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Fear & Respect: Exposed
from ign.com...
The popularity of urban and crime-themed videogames is starting to reach critical mass. In the wake Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' terrific performance last year, a ton of similarly-themed titles have been penciled in for 2005. True Crime 2, NARC, The Godfather, Reservoir Dogs, and Fear & Respect are all poised to take a stab at GTA's incredible mass market success. Of particular note is Midway's Fear & Respect, a realistic take on life in South Central Los Angeles from collaborators Snoop Dogg and John Singleton. And with high profile names like that attached, you can only imagine how many questions we have about it.
To get the answers we were looking for we contacted Nathan Rose, a producer for Midway and asked him all the burning questions -- including what the game is really about, how it will differentiate from Grand Theft Auto, and what it is that Fear & Respect will do that no other game has done before. His answers lay below.
IGN: Prior to Fear & Respect, what projects has this development team previously worked on and how long as the team been working on this?
Nathan Rose: The team creating the game is Edge of Reality. They've worked on many great games; Shark Tale, Tony Hawk, The Sims PS2, and several others.
IGN: A lot has been made about John Singleton's involvement in this project and it's obvious at this early stage that it's the one of the main selling points of the game. That said, just how much of a contribution has Singleton made and has he taken on any additional responsibilities since the game's inception?
Nathan: John has been very involved. He wrote the story, directed the storyboards and cinemas, and has been involved in the design of the game. Both John and Snoop Dogg have spent time with Midway and Edge of Reality (in Austin, Texas), reviewing builds, playing the game, and going over the story. We are trying to give gamers the feel of "A Day in the Life" of someone in Urban LA and they have been extremely instrumental capturing this in a realistic way.
IGN: It's been established that the movie will come out around the same time as the videogame. Was this a title that was envisioned as a videogame first and a movie second? Or is this a licensed game based on the motion picture? Just how does the relationship between the two products work exactly?
Nathan: John and Snoop have had this story in their heads for sometime now. We approached John to work on a game together and the story flowed. My understanding is that Paramount contacted us to acquire the rights shortly after the game was announced.
IGN: Is Singleton himself a big-time videogame fan? Or is he approaching this project as a new kind of challenge that few in his position have tried before?
Nathan: John is absolutely a big-time videogame player and fan. He plays all the current games and regularly plays online. He knows games, what makes them strong, and what draws appeal to both his fans and game fans in general.
IGN: Anytime a new videogame with urban themes comes along, an immediate comparison is made to the Grand Theft Auto series. Is that kind of correlation to Rockstar's game an association you welcome or dismiss?
Nathan: We dismiss it. The GTA series is phenomenal, no doubt about it, however, it is not the type of game we are creating. Our number one goal is to put you in LA on the streets and let you live that slice of life. Fear & Respect is much more about the actual experience and the capturing the dramatic moments. It is not an open world type of game where you can do anything and go anywhere. It is must more focused.
IGN: What's the setup for the storyline? Who is your character, why is he here, and what's motivating him?
Nathan: You play Goldie (Snoop Dogg), a young man just released from prison with 2 strikes and no desire other than to stay out of trouble. Things don't always go as planned and Goldie gets drawn back into the gangs. His nephew gets in trouble and the only way Goldie can help him is to get involved.
IGN: Did Snoop Dogg have as much influence over Fear & Respect as John Singleton did? And why the decision to go Snoop Dogg in the first place?
Nathan: Snoop was very involved in the writing of the story. He and John have worked together in the past and are excited to be working together again. Why Snoop? He's one of the most recognizable people on the planet, he came from the streets and is intimately familiar with the content, and he's super talented. The chemistry John and Snoop have together is amazing and we are totally thrilled to be working on a project with the two of them.
IGN: Will Snoop contribute any musical material to the game?
Nathan: Definitely, Snoop is writing two original songs for the game as well as helping to select other music tracks for the game.
IGN: How will Fear & Respect differentiate itself from GTA and other genre favorites like True Crime, The Shield, The Godfather, and Midway's other urban actioner, NARC?
Nathan: Fear & Respect is more about "A day in the life" and less about run and gun, kill everything in site with no consequences. In the real world, you don't run through LA, stealing cars and shooting whomever you want. Gunfights will be more true to life, you can't just stand in the open and start shooting, you'll need to take cover and be smart in gun combat. We are also creating "dramatic moments" to bring the character and the game to life.
IGN: How accurately is the team trying to capture Los Angeles? True Crime, for example, meticulously recreated 240 Square miles of the city and included popular landmarks like the Staples Center and Union Center. Will Fear & Respect take a similar recognizable approach?
