NEWS
by Mark Barley
'Dishonored' developer talks innovative shooters
Harvey Smith of Arkane Studios recently talked about the developer's upcoming shooter, Dishonored, and how he's not interested in lazy shooters.
In a recent interview with Gamesindustry.biz Smith talked about some legendary shooters that got the player involved in the game, such as Far Cry 2, BioShock, Deus Ex, and Thief.
“They are not first-person shooters; they are first-person games with depth. First-person action games are very immersive; they are from your perspective and they mix simulation, stealth and storytelling,” Smith said.
“It is all about player freedom. We never want to make a game that is a linear canyon where you start here in this canyon, you can’t go left or right. You see lots of pretty scenery, but you always arrive at the end. We never want to make that game. We want to make a game where you can go behind the building, go on the roof, swim in the river and come in through the sewer drain and come up with a fish.”
Smith doesn't seem keen on systematic shooters and thinks that his upcoming FPS will shake up the genre. “It is all about player freedom. We never want to make a game that is a linear canyon where you start here in this canyon, you can’t go left or right. You see lots of pretty scenery, but you always arrive at the end. We never want to make that game. We want to make a game where you can go behind the building, go on the roof, swim in the river and come in through the sewer drain and come up with a fish.”
“We like games that are authored in such a way that they are systems. They aren’t just a shooting gallery with scripted pop-ups for the player,” he said.
“That’s really our goal with Dishonored; to empower the player so the player can play creatively. It requires more on the part of the player; these games don’t play themselves.”
Dishonored is out in October for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.
“That’s really our goal with Dishonored; to empower the player so the player can play creatively. It requires more on the part of the player; these games don’t play themselves.”