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Urban Reign Q&A Feature
Derek dela Fuente
10/01/2006
Hirofumi Motoyama answers our questions on the forthcoming brawler from the team behind Soul Calibur and Tekken...
From the team that brought us Soul Calibur and Tekken comes another hard hitting game Urban Reign where you control a hired hood to protect the gang leader. With over 100 mission, 60 playable characters and some destructive combo moves this is a game to get the adrenaline pumping. Derek dela Fuente was fortunate to put a set of questions to Hirofumi Motoyama, Producer on the title who was keen to share his views.
The game is being developed by the team that brought us Soul Calibur and Tekken.
What were some of the creative design ideas that you felt that both of the aforementioned games did not offer and were there any elements of those games that gamers might spot?
That is correct. Urban Reign was mainly developed by members of the SC and Tekken teams. The most creative design idea in this title was to keep the fighting mechanics of fighting game yet to make it possible to battle against more than one opponent.
Players know very well that in fighting games, the variety of skills and the useable strategies is high. A weak point in current multi-enemy action games is that there is not enough variety in the number of skills you can use. After playing lots of times, you feel that you are repeating your strategy and actions over and over again - you get bored easily.
In Urban Reign however, there are various skills you can use enabling you to enjoy the game in more depth. Also character controls are all the same so that you do not have to remember different commands for different characters - this allows you to control your character intuitively.
There are some new actions using walls and weapons which have not been present in other fighting games. This is a new challenge too. You can use cool actions such as attacking your enemy from the air by running against a wall or kicking a weapon to hit back your enemy etc!
There is also a multi player mode (up to 4 players) available in this title. It is not only the number of people who can join in which has been increased but also there is a chance for the beginners to win a battle!
In current one-on-one fighting games, it is usual for more experienced players to win battles as they master the moves/skills better. However, in Urban Reign, a novice can win battles. Even beating 2 experienced players together can be possible.
The quality of the game, as a fighting game, is shared with the SC and the Tekken series as mentioned above, Urban Reign keeps the fighting mechanics from fighting games. Try to imagine the quality of the fighting in SC and Tekken combined with battle scenes with a number of enemies and this is what Urban Reign looks like.
With your partner, you can do co-op combo to attack number of enemies...
There are many great fighting games around so what were some of the prime objectives for Urban Reign seeing it comes within this genre and how much of a role does technology play within the game?
The prime objective in developing Urban Reign was Namco's idea for the future of fighting games.
Up to now, only 2 fighters can be seen on the screen but this evolved Namco fighting game engine can keep '60 FPS' and use a number of fighters.
Urban Reign is the only multi fighter fighting game on PS2 with a smooth control of 60 FPS on the Earth. This is the innovative element of this game. This was possible since Namco had an experience of creating a large number of fighting games.
To create this we had to use the power of the PS2 hardware to the limit so it might not be possible to get more out of the machine! (Laugh)
Can you tell us about the backdrop to the game and the main objective for the player?
You play as Brad Hawk - he is a bodyguard working for Shun Ying Lee (a leader of a gang) and his main aim is to fight against other gangs protecting his girlfriend.
The game is set in a city in a present day. One of the members of Shun Ying Lee's enemy gang was kidnapped. The enemy gang leader Dwayne is blaming for Shun Ying Lee for the kidnap so to attack Shun Ying Lee's group.
So Shun Ying Lee comes up with the idea of hiring professional bodyguard for a revenge attack on Dwayne... Find out more for playing the game!
The story is closely related to 'Urban Reign' as in the title - you can enjoy the game even more by considering the meaning behind it.
Can you describe the combat system that Urban Reign will offer? Are you aiming this at hardcore Tekken and Soul Calibur gamers and how do you ensure the game comes across as fresh and compulsive and not like just another fighting game?
Please let me introduce the aspects of combat system in which Urban Reign differs from other multiplayer fighting games.
First there are the Auto Target Combos. In multiplayer fighting games so far, you had to repeatedly switch between targets depending on the level of the opponent when surrounded by a number of them. In Urban Reign however, if you repeat the hit combo then you will lock onto the surrounding enemies one by one so there is no need to switch between targets when faced with multiple opponents.
You can also decide on a concentrated attack on one target, in this case you can decide to crush one enemy although you are faced with a multitude of opponents. If you then press the square button you can ward of attacks and retaliate. In Urban Reign there is no defence. Instead you can dodge attacks. You can also avoid sustained attacks and not by simply dodging your opponents attacks but by launching a counter attack. For example when sustaining an air combo you press the square button at the right time, you can turn the combo around.
Urban Reign demonstrates a deeply developed fighting system. While clearing the missions you learn skills allowing you to become a master.
We didn't just aim this game at hardcore fighting game fans. The difficulty level is adjustable in the story mode making the game more accessible. If in the standard setting the game is too difficult you can lower the difficulty level which should make the game easier to enjoy for most gamers. Also, since you can play with up to 4 people there are a lot of hours of fighting fun to be had!