Nathan: Sometimes less is more. We are focusing on some key area's of LA and really nailing them. Believe me, when you are walking through certain neighborhoods at night it is extremely frightening and we want to capture this element. Select members of the design and production teams have been taken on 'guided' tours of some of the housing projects in South Central Los Angeles. Kevlar wasn't necessary but armed backup felt appropriate.
IGN: Tell us a bit about the R-E-S-P-E-C-T system that powers the game. It's essentially a reputation system that affects your interaction with other characters right? How does it work, and what kind of things does it alter over the course of the adventure?
Nathan: Your actions have consequences. Behaving a certain way gains your respect and my have benefits later in the game. On the other hand if you are the player that wants to instill fear in everyone, the game will play out in a much different way. Outside of how it effects general interaction, it will also have a drastic effect on how the story plays out.
IGN: The hand-to-hand combat aspect is obviously one of the more heralded features. What is it similar to and is it the main form of action or is a supplement to the shooting?
Nathan: We are still experimenting with different mechanics for hand-to-hand fighting. Our goal is to make it easy and intuitive and fast and furious. Most real world fights end within 30 seconds to a minute and we want to capture that essence in our combat system. By this we mean that our goal is to make it a visceral experience that draws the player in.
IGN: The early press materials boast that the guns will be based on real world weapons. Can you elaborate a bit on just how real they'll be? Can we expect to see actual gun manufacturer licenses?
Nathan: No, I can't imagine any gun manufacture allowing this and we aren't going down that road. We will have real world guns that work like real world guns. Goldie will not have access to weapons you wouldn't find in the hood such as grenades and rocket launchers.
IGN: What other kinds of gameplay elements can we expect to see in Fear & Respect? Carjackings, territorial disputes, property purchases? Or will the game be more focused in its scope?
Nathan: The scope will be extremely focused. There will be side missions and quests - we are still working out the details of these situations.
IGN: What feature does Fear & Respect have that no other videogame on the market has?
Nathan: The Fear and Respect game mechanic is new. We want to really bring to life the point that actions have consequences (both good and bad).
IGN: Any last words for curious fans that might not be convinced that Fear & Respect is the game for them yet?
Nathan: If you want to live a day in the life of someone on the streets of LA, this is the game. We have the top Hollywood talent in John Singleton and Snoop Dogg putting together a game that is 'real' and ties great gameplay with an awesome storyline to take you through the experience.
The popularity of urban and crime-themed videogames is starting to reach critical mass. In the wake Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' terrific performance last year, a ton of similarly-themed titles have been penciled in for 2005. True Crime 2, NARC, The Godfather, Reservoir Dogs, and Fear & Respect are all poised to take a stab at GTA's incredible mass market success. Of particular note is Midway's Fear & Respect, a realistic take on life in South Central Los Angeles from collaborators Snoop Dogg and John Singleton. And with high profile names like that attached, you can only imagine how many questions we have about it.
To get the answers we were looking for we contacted Nathan Rose, a producer for Midway and asked him all the burning questions -- including what the game is really about, how it will differentiate from Grand Theft Auto, and what it is that Fear & Respect will do that no other game has done before. His answers lay below.
IGN: Prior to Fear & Respect, what projects has this development team previously worked on and how long as the team been working on this?
Nathan Rose: The team creating the game is Edge of Reality. They've worked on many great games; Shark Tale, Tony Hawk, The Sims PS2, and several others.
IGN: A lot has been made about John Singleton's involvement in this project and it's obvious at this early stage that it's the one of the main selling points of the game. That said, just how much of a contribution has Singleton made and has he taken on any additional responsibilities since the game's inception?
Nathan: John has been very involved. He wrote the story, directed the storyboards and cinemas, and has been involved in the design of the game. Both John and Snoop Dogg have spent time with Midway and Edge of Reality (in Austin, Texas), reviewing builds, playing the game, and going over the story. We are trying to give gamers the feel of "A Day in the Life" of someone in Urban LA and they have been extremely instrumental capturing this in a realistic way.
Goldie shoots his enemizzles
IGN: It's been established that the movie will come out around the same time as the videogame. Was this a title that was envisioned as a videogame first and a movie second? Or is this a licensed game based on the motion picture? Just how does the relationship between the two products work exactly?
Nathan: John and Snoop have had this story in their heads for sometime now. We approached John to work on a game together and the story flowed. My understanding is that Paramount contacted us to acquire the rights shortly after the game was announced.
IGN: Is Singleton himself a big-time videogame fan? Or is he approaching this project as a new kind of challenge that few in his position have tried before?
Nathan: John is absolutely a big-time videogame player and fan. He plays all the current games and regularly plays online. He knows games, what makes them strong, and what draws appeal to both his fans and game fans in general.
