Constantine Game Interview - 04 January 2005 00:01 - John [JCal] Callaham User Comments : 0
One of the first movies coming out in 2005 is the Warner Brothers horror-action flick Constantine, based loosely on the DC/Vertigo comic book Hellblazer. Developer Bits Studios and co-publishers SCi and THQ plan to release a third person action game for the PS2 and Xbox based on the movie and HomeLAN got a chance to chat with Bits Studios game director Dylan Beale to find out more about their plans for the Constantine game.
HomeLAN - How did the idea for making a Constantine game come about?
Dylan Beale - We were all really big fans of the original Hellblazer comic book from which the Constantine film is based. When we found that Warner Bros. were going to make a film from the great comic material, we thought it would be a great time to take advantage and create a game! It is a project that we are very passionate about.
HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the storyline for the game and how it relates to the movie?
Dylan Beale - What I can tell you is that Constantine (the game) tells the story of John Constantine and his most recent endeavours. When John notices some strange happenings that he believes are associated with the occult, he embarks on an investigation that takes him through the world of demons and angels that exists just beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles. Caught up in a series of catastrophic events, John must seek out and destroy pure evil before peace on Earth is destroyed forever. Overall, the plot for the game is very similar to that of the movie, although the movie includes a twin sister element as well. Our game is more focused on the activity of the player character John Constantine.
HomeLAN - How much input have you received from the film makers for the game?
Dylan Beale - I’m delighted to say that we received a pretty much unprecedented level of input and support from the filmmakers and the guys at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the game. We got to see the film script extremely early on – suffice to say we were very happy with the way that the original property has been treated. We also got to see a lot of early footage from the movie to help us guide the tone and flow of the game, not to mention get the storyline right. We got thousands of special effects shots and files in order to keep the visual side of the game looking as coherent as possible to the film and the filmmakers have been checking out and approving the game all along the way. Constantine will be the first WB-licensed game to actually recreate a pivotal live-action scene from the movie entirely in computer graphics – this level of commitment from the filmmakers and WB really help to show that they are very excited about the project.
HomeLAN - How would you describe the main character in the game, Constantine?
Dylan Beale - In very broad terms, John Constantine is an irreverent mystic detective. A dab hand with incantations and holy artefacts with a cool attitude and demeanour too. Despite John actually doing (mostly!) good things during his time on Earth, Constantine is the kind of guy who, when he dies, Heaven won’t take him and Hell will most definitely want him – maybe to wreak revenge for the suffering he has given the Damned - or maybe not. Constantine isn’t afraid to call Satan an asshole, nor is he one to suffer fools gladly – John is actually a very wily character who is good at manipulating others to his favour. Hooked on cigarettes and alcohol and suffering from terminal lung cancer, Constantine is clearly a tormented soul himself - although his worst habit is probably just being in the ‘wrong’ place at the ‘wrong’ time. More of which will be explored in the storyline of the game and the film. In some respects Constantine’s character resembles that of most other peoples, in so far that nobody is perfect and everybody has flaws despite them wanting to achieve a better purpose. It is these more realistic and gritty elements of the hero that make him very enduring and likeable.
HomeLAN - What sort of locations and settings will the game have?
Dylan Beale - The game features all the main locations and settings from the film, with some new ones added that are just for the game. John’s investigation will take to Hell and back – literally – through mortuaries and police stations to spooky libraries and even bowling alleys. Some of the levels in the game have an equivalent in Hell as well…. these levels really pushed the hardware to its limits and give you a good idea of how amazing the special effects will be in the movie as well.
HomeLAN - What kinds of weapons and items will Constantine have?
