Gods of war
While timeOUT tackles the behemoth that is God Of War III on Playstation3, resident games guru Rob Farquhar catches up with two of the developers behind the game - senior designer Jonathan Hawkins and lead animator, Bruno Velasquez, both from Santa Monica Studios. Here is what they had to say...
RF: God of War III hit retail shelves on March 18. The first game was released within a week of the same date in 2005. Playstation gamers have spent five years with Kratos’ god-slaying saga. How do you guys feel about that?BV: Our major goal was to get the title out. We love making the game and we love seeing the players’ reactions. It’s been a three long years of working on this game – it’s an honour to come to Australia to meet the fans and realise this game has spread worldwide. There were a lot of smiles (at a community event last night). People were very, very excited.
RF: The three years that you mention doesn’t include the development time for God of War. When did that start?
JH: I came on to the project in October 2003; I believe the project was in the works for a year and a half before that.
RF: So it’s been about eight years from when God of War was first birthed. What were some of the high-points during the behind-the scenes saga?
JH: Working with the team, all the great people, building the camaraderie, the team spirit and getting the job done – we felt gratified that we were able to create something so well received around the world. The biggest highlight was creating something that people truly love and enjoy.
BV: It’s always a challenge to keep increasing the scale and scope of each game, especially with the PS3. Speaking of God of War II for the PS2 – I think many people said that was probably one of the better-looking games for that system. There were a lot of expectations for our team to deliver the highest-quality visuals possible (on God of War III). Our programming team was up to the challenge; they provided motion blur, depth of field and a new lighting engine.
JH: We really wanted to make the flagship PS3 title to show the world what the machine can really do.
RF: The Sony Santa Monica website bills the company as being focused on the Action/Adventure genre. Given that some pundits have started reviewing other action / adventure titles with the caveat "Like God of War, but..." you seem to have crafted the genre’s pinnacle title. Is there more for SCE Santa Monica to explore in the genre?
JH: We have a very talented team; if we focus our minds on another genre, we could execute to the same quality. We’ve learned to perfect the action adventure genre – combat, the large set pieces – and defined what ‘epic’ is.
BV: We enjoy working in the genre. It’s exciting that this year there are so many action games released; Darksiders, Bayonetta, Dante’s Inferno and of course our game.
RF: Will SCE Santa Monica release a God of War IV?
BV: At this moment, the team’s taking a break. The last two years we’ve been working on the engine and we’ll definitely put it to use; I can’t say if it’ll be on a God of War title, but the team will definitely be excited.
>> God Of War III is out on Playstation3 now and is available from all good video game retailers.
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Unleashed: join Kratos on his quest to destroy the Olympians in God Of War III.
Anti-hero: Kratos is on a path to revenge.
Don't be fooled: behind the smiles, Bruno Velazquez (left) and Jonathan Hawkins (right) from Santa Monica Studios, have created one of the most violent games around.
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