Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom: A Legendary Interview with Producer Andy Sites - Part 1

Sony Online Entertainment's Untold Legends action-RPG series has carved itself a top spot in the PSP library, with Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade being one of the handheld's best-selling overall titles, and Untold Legends: The Warrior's Code, the recent follow-up to Brotherhood. In an exciting revelation earlier this year, SOE announced plans to bring the popular hack-n-slash franchise to the next-gen console realm in Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom for the PS3. Full of enthusiasm over the series' PS3 prospects, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to send some questions over to Dark Kingdom's Producer, Andy Sites, and get the early scoop on the game's development.

Matt Litten: Up until now SOE has had the PS2 Champions series dominating the hack-n-slash RPG genre on the consoles and Untold Legends doing the same in the portable realm on the PSP. What led to the PSP-to-PS3 expansion of Untold Legends? Is Untold Legends now taking over for both franchises, or will we be seeing the Champions series again at some point?

Andy Sites: We were very happy with the success of the Untold Legends series, and felt that the strength of the UL universe would prove to serve as the best foundation in the next-gen market.

ML: Is the storyline for Dark Kingdom connected with the previous Untold Legends titles, or is this an entirely new start for the franchise? What can you tell us about the storyline of the game? Will the plot be more of a focus this time around?

AS: We are actually tied into the original through various lore elements. While Dark Kingdom, Brotherhood of the Blade and Warrior's Code do not share a contiguous storyline, there are a number of ties between the games, which fans of the originals will recognize. By doing this, we've been given the creative freedom to explore different story elements, while still giving the player a familiarity of being within the Untold Legends universe.

ML: If there is a connection between the PSP and PS3 games, will players see any sort of downloadable content or interconnectivity features between the two platforms?

AS: Currently, there are no options to physically connect the PSP and the PS3 versions of Untold Legends.

ML: How many and what type of playable classes will we be seeing in Dark Kingdom?

AS: Players will be able to select from 3 character/class combinations - the Brute, Scout, and Mage. At their core, each of these characters will have the same basic play mechanics of melee and spell/ability use. As you progress through the game and gain levels, uncover and equip new armor, weapons, and items, each of the character's strengths will begin to shine. By the later levels of game play, each of the characters will be distinctly different in not only their appearance, but in how they play. For example, the Brute will be the best choice for wading deep into the thick of battle, using his blunt weapons to smash and pulverize everything in his path. Whereas the Mage would be effective from a distance, casting spells, and using a more concise means of defeating his enemies. We wanted character selection to be more than just a visual change, and I feel we can achieve that with the direction we have selected.

ML: In terms of player creation/customization, what options will players have in creating their own avatar? Is the character customization system being beefed up for the next-gen or will it be fairly similar to what we've seen in previous titles?

AS: The vast majority of appearance customization comes in the form of armor, weapons, and other items that you acquire along the way. Because of this, and as well as the nature of the camera view during game play, we decided to focus more effort on adding more weapons, armor, etc., rather than adding more customization detail in areas like the face that you typically don't spend much time looking at. Outside of the individual items that can be equipped, each of the three main characters have a distinct look and style, as well as a specific role in the game.

ML: Action-RPG's of the Untold Legends mold really haven't changed all that much over the years, and it seems like the genre is a tough one to bring into the next-gen era with new ideas. What is your view on that? How do you plan on evolving the genre with Dark Kingdom using the power of the PS3?

AS: True, most action RPG's have remained fairly stagnant over the years when it comes to innovation. I would say that the primary reason for this is because the core elements which make-up an action RPG are pretty darn fun. That said, we wanted to build-upon and evolve these core components. Hack n. slash, probably the most notable feature of the ARPG, it was the first area that we focused on. The first thing we wanted to do was add both depth and variety to the standard button-masher. In Dark Kingdom, melee combat will have both light and heavy attacks, both of which will have their advantages depending upon the situation. As you level-up, you will acquire special abilities which are triggered by pressing the light and heavy buttons in 3-press combinations. These "combo" attacks may offer greater damage or allow you to simultaneously attack then evade an enemy, etc. Adding this level of depth and playability, along with the integration of Havok to the combat system should serve as an exciting improvement to the typical hack n' slash experience.

ML: Based on recent announcements, Sony certainly appears primed and ready to take on Xbox Live with its upcoming online service. With that said, how much focus will be on online play versus offline in Dark Kingdom? Are you aiming for a healthy balance between both, or will one be emphasized more than the other?

AS: While our primary focus for the single player experience, players will also be able to join friends on-line to adventure through the story together. In addition, we have some really cool plans for multiplayer outside of the standard story mode. We plan on leveraging our experience developing on-line games, and the network components of the PlayStation 3 to offer a compelling on-line experience.

ML: Is there going to be any sort of level editor in Dark Kingdom? There are some pretty talented gamers out there who'd love to share their own maps, we'd imagine...

AS: Why yes! Unfortunately it requires the player to be employed by SOE and work on the development team J In all seriousness, the current hardware and software pipeline requirements necessary to build a level for Dark Kingdom makes it impossible to package it for use outside of the studio.

ML: With the PS3 obviously packing a ton of power under its hood, what sort of visual treats can we expect? In our personal wish list: Destructible environments and large scale battles spring to mind, as do characters that reflect damage from attacks and top-notch physics...

AS: All of the features you mentioned will be implemented in some capacity. The use of Havok (our real time physics system) is one of the coolest features, as it touches so many elements of game play. For example, if you're overrun by dozens of creatures and choose to use your Quake attack, the concussion from the blast will send them hurdling across the room and ricocheting off of the environment using the rag doll system. Or you may come across a locked door with the only way to open it is by picking up and hurling a crate across a chasm to hit the switch. There are so many different game play elements that can be improved through the use of real time physics, it's really given us an opportunity to get creative.

ML: It must be challenging developing for a system that really hasn't even been finalized as of yet. What can you tell us about developing for the PS3? How does it compare to developing titles for other platforms you've worked on in terms of both technical prowess and difficulty?

AS: Well, to say it hasn't been a challenge would be a lie J Luckily our team is comprised of a very experienced, diverse group of developers that have worked on both high-end PC titles and many generations of consoles. Overall, we are very impressed with the power of the system, and based on our experience thus far, having this good combination of creative minds has helped immensely.

ML: As an early PS3 title, the screens we've seen look great, but there's obviously a long way to go. Is time a factor in the dev cycle pressure-wise, or are things rolling along fairly smoothly as the team works with the hardware?

AS: If I'm guessing correctly, the shots that you're referring to are from pretty early in development. Right now, with the number of people contributing on the team, along with the pace at which Sony is moving to finalize the development hardware, the game improves visually every day. With E3 on the horizon, we're excited to show the progress that we have made and give players an opportunity to pick up the controller and play the game!

ML: Finally, what can you tell us about the release schedule for Dark Kingdom? Can we bank on it being a PS3 launch title this November for certain, or is it still too early to say?

AS: We're currently burning the midnight oil to launch along side of the PS3 in November. Buy some stock in PizzaHut, because we're investing a lot of money in them every night! J

For the second part of our in-depth interview, click here!

Interview conducted by Matt Litten. AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).