Please can you tell us a little about the game modes to be found within Urban Reign?
In One Player setting there is the story mode, the free mode, the challenge mode.
There are in total 100 missions in the story mode which you need to clear. While you are playing through the missions you can learn moves and increase your ability. There are a number of chapters in the story mode and there are also some cut scenes. You will be surprised at the variety of the opponents.
In the Free mode you can play any of the 60 characters who appear in the 100 missions which you will have cleared in the story mode. The aim is to reach the S ranking. Depending on the ranking, characters will be unlocked.
In the challenge mode you can play with 1 or 2 players and proceed through 10 to 50 stages. This again becomes playable after finishing the story mode. You can play co-op with your friend which is highly enjoyable.
There are also 3 multiplayer modes. In each one you can play with up to 4 players.
The versus mode is the mode to choose when you want a straight forward fight.
In Weapon Scramble you have to struggle to obtain a weapon left somewhere on the stage within a time limit. If the player gets the weapon he can escape from the fighters.
In Destruction Battle the aim is to destroy your opponent's designated object left on the stage somewhere with a sledgehammer.
As you can see, there are lots of game modes in Urban Reign and whether you play alone or with up to 4 people there is lots of fun to be had
How does Brad's character develop throughout the game? Are offensive skills as important as defensive play?
In the story mode the main controllable character is Brad Hawk. By acquiring ability points in the missions, you can augment his abilities. The ability points are divided in Offence Ability and Defence Ability and which ones you improve becomes important. In total there are 9 ability points. The fighting skills are also important. You have to chose among the following fighting skills: Strike, Grapple, Regional Attack, Special Attack and Weapon Attack and so increase your fighting skills.
There are also a number of ways in which you can play. From chapter 2 you can use partner attacks. You can give your partner instructions. The instructions you can give your partners are as follows: "Call for double team attack", "Split up and fight different partner", "Pass me your weapon". You can also switch control to your partner and the computer takes over your current character. You can also invite a partner to a team battle and attack one opponent. As a player you can also throw a weapon to your partner, the partner catches the weapon and can fight with.
What role do weapons play within the game?
The weapons are very important. There are a number of things you haven't been able to do so far such as kick back the weapons, you can throw them to your partner and a number of other possibilities.
There is a large variety of weapons and there are some weapons which are also playable in the multiplayer mode. There are about 30 weapons in the game.
Can you also expand a little on the in game cast and the types of characters players will come across?
I will start with the main character Brad Hawk. He is a professional Bodyguard with an all-round fighting style. In the Urban Reign setting an all-rounder doesn't just mean someone who knows all the fighting styles but is also street wise.
The next character is Shun Ying Lee who asked Brad to be her bodyguard while being a Chinese Kung Fu master and highly skilled at using Chinese swords.
The other characters also have their specific characteristics. There are too many to introduce all of them but I will like to point out one more character called Tong Yoon. He's a MuThai master and particularly strong in kicking. You won't have seen kicks like his in fighting games so far!
The enemy AI is also very intelligent. They all have their own fighting style and the enemies do fight team battles as well. There are a number of reactions. For example, they come and charge in a group, the leader doesn't participate in the battle but watches the fight from the side. If the fight becomes tight then he will start shouting instructions etc.
From Chapter 2 you can start partner battles with the AI. As explained above you can give your partner a number of instructions.
Can you elaborate on the control system and the camera technique behind Urban Reign?
In Urban Reign the camera handling is different than in other similar games. Up till now in multi-player action games, the camera was fixed behind the back of the main character. In Urban Reign there is a new camera setting which you can get by pressing the R1 button. This becomes a side view which is the same camera as in Soulcalibur and Tekken. In this way the player can enjoy a hugely accurate fighting reach.
It took us several months to fine tune the camera. In this way, Urban Reign allows a multiplayer battle while keeping the fighting mechanics of fighting games. And of course you can also switch between targets.
The button configuration is also very similar to the one used in fighting games. There are really 2 fighting buttons: the circle button is the attack button, the triangle button is the throw button. Maybe you think this is not a lot but that really isn't the case. For example in the case of Brad Hawk there are 4 attack methods assigned to the circle button. If you press the up arrow and the circle button at the same time, then you can execute a Slash High Kick, if you press the circle button then you have a Machine Gun Uppercut, if you press the left or right arrow while pressing the circle button then you can deliver a Storming Uppercut and if you press the down arrow and the circle button this will result in a Sweep Kick. You can follow these with combos as well which means that even with just 2 buttons there are a large number of attacks.
The enemies will suffer local injuries depending on the attacks to the upper back, the lower back or the head.
With the square button you can ward off enemy attacks, watch a cool scene as from an action film, with the X button you can run at and push back from walls to attack enemies. In this way you can easily enjoy using the 3D space.
TVG would like to thank Hirofumi Motoyama for taking the time to answer our questions; Urban Reign is slated for a UK release on February 3rd, we'll have a review of the title soon...
Kai
Date Added:Fri 2nd Feb 2007 16:25