One advantage the new games will always have over the legendary title howeever,
is constantly improving hardware. Will the latest title take advantage of the
technology
generation gap?
"We've pushed our engine technology to the very limits of our target
platforms. I honestly don't think I've ever seen a game that looks so good.
The character models are beautiful and the special effects are astonishing."
"Everything or Nothing" will be hitting a console near you in November 2003.
Thanks to Scot Bayless
and the team at Electronic Arts
for their time.
Related Articles:
"Everything
or Nothing" - Exclusive Interview 1