We recently had the chance to ask Ben Borth, Associate Producer at Vivendi
Games, some questions about the upcoming Eragon games. Here is what we
were able to find out...
GT: The game is scheduled to be released a month before the film hits
theaters. Do you think that playing the game first will spoil the movie for
gamers?
BB: Good question. The game does stay consistent with Eragon story, look
and feel of the film and book. However, I think with the game we are able to
offer a unique perspective and re-telling of the story that offers a separate
experience from the film. For the sake of compelling, interactive gameplay, the
game primarily focuses and extrapolates on the action sequences, swordplay
battles, and dragon flight from the film with story segments as bookends. We
also expand upon the vast fiction in the book and offer some enemies and
locations that are not seen or fully explored in the film. For someone who has
not read the book, I think the game can serve as a great introduction to the
Eragon characters and world and still leave plenty to be discovered in the film.
GT: When designing the levels for the game did you use the movie as your
source material exclusively or did you draw inspiration from some of the events
found only in the book?
BB: We used both. Being fans of the book, early in the game development
we identified a lot of character attributes and key scenes we wanted to focus on
in the game prior to knowing what was going to happen in the movie. Most of the
games core mechanics such as Eragon’s agile combat system and the experience of
dragon flight came directly from the book. Then as the movie started filming and
we were invited to the sets, we worked closely with 20th Century Fox to combine
our core game mechanics with the film’s visuals and create levels based off the
blueprints from the film.
GT: How would you describe the game? Is it an action, adventure, or
role-playing game, or something in between?
BB: With multiple Eragon games on multiple systems, I have four answers
for this. The console game (Xbox 360, PS2, Xbox, and PC) is an action/adventure,
beat-em-up/hack’n-slash game with dragon flight combat that includes
drop-in/drop-out two-player co-op (that’s a lot of slashes and dashes!). The
co-op bit means a second player can join in at any time to play as one of
Eragon’s allies, but if he needs to drop out, the AI can take control of the
ally and allow the 1st player to continue his progression. The PSP game is an
aerial combat action game featuring 4-player multi-player dragon flight combat.
The Nintendo DS game is an action RPG that allows you to draw out your spells on
the bottom screen and fling them at enemies on the top screen. Last, but not
least, the Nintendo GBA is a traditional turn-based RPG with 10 playable
characters from the film and book.
GT: Please tell us a little about the game’s combat system. Will it
include combos and attack upgrades?
BB: Yes. One of the main things we focused on was creating a deep combat
system that is easy to pick up for novice players, but complex enough to reward
skilled players who are able to time their combos against the A.I. Combos can be
used to stun enemies which allow you to link the combo into a grab which can
link into a throw or kill move. Throw in magic attacks to enhance the chain of
link moves, and the combat really has a fluid flow.
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