Understudy: "How do you balance puzzles that that can be solved by many different
approaches? Does this lead to extremely complex puzzles that may make the game
impossible for less inventive players?"
Nour Polloni: Most of the puzzles are built around a simple logic to resolve them.
For example you need to burn something to get past and it’s up to you to find a way
to burn whatever it is. It could be by setting an object on fire, or using your healing
spray with a lighter to create a flamethrower, or throwing a Molotov cocktail. The
means you use to reach the objectives can range from obvious solutions to ones that
need a bit more thought. That’s why we wanted the player to have multiple ways so
that he is not frustrated because by having only one way to move forward. We’re also
going through the tuning process now to make sure that nothing’s too hard and
there’s some help to work out the really tricky ones. Lastly, if you get really stuck, you
can skip sequences and even episodes in the DVD style interface, but always at a
cost. If there’s bits you didn’t do first time round you can also go back and do them
later.
RoxanaUK: "Can you tell us more about the weapons system and reasoning behind
them?"
Nour Polloni: It was important to us to give the player a new sense of discovery and
enjoyment with the gameplay, so we based everything on the real world rules
concept which opens up massive possibilities in terms of what the player can do. Our
aim was to make absolutely every object in the game react and behave like in the
real world, which logically extends to not just using single objects but being able to
combine them to create things with new uses. This means a humble cigarette lighter
can become a lethal weapon if you combine it with an aerosol can for a flamethrower,
use it to light a fuel trail to blow up a car or light a rag in a bottle of alcohol for a
Molotov cocktail for example. Of course Carnby still has a gun, but you’ll quickly find
there’s much more original and powerful weapons you can create to tackle the
situations. Most of the enemies can’t actually be destroyed by bullets alone. Fire is
the number one weapon, and lots of the gameplay is geared to giving the player as
many different ways as possible of using fire to beat enemies and get through
situations. That could be something as simple as lighting a broken table leg as a
torch, pouring alcohol on bullets so they set fire to the target, or igniting a fire trail to a
moving car you’re using as a rolling bomb. We want the player to have a real sense
of wonder when they realize the possibilities of what they can do, and none of these
innovations come at the expense of fun.
Charmed699: will the story break up into different segments like in the dreamcast
game where you could see the story from different angles with the characters?
Nour Polloni: This game doesn’t work like that no. You follow the story like a TV
season always from the point of view of Edward Carnby.