Raven Squad Interview

29 Jul 2008 at 16:41:41 by

We've all got our favourite FPS games, that game that we turn to when we have nothing better to do than shoot something to let out our frustration. For those of us with a more strategic mind we have our RTS games, where we are able to plan and execute some major operation that sees us winning the war, and oh how great we feel when it all comes together.
But how about combining the two? As hectic as it may seem, we've seen games before that have tried to combine genres, and it's not like they've failed, but it's not like they were hailed for their incredibly original gameplay too.

Having played Raven Squad, even though it was for a brief time, I did find it impressive, and I was amazed that you were able to choose any of your squad to control in FPS mode. I was also impressed with the speed in which you were able to get on to the battlefield.

Raven Squad, allows you to control two sets of mercenaries, a team of four people each, who find themselves in the heart of the Amazon in some kind of civil war. To tell us more about the game, we spoke to the development team who are sure that the this new way of combining genres will spell success for the game.



What gave you the idea of creating a FPS/RTS game?

The concept itself was a natural evolution from the various projects the people here worked on before. We looked around and saw that some games have attempted to include FPS elements in an RTS game or the opposite, but what we were aiming for is a seamless gameplay experience based on the freedom to choose whichever mode the player wants to play in any situation.


Would it not have been better to stick with one genre or the other?

There are several different working approaches to game development. With this game, we were able to start with the basic gameplay mechanics and work our way up from there. It was very fortunate in this case as this approach let us create environments and a story that support these mechanics. It’s always easier to just adopt game mechanics and modes that have been proven by several games, but not always the better approach.


Famously, FPS are full of intense action and RTS take the bigger picture into account. Do you still get the same atmospheric intensity for the FPS and the same sense of overwhelming achievement for the RTS side of things?

Of course the player will get intense action in FPS and the sense of achievement on the RTS side but that’s not really the point. The two modes are combined to form one new experience and the player is free to choose which one to use to achieve a certain objective.


What is the troop breakdown? Will we see gunners, snipers, scouts, or will they all be similar?

Each of the 8 squad members you get in the game have their own personalities and weapons ranging from heavy machine guns or sniper rifles, to support weapons like smoke or flash grenades. It will feel different playing each character in FPS mode and each player will be able to find a favourite among them.

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