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CR6
Administrator
Canada
1812 Posts |
 Posted - 06/27/2004 : 12:52:29 AM
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The folks at Team Xbox had the opportunity to do a huge 3-page interview with GR2 Producer, Heather Chandler. The Q&A covers topics like what her role as a game producer involves, the dev team's goals in creating the sequel, new characters (a second female Ghost, Jennifer Burke, is mentioned), and more!
Some have criticized that GR2 has an unrealistic scenario with U.S. forces getting involved in a conflict that has a small country like North Korea invading an emerging superpower like China. Heather gives more details about GR2's Tom Clancy-esque storyline that makes it all make sense:The Ghost Recon 2 story involves an ambitious North Korean general who takes advantage of a famine and bad economic situation in his country. He decides to consolidate his power and orders a suprise attack on China. After a sudden, fierce fight, the Chinese push the North Koreans back, sustaining heavy losses.
The Chinese government, moving to allay international concerns that their retaliation could escalate into a regional conflict, invite the UN to establish a buffer zone between the states. Multinational troops under joint UN command are deployed to the border to try to stabilize the situation. The Ghosts are part of several covertly inserted allied Special Forces units and are tasked with key missions whose success or failure will determine the outcome of the conflict. Source: Shacknews
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AutoPilot
Recruit
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2004 : 1:18:46 PM
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Regarding the interview with Heather Chandler:
But first a screenshot and some links to video of actual gameplay.:
http://www.spielescreens.de/images/1086767179-gr25.jpg
12 minute E-3 video of actual gameplay
http://media.xbox.ign.com/media/675/675406/vids_1.html
6 minute video of Ms. Chandler playing Ghost Recon 2
http://files.3dretreat.com/file.asp?fileid=585
Following are my comments specific to this interview, so it's probably best to read the interview first.
Well, apparently my worst fears seem to be confirmed, and more added.
Ms. Chandler begins by answering the question: “what are the main goals in creating this game?” Her answer is: "more interactivity with vehicles." Hmmm... *my* definition of interactivity with vehicles is you get in them and drive them or fly them." Well, since the vehicles in G-2 are non-drivable, her definition I guess is: “call in a bomber or tank to do your job for you.” WOW! So that's why they’re making GR-2!
But even worse, far worse, is their second main goal which is to give your teammates "personality" so that you will "care" about them. Along with giving you a complete set of each one's baby pictures, and 6 albums of family photos and videos, you get to spend every mission enjoying… I mean cringing, at every stupid line possibly imaginable as they try their hardest to convince you that they are the genuine stereotype from New Jersey, or Boston, or any other stereotypical region; and of course no tactical shooter is complete without the stereotypical "old geezer" always interrupting the mission to say: "Well, sonny, when I was your age we didn't even have.... blah, blah, blah." Be sure to outfit yourself with plenty of barf bags on every mission (and an extra bullet for when you can't stand it any longer).
And the next question: "How have you addressed user feedback from the first game?" Ms. Chandler proudly replies: “we're going to give them 'voice commands'!" Yes, boys and girls, Ms. Chandler has paid close attention to what tens of thousands of us have been clamoring about on these forums and has decided the answer is to include some totally insignificant technology that has been in use for well over five years.
Next she takes the butt of her rifle and rams it right into our stomachs with the most incredibly lame answer any developer could possibly say regarding the question of why they took away player control of the other team mates and had them just follow you around instead.
Her answer as to why they removed the ability of the player to switch to various members of your team and had them just follow you around instead was: "because you might miss seeing some action if you weren't with the rest of the team." Oh my God! That would be unthinkable!
Ms. Chandler, please allow me to inform you about the most important aspect of tactical military shooters and Ghost Recon 1 in particular. The greatest thing about these types of games is that you can create and execute an infinite amount of ways to accomplish a mission. When I want to attack an enemy position, I can become any and every one of the team members and set up traps and crossfire's by moving them to anywhere on the map that I want to. Then, when all my team members are in place, and I have gone around and saw through my own eyes what they can see from their eyes, and they are all precisely where I want them, then I can begin the attack at my command from whatever position that I want to. This way I can see how good (or poor) I did at setting up a successful assault (or defense). And if it didn't go to my liking, I could replay the mission as much as I wanted using different weapons and positioning my team differently, and begin my attack from a different player, and see how that assault played out. And since each assault designed differently, each result is different.
And you're telling us that "real" tactical shooter immersion and gameplay is accomplished by simply being where the most noise and explosions are? And that I would be missing out on it all if I weren't? And that, combined with seeing a player giving a hand signal is your idea and plan on how to make the player become immersed in the game world of Ghost Recon 2?
She then goes on and on about how fantastic the graphics are. Well, we've seen the screenshots and the graphics look like crap. They may be acceptable by console standards, but by PC standards, they are at least 3 years back.
Which brings me around to the final maneuver which is the thrusting of the knife into the backs of PC gamers. She didn't even mention the PC; all she talked about was X-Box. X-Box this, X-Box that, we're making sure everything is just right for the X-Box and the greatest thing to happen in this century is the X-Box Live and that's what GR-2 is all about. Now I know that the interview conducted by an X-box website, but that’s all she talks about anywhere, and any discussion of the PC version is “stonewalled.” Hey, that might be the perfect sub-title.
The "Real" reason for all the changes she’s done to the game is to make game what "she" thinks pre-teen console gamers will buy. She’s taken the reputation of Ghost Recon, which earned recognition as a premium realistic tactical shooter, and changed it into a mediocre console arcade 3rd person shooter with big explosions and Star Wars tracers. She has stripped it of all its core elements and simplified and dumbed it down as much as possible so it would be easier and cheaper to make. And because it will be released just before Christmas, and carries the Ghost Recon name, they’ll sell a million of them before anyone realizes what they have done.
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Team Xbox Interviews GR2 Producer
