NerdMentality | INTERVIEW: Spyborgs

Viewing Entry

INTERVIEW: Spyborgs

Posted September 2nd 2009 by Jacob Barnes.

Spyborgs has seen some excellent improvements since coming to light early last year. After the break, see how this beat 'em up came to be and what to expect when the game comes out later this month.

N-philes: Can you first tell us who you are and what your role is at Bionic Games?

Hey all, I'm Daryl Allison, Sr. Producer at Capcom Entertainment. My work with Bionic Games consisted of overseeing the project from Capcom's perspective, working with leadership on the development team to set goals and guide the project, working with Marketing on such things as the box, website, comic book, and Webisodes, and doing all the necessary various other things that clear the way for the team to keep the project on track.

N-philes: Bionic Games is a rather new game company. Could you tell us a little about the formation of the company?

Bionic Games was created to develop Spyborgs, founded by key members from Insomniac and High Impact Games. The dev team was fleshed out with additional members from Insomniac with experience on Rachet and Clank and Resistance, and other members from other esteemed developers such as Blizzard.

N-philes: I noticed this game resembles another obscure but well-received title from Capcom known as Gotcha Force. Has anyone on the development team, including yourself, played Gotcha Force and taken any elements from that game?

I was regularly impressive with how much research the team did during development. If they couldn't get their hands on a game they put time into scanning through video after video. Unfortunately, as for GotchaForce, I didn't get my hands on, but I know the team was aware of it. I can't say any particular element of GotchaForce influenced decisions on Spyborgs, but it does show a good example of how well Spyborgs hit its marks of achieving that classic arcade feel and being a true Capcom brawler.

N-philes: I know this game was developed for the Wii specifically, so how will the Wii motion controls work?

They were actually pretty easy to work with. The tools give you the feedback you need and the industry now has enough experience developing for the hardware that forums are active with potential solutions. The challenge was more about discovering the right way to integrate motion into the game for a fun, quality experience. We wanted to avoid the complaints that a lot of gamers have, including us, where it is obvious when a game simply puts in a controller shake to substitute for a button press and the motion adds no value. We iterated for months finding the right balance of mechanics on buttons vs. those on motions, eventually settling on the right answer: keep the core, fast-twitch brawling staying on buttons and put special attacks and complimentary gameplay mechanics on motion.

A great example is our cinematic co-op attacks. When one player's combo bar is fully charged, they lock onto an enemy and with motion fling that enemy up into the air. This triggers the sequence and gives the other player an opportunity to perform the correct motion for the triggered combo. (There's a unique combo sequence per combination of heroes per enemy type, including customized ones against bosses.) In these sequences we can play with time and the camera (think Matrix bullet time sequences). No only does this add to how freaking cool these attacks are, but it gives time for players to perform the right motion. If the next move is for Clandestine to stab her sword into the enemy and fling him into the ground, then that's what you do. As Bouncer flies through the air and loads up for a punch, time slows, the camera positions itself perfectly, you throw a heavy right hook, Bouncer knocks the @#$ out of the enemy, and the combo continues. The way it all came together does a great job of really connecting players with their character in the game.

N-philes: Are there any spying or stealth elements involved, seeing that the word "spy" is in the title?

For Spyborgs we wanted the feel of a classic arcade brawler mixed with the cinematic, intense action found in modern games like Devil May Cry and God of War. We intentionally avoided mechanics that encourage and reward slow, stealthy play. While the game does require some tactics and gives you some reason to think, especially as you upgrade your heroes and combat the more advanced enemies, Spyborgs stays true to the faster arcade experiences and not the slow, prodding, tactical ones.

"Spy"ing comes across more in the story with who the Spyborgs are and why they came to be as well as the SpyVision mechanic players use to investigate the world and reveal hidden objects.

N-philes: How many Spyborgs are there to play from and how can players upgrade the character's abilities?

We settled on three of our strongest characters to ensure we could go deep with the gameplay variety, upgrades, and support a different feel for how the heroes play on their own and how they complement each other. Upgrades allow you to increase health, which adds physical armor to the Spyborgs as you can see in some of our gameplay videos and trailer; upgrade weapons; add moves to expand on the core brawling (which is where some tactical combat decisions come in); as well as enhance your special moves and add a couple other unique powers.

N-philes: Is the game better-suited for two player co-op or will single players have a similar experience playing with another AI character?

Spyborgs is designed to be a co-op game, but that doesn't mean you have to have a second player. Players choose which hero they want to play and then choose which hero the AI controls. The hero AI is pretty good and knows how to work well with players. Systems we have in place for co-op help with this too, such as if you pick up a health boost while full of health, then the orbs fly over to the other player. If the AI accidentally grabs health it doesn't need, that health isn't wasted; in fact, the AI just did you a favor. You can also swap characters on the fly with the AI. If you want to switch to the other hero (or back) or if your hero runs out of health, you take immediate control and the AI swaps to the other. Similarly, a second player can join instantly by activating the controller or choose to drop and the AI takes over.

N-philes: Is there anything else you would like to tell us about Spyborgs?

This might sound like a blatant plug, but really, I'm just trying to do everyone a favor to avoid reading another 15 pages from me. There is so much more to the game's story, heroes, villains, etc. than I was able to tell here. I encourage everyone to jump over to the game's website, www.Spyborgs.com, and check it out for themselves. Hopefully, by the time you read this, the comic book we did with Udon and some of the first Webisodes, all which tell parts of the back story leading up to the beginning of the game, should be up on the site. So go immerse yourself in the story and characters for now and come September 22nd get ready to brawl!