Today's "On the Spot" program (GameSpot's live on the air show) features a 5-minute video interview with GR2 Game Designer, Christian "Serellan" Allen!
Serellan gives us a preview using a "pre-final beta" build of the game. It has some great new footage of a map previously only seen in screenshots that features lots of Oriental architecture. You can fast-forward to the interview which starts 2 minutes into the program.
I wonder if X Box players are interested in the squad system. Another movie of the 1 man army going through the level. The squad seems to be an afterthought rather than integral to the game. Watching the footage, the thing that hits me is that you could never play GR this way, you would be dead in a second. I think this is what alarms PC gamers the most - the gameplay demonstrated looks like MOH or COD. It wouldn't take much to placate the tactical player - a little more sand box and squad oriented gameplay.
I've finally picked up Call of Duty last week and am halfway through the Russian campaign now. Even though I prefer the more tactical gameplay of GR, I think Call of Duty is a fantastic accomplishment and some of the cut-scenes using the game engine are absolutely breathtaking.
From comments in dev team interviews so far, it does strike me how GR2 appears to emulate some of CoD's gameplay elements. I wouldn't doubt that higher-ups in Ubi saw the (financial) success of Medal of Honor/Call of Duty/SOCOM and asked for GR2 to implement similar features. (E.g. a more "emotional" storyline, getting to know your characters better, etc.)
GameSpot "On the Spot" GR2 Dev Interview
Posted - 08/06/2004 : 5:09:10 PM
