Dan Vondrak Interview
From the editor: X-men Origins: Wolverine is hitting the big screen very soon, and it looks hot. Of course gaming fans also are looking forward to the game with the same name, with everyones favorite Xman of all WOLVERINE. Of course with the large crop of games based on movies that have already been done, there are only a very few that even come close to engaging entertainment in any way. So of course fans and even more so reviewers and reporters are all wondering what will the latest delve into the mix offer? Screen shots look impressive; you just cannot beat the premise. On the flip side, so many times in the past that has been said about a game to only turn out falling way short, some even out right embarrassing. X-Men Origins: Wolverine, so far looks like it has all the right stuff, And the folks involved with creating the game have been nice enough to answer a few questions. Well, what can we possibly ask that has not been asked a few dozen times already? Well fellow Impulse Gamers lets do this
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Edwin, Donna and Shael Millheim joined together to come up with the questions. Some are the common fare, some perhaps not so common. They also show the passion of the game creators in what may well be a hit title, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
1: How did you approach such a huge franchise project?
DV: Wolverine was a passion project from the start. This same team was just finishing up Marvel: Ultimate Alliance when rumors of a Wolverine game at Activision started cropping up we jumped at the chance. We got started before it was even officially a movie game. We are huge fans of Wolverine, I am personally a big fan. We knew Wolverine games havent hit the mark in the past and our entire focus was to finally treat this guy with the respect he deserves. So we approached this with a single question, What if someone made the best Wolverine game ever, what would it be? Dont think about any limitations, technical, rating just list everything that kicks ass about Wolverine and lets make it happen. The first thing we told Activision is we know this is going to scare some of you, its something youve never seen with a Wolverine but were making this a brutal, realistic, visceral portrayal of Wolverine. Weve never looked back from that point and we love how the game has turned out.
2: There are always restrictions with movie based games, things you can and cannot do. How much leeway did you have with the game? Story, events that take place?
DV: Restrictions
that isnt part of this game, that word didnt exist to us during the development. We had a vision for what this game was going to be and there was no way we were going to compromise for anyone. The overall rule was to always make this feel like Wolverine. For the story stuff, if there was a character or a moment we believed in from our version of the story, we worked it into the movie version. We kept getting script updates from Fox and would constantly work our own plotlines and characters. In the end we were happy with where the movie story was going so it was easy to work with.
3: What do you think the best ways to deliver a entertaining movie based game are? What are some of the pit falls that can hinder those goals?
DV: Well first off you shouldnt think of it as a movie game you have to make a great game regardless of the movie (or license). Once you have the gameplay foundations set, make up your own story that you think is cool its your job to deliver an experience thats unique but familiar to the people who have seen the movie. Next you start by integrating the movie story into your story, not the other way around. I would never just take a movie script and start from there, its going to change a ton. So decide the story you want to tell and pull pieces from the movie into it. Thats what we did and we ended up getting 90% of the movie story into our game but weve also got an additional 30-40% of extra content, comic stuff, etc. that makes the game experience unique. But again never lose track of gameplay, gameplay, gameplay the movie shouldnt have any bearing on that. A movie or a license gives you a box to work inside of that doesnt mean you cant find cool parts within that box.
4: there are always things in a games development process and testing that just do not work. What was one of the things that had to be dropped from the game X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and why?
DV: I dont know what youre talking about.
Oh youre still here. Okay, lets see. Believe it or not, with the extra year of development time we were given from the movie being pushed back we were able to get almost everything in there.
We had originally planned (and actually made) missions where you were allowed to play as Wade Wilson (aka Deadpool) and (another character I cant mention because shes in the game still, but not playable).
It was pretty cool, you had scenarios where you could snipe at a distance as Deadpool to protect Wolverine. Ultimately we realized that people were going to want more and more out of Deadpool and it was going to take our resources away from making sure we nail Wolverine 100%. When the decision was made I just said theres no way we can ever think we took time away from Wolverine to make another character better so lets focus everything on Wolverine.
5: Tell us your favorite part of the game, be that a level, a feature, a design.
DV: The combat just kicks ass, so many things to talk about, its freedom, responsiveness but Ill pick just one move: the Lunge. If youve ever opened up a Wolverine comic you are sure to see him pouncing on guys in the classic Wolverine pose, arms out, jumping off a building or across a group of bad guys to smash into the dude hes trying to take out that is Lunge in our game. Target anyone you want and lunge towards them, 20, 30 feet away -- it is so powerful and gives you an awesome ranged attack that closes the distance. Oh and one more thing the blood and dismemberment it adds an incredibly satisfying layer to the whole game.