IGN: Anytime a new videogame with urban themes comes along, an immediate comparison is made to the Grand Theft Auto series. Is that kind of correlation to Rockstar's game an association you welcome or dismiss?
Nathan: We dismiss it. The GTA series is phenomenal, no doubt about it, however, it is not the type of game we are creating. Our number one goal is to put you in LA on the streets and let you live that slice of life. Fear & Respect is much more about the actual experience and the capturing the dramatic moments. It is not an open world type of game where you can do anything and go anywhere. It is must more focused.
IGN: What's the setup for the storyline? Who is your character, why is he here, and what's motivating him?
Nathan: You play Goldie (Snoop Dogg), a young man just released from prison with 2 strikes and no desire other than to stay out of trouble. Things don't always go as planned and Goldie gets drawn back into the gangs. His nephew gets in trouble and the only way Goldie can help him is to get involved.
IGN: Did Snoop Dogg have as much influence over Fear & Respect as John Singleton did? And why the decision to go Snoop Dogg in the first place?
Nathan: Snoop was very involved in the writing of the story. He and John have worked together in the past and are excited to be working together again. Why Snoop? He's one of the most recognizable people on the planet, he came from the streets and is intimately familiar with the content, and he's super talented. The chemistry John and Snoop have together is amazing and we are totally thrilled to be working on a project with the two of them.
IGN: Will Snoop contribute any musical material to the game?
Nathan: Definitely, Snoop is writing two original songs for the game as well as helping to select other music tracks for the game.
IGN: How will Fear & Respect differentiate itself from GTA and other genre favorites like True Crime, The Shield, The Godfather, and Midway's other urban actioner, NARC?
Nathan: Fear & Respect is more about "A day in the life" and less about run and gun, kill everything in site with no consequences. In the real world, you don't run through LA, stealing cars and shooting whomever you want. Gunfights will be more true to life, you can't just stand in the open and start shooting, you'll need to take cover and be smart in gun combat. We are also creating "dramatic moments" to bring the character and the game to life.
IGN: How accurately is the team trying to capture Los Angeles? True Crime, for example, meticulously recreated 240 Square miles of the city and included popular landmarks like the Staples Center and Union Center. Will Fear & Respect take a similar recognizable approach?
Nathan: Sometimes less is more. We are focusing on some key area's of LA and really nailing them. Believe me, when you are walking through certain neighborhoods at night it is extremely frightening and we want to capture this element. Select members of the design and production teams have been taken on 'guided' tours of some of the housing projects in South Central Los Angeles. Kevlar wasn't necessary but armed backup felt appropriate.
IGN: Tell us a bit about the R-E-S-P-E-C-T system that powers the game. It's essentially a reputation system that affects your interaction with other characters right? How does it work, and what kind of things does it alter over the course of the adventure?
Nathan: Your actions have consequences. Behaving a certain way gains your respect and my have benefits later in the game. On the other hand if you are the player that wants to instill fear in everyone, the game will play out in a much different way. Outside of how it effects general interaction, it will also have a drastic effect on how the story plays out.
IGN: The hand-to-hand combat aspect is obviously one of the more heralded features. What is it similar to and is it the main form of action or is a supplement to the shooting?
Nathan: We are still experimenting with different mechanics for hand-to-hand fighting. Our goal is to make it easy and intuitive and fast and furious. Most real world fights end within 30 seconds to a minute and we want to capture that essence in our combat system. By this we mean that our goal is to make it a visceral experience that draws the player in.
IGN: The early press materials boast that the guns will be based on real world weapons. Can you elaborate a bit on just how real they'll be? Can we expect to see actual gun manufacturer licenses?
Nathan: No, I can't imagine any gun manufacture allowing this and we aren't going down that road. We will have real world guns that work like real world guns. Goldie will not have access to weapons you wouldn't find in the hood such as grenades and rocket launchers.
IGN: What other kinds of gameplay elements can we expect to see in Fear & Respect? Carjackings, territorial disputes, property purchases? Or will the game be more focused in its scope?
Nathan: The scope will be extremely focused. There will be side missions and quests - we are still working out the details of these situations.
IGN: What feature does Fear & Respect have that no other videogame on the market has?
Nathan: The Fear and Respect game mechanic is new. We want to really bring to life the point that actions have consequences (both good and bad).
IGN: Any last words for curious fans that might not be convinced that Fear & Respect is the game for them yet?
Nathan: If you want to live a day in the life of someone on the streets of LA, this is the game. We have the top Hollywood talent in John Singleton and Snoop Dogg putting together a game that is 'real' and ties great gameplay with an awesome storyline to take you through the experience.