Dylan Beale - Constantine has an array of incantations and holy artefacts that he can use to send the demons back to where they came. On the magical side – Constantine can use Exorcism to defeat the possessed, Stormcrow to defeat crowds of lower ranked demons with summoned lightning, Gargoyle to turn demons to stone who can then be shattered and more incantations that I don’t want to talk about just yet! John can also discover a range of primary artefacts (weapons) in the game – from the Crucifier that fires nails pulled from the dead flesh of martyrs, through to the Witch’s Curse, a pistol which fires stones picked up on the road to Damascus, to the Dragon’s Breath flamethrower and beyond. Secondary artefacts include holy water bombs that can be thrown against half-breed demons – to burn away the human shell in order to reveal the monster inside - and the Amityville Screech Beetle that acts as a flashbang grenade for the demonic generation. When thrown the Amityville Screech Beetle emits a frequency that stuns demons, therefore making easy pickings for Constantine.
HomeLAN - What sort of enemies will be faced in the game
Dylan Beale - The game features the demons from the film – called the Scavenger Scout and the Seplavite. The Scouts hop along the ground or ceiling and will either spit at long distance or grab at short distance. Not very nice! The Seplavites are airborne demons and fire hell plasma at John from long distances. When wounded they launch into a kamikaze-style attack on John before fading to dust.
We also created a bunch of demons that are exclusive to the game, gaining full approval from WB and the filmmakers along the way.
Each new demon has differing looks and abilities, for example the Impaler is the resulting demon from someone that has committed suicide from a high fall – all the bones stick out of its body. The Impaler is very big and heavy, and will use its weight to do damage to Constantine when charging at him. The Cleaver is much more slight, and uses speed to its advantage. The Cleaver is the result of suicidal females who, twisted by hate, one of their arms has evolved into a blade. This blade is used to slice at John and even deflect bullets too – a favourite in the studios regarding the design, however the Cleavers are nearly as wily as Constantine so be warned!
HomeLAN - What other types of unique gameplay features will Constantine have?
Dylan Beale - Constantine features a nifty gameplay mechanic where some of the actions you perform in the Hell dimension affect the landscape on Earth and vice versa. We have implemented this gameplay into some of the puzzles and also regarding waypoint progress, where you must defeat a boss in Hell to open part of a level that can then be explored on Earth.
HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the graphics engine for the game?
Dylan Beale - Constantine uses a heavily improved and modified version of our proven multiplatform TWED technology. The engine allows us to have a wide range of high quality effects
HomeLAN - What is the current status of the game’s progress and when will it be released?
Dylan Beale - The game is pretty much complete now, bar a few small tweaks and bug fixes here and there. As for when it releases that very much depends on the intents of SCi and Warner Bros. Clearly the release date of the film has an important part to play, though we are very confident that the game will be released somewhere in the latter part of Q1 2005.
HomeLAN - Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Constantine?
Dylan Beale - There is sometimes a really cool ‘gunslinger’ animation that plays only occasionally when John Constantine does a 180degree turn. See if you can find it when you play the game!
Oh and apart from that? We just hope you enjoy it – its’ been real fun to make the game as good as possible and we’re confident that the quality is there in the final product.
http://www.homelanfed.com/index.php?id=28383
One of the first movies coming out in 2005 is the Warner Brothers horror-action flick Constantine, based loosely on the DC/Vertigo comic book Hellblazer. Developer Bits Studios and co-publishers SCi and THQ plan to release a third person action game for the PS2 and Xbox based on the movie and HomeLAN got a chance to chat with Bits Studios game director Dylan Beale to find out more about their plans for the Constantine game.
HomeLAN - How did the idea for making a Constantine game come about?
Dylan Beale - We were all really big fans of the original Hellblazer comic book from which the Constantine film is based. When we found that Warner Bros. were going to make a film from the great comic material, we thought it would be a great time to take advantage and create a game! It is a project that we are very passionate about.
HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the storyline for the game and how it relates to the movie?
Dylan Beale - What I can tell you is that Constantine (the game) tells the story of John Constantine and his most recent endeavours. When John notices some strange happenings that he believes are associated with the occult, he embarks on an investigation that takