Ok....starting to sound GREAT
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Iron Man Q&A
We hitch a ride with Marvel's iron giant and score fresh details and new screenshots.
October 25, 2007 - Many comic-book fans are also videogame players. When a comic-book license is tied to a major motion picture, you can be certain a videogame will follow. So it came as no shock to learn that SEGA was working on an Iron Man game to coincide with the movie coming to theatres May 2, 2008. Superhero games haven't fared well over the past year, with numerous releases having been panned by critics and fans. How does SEGA plan to ensure Iron Man breaks the mold and is both a commercial and critical success? We spoke with Justin Lambros, Vice President, Interactive, Marvel Studios and Executive Producer on Iron Man.
IGN: How closely will the game's story follow the movie's plot?
Justin Lambros: You can see from the movie trailer that it's going to be an origin story, so it makes sense for Iron Man's first big video game to tell that story as well. Plus, the movie is doing such amazing things with the character that we want gamers to be able to play those epic moments from the film. But we're going to add plenty of additional material from the character's extensive comic history to add to the overall experience.
IGN: Will the cast of the movie provide voice work for the game?
Lambros: We're trying to get as much of the cast as possible; we know how much their participation would add to the game experience as well as to the overall synergy between the movie and the game. We will definitely have more news updates on this as we progress!
IGN: Movies generally take a few liberties with a comic-book character before putting them on the silver screen. So will the Iron Man game be reflective of the movie version or will it be closer to the comic-book version?
Lambros: In this case, the movie is doing an amazing job of bringing the comic to life, so while the game definitely lives in the "movie world" of Iron Man, I feel that it is still very true to the comics as well. And the additional comic book material that's brought into the game will fit into that movie world as well.
IGN: Obviously, the game has to have a bit more to it than the movie or it wouldn't be very long. How are you embellishing the story to add some extra gameplay time?
Lambros: The great thing about this movie is that has a ton of cool stuff going on around the world, so we're able to tap into that with the game and add extra subplots and other material that feels more organic to the film. We definitely went back to the early comic years to find some inspiration.
IGN: Can we expect to see some Iron Man villains in the game that we won't see in the movie? If so, can you tell us who?
Lambros: One of the best things about making a video game about an iconic Marvel Super Hero is picking from the rogue's gallery of villains. Some of my personal favorites from the Iron Man comics were the cold-war-centric villains from the early issues of Tales of Suspense. So, we've updated some of those characters and brought them into the movie world in a pretty cool way. I think we'll talk more about the specific characters later.
IGN: Tony Stark (and therefore Iron Man) has a lot of connections to other Marvel characters. Will we see any cameos?
Lambros: In the early days of the game, we thought about all kinds of cool cameos that we could do, but as the story progressed we wanted it to be more focused and not make it feel like every time Tony Stark turns around he runs into another storyline from the comic book series. It needs to feel like an extension of the film, so we didn't want to go overboard, but there's a healthy dose of characters from the comics in there, but the movie characters definitely take center stage.
IGN: What are the controls for the game? Are there separate controls for flight and stationary combat?
Lambros: One of the big challenges for the game is making a control scheme that can match everything that Iron Man can do. He can fluidly drop down to the ground and fight hand-to-hand with a group of soldiers or even a tank, but then he can take off and chase down a helicopter and blast it out of the sky. So, we have one set of controls that will allow the player to move in and out of all the different kinds of combat, which is still a work in progress, but it's getting to be pretty great.
IGN: I always imagined Iron Man in flight was sort of like flying a very maneuverable jet. Is that at all the case?
Lambros: We do take elements of that in what we're calling his "afterburner mode," where he flies across the battlefield at amazing speeds. It's much more deliberate and plane-like, but then he can also hover and strafe like a helicopter, which is a key part to combat.
IGN: Does the evolution of the Iron Man suit affect gameplay?
Lambros: Absolutely. It's a great part of the character that [Tony Stark] always tweaks and upgrades his suit. So, it's a core mechanic to the game to be able to customize your suit to fit your specific play style or combat needs.
IGN: Some superhero games have tried to put us in the shoes of the hero's alter-ego for a bit. Will we play at all as Tony Stark?
Lambros: Tony Stark is such a great alter ego that there's plenty of gameplay elements we could have created for him. But, the complexity and excitement of playing as Iron Man has always been a focus for us, so that's the majority of the game. But there are important story elements for the alter ego and the entire customization system is really a reflection on Tony's inventor & scientist side.
IGN: Stark is an inventor. Is this going to be part of gameplay in any way or is this more of a straight action title?
Lambros: The customization is really where we're going to take this side of Stark and integrate it into the game. The game is definitely a high-powered action title, but there are elements of strategy and customization that reflect the intellectual side of the character.
IGN: Making Iron Man has to be challenging, because the suit can move quickly, and is capable of ground and air combat. How are you tackling this in the game?
Lambros: The first thing we did is put him in locations that can really take advantage of what he can do. We put him on huge, chaotic battlefields, where he can show off his speed and ranged combat. But there's also times when he'll need to drop down and get his hands dirty to take care of a mission. We didn't want him trudging through sewers or stuck in small spaces, because you just couldn't pay off on Iron Man in places like that.
IGN: Iron Man has gone through a lot of different versions over the past few decades. It appears from the movie trailer that we're going to end up seeing a few of these through the story. So what sort of unlockables can we expect?
Lambros: Between the movie and comics there are a bunch of cool options for different suits we could provide. We've also got some other surprises up our sleeves when it comes to unlockables and bonus material. You'll just have to wait and see what we come up with.
IGN: There have been superhero games based off movies that received very lukewarm receptions from critics. Why do you think these types of games are so difficult to make and what's going to separate Iron Man from the rest?
Lambros: There are a lot of unique challenges for each of these kinds of projects. And one issue they always have is with the timeline. Movies just take less time to make then high quality video games, so you have to be out in front of the film's timeline to get over 2 years of development time, which rarely happens, unfortunately. Iron Man is a great character for a video game, so that's a good start. We've had tremendous cooperation and interest from the film team, which has helped us keep moving forward. We are doing our best to focus the gameplay experience to deliver something fun and different that feels true to the Iron Man everyone will see in theaters next year.
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