More Articles on The Sopranos: Road to Respect
The Sopranos: Road to Respect Q&AThe Sopranos Vetoed On 360THQ Confirms E3 Line-UpTHQ Confirms The SopranosLatest Features
WoW: Wrath of the Lich King Q&AMassive Entertainment: Moving ForwardsGC08 - Empire: Total War Q&AToo Human Q&AThe Godfather II Q&AUser Reviews
There are currently 0 User Reviews for The Sopranos: Road to RespectWrite your own review for this game today and you will receive 100 Gamer Points.
Click here to register
The Sopranos: Road to Respect Q&A Feature
Chris Leyton
11/09/2006
Tony Soprano makes his way to the Playstation2 as TVG makes an appointment with the game's producer to find out more...
With the sixth series recently airing across the UK, Tony Soprano and the family finally make their long overdue videogame debut later in the year courtesy of THQ and 7 Studios. In a genre as over-bloated as the gangster one at present, The Sopranos will need more than just the name to do the business
Strangely THQ has remained rather guarded during the development of the game, which certainly came across during our interview with Elizabeth Dahm, Producer 7 Studios.
Where does the storyline of The Sopranos videogame fit into the timeline of the TV series, and why was that period of show decided upon?
The Sopranos: Road to Respect takes place between the fifth and sixth seasons of the TV series. It's set in a time period that's still fresh for fans of the TV series and also allows us to refer back to key moments from previous seasons.
THQ has already announced that James Gandolfini will reprise his role as Tony Soprano in the game; can we expect the full cast to make an appearance and how important do you feel it is to get the original actors back for The Sopranos game?
Every character from The Sopranos that appears in the game is voiced by the actor who portrays the character on the show. In addition to James Gandolfini, this includes Tony Sirico as Paulie Walnuts, Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante, Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti and several others. We felt that getting these actors' voice talents into the game was very important for our goal of creating an immersive Sopranos experience.
"The TV series is widely known for its eclectic use of licensed music. We have gone to great lengths to continue this legacy..."
Somewhat inevitably there's going to be comparisons made between The Sopranos videogame and EA's The Godfather: The Game. Since the latter was rather poorly received, how much pressure has there been to distance such comparisons, and how will The Sopranos videogame be different to EA's efforts?
The Sopranos: Road to Respect is very different from The Godfather, both in terms of setting and in terms of game play. The Sopranos: Road to Respect is a much more intimate experience focusing on an all-new Sopranos tale with the rise of Joey LaRocca in the Sopranos crew.
Dream sequences and symbology form significant elements of The Sopranos TV series, however, the game is reported to focus exclusively on the mob aspects; can you elaborate on this and the general structure and challenge of the game?
Joey LaRocca, the bastard son of Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero, is a character who is deeply conflicted on a psychological level. Although he spends the entire game trying to earn his rank in Tony Soprano's crew, he has to grapple with the legacy of his father's reputation for turning rat and his suspicions that "Uncle Tony" had something to do with his father's disappearance. When running missions for the crew, Joey occasionally sees his father's reflection in mirrors and also lives out his anxieties in other dream-like sequences.
Gameplay in The Sopranos will, according to some reports, be a more linear affair then the likes of GTA; what prompted the decision and how has that enabled you to create an experience that replicates the TV series?
The Sopranos: Road to Respect offers a unique cinematic experience that will immerse Sopranos fans in the realistic world of modern-day mob violence. One way in which we reflect that is the Respect Bar. If the player takes actions that are too risky, such as pulling a gun in a public place, his Respect Bar decreases. If it gets to zero, he gets whacked. No crew wants a loose cannon!
Another game play mechanic that we use is the interactive dialogue. At many places in the game the player can choose how he wants Joey to respond in a conversation. Sometimes it's best to play it smooth; other times you may want to use the threat of violence. Depending on the choices the player makes, the outcome can vary wildly. Just like in the television show, it's best to choose your words wisely.
During brutal scenes in the TV series, there's rarely any background music to emphasise the actions being made; when it comes to such scenes in the videogame, are there plans to continue that, or will music be used to raise the tension?
All of the music in the game is based on the environment in which the game play is taking place to make the game as realistic as possible. For example, during scenes that take place at a rave, you'll hear dance music - even during a brutal fight. On the other hand, down at the docks there is no music at all. Like in the show, there are times when the music juxtaposes the violence in interesting ways - for example, hearing soft, classical music while engaging in a brutal fight in a bathroom.
Staying on music, the series has often used songs sung by a limited number of artists including Annie Lennox, The Kinks, and of course Frank Sinatra; how are discussions progressing to licensing music from such artists for the videogames?
The TV series is widely known for its eclectic use of licensed music. We have gone to great lengths to continue this legacy and have licensed nearly 40 songs that will be heard in various locations throughout the game. This includes classics from Iggy Pop and Motley Crue, contemporary hits from Queens of the Stone Age and Goldfrapp and a wide variety of rock, hip-hop, electronica, classical and jazz.
Originally The Sopranos videogame was confirmed for Xbox 360 and PlayStation2, but the Xbox 360 version was later dropped; can you explain why that decision was made?
[Unfortunately Elizabeth refused to answer this question; perhaps we'd delved a little deeper into something that we shouldn't have, crossed a line, broken a few eggs - at least we're not lying in concrete graves or sleeping with the fishes in the New York Harbour]
Note - Strangely HBO seem adamant that the Xbox 360 version will appear during the early stages of 2007, despite THQ's apparent cancellation; perhaps 360 owners will be checking out the Bada Bing! after all.
We've already had The Godfather from EA, Vivendi Games are close to releasing their Scarface game, and THQ has The Sopranos; why do you think that games based on the mob have suddenly become popular amongst publishers?
I wouldn't say that this is a sudden development; games based on organized crime have been around for quite some time. The current prominence of well-known properties like these may simply be a reflection of the fact that we are at the point, technologically, where we can really do justice to the quality and reputation of these titles. The current popularity of The Sopranos television show is also to our benefit.
Rumours that a videogame based on The Sopranos were being developed first emerged during E3 2005, only for THQ to confirm production ahead of E3 2006. How smooth has development been on the game, despite the veil of secrecy surrounding the project, and is it still on track to be released in time for Christmas 2006?
We're very happy with where the game is right now and we are very much on track for release in time for Holiday 2006.
TVG would like to thank Elizabeth Dahm for answering (some) our questions; The Sopranos is scheduled for release in November, exclusively on the Playstation2 (for now)...
Anonymous
Date Added:Tue 24th Jun 2008 18:52
Anonymous
Date Added:Wed 30th Jan 2008 04:58
THIS GAME SUCKS. THE MAKER OF GAME IS A DOMB .He
needs to fix the problems. this game makes the movie look bad scott
Anonymous
Date Added:Thu 3rd May 2007 22:58
Anonymous
Date Added:Sun 11th Feb 2007 18:22
Anonymous
Date Added:Tue 16th Jan 2007 02:31
Anonymous
Date Added:Sun 7th Jan 2007 01:25
Anonymous
Date Added:Sat 6th Jan 2007 01:28
Anonymous
Date Added:Thu 4th Jan 2007 22:38
Anonymous
Date Added:Thu 4th Jan 2007 00:32
Anonymous
Date Added:Tue 26th Dec 2006 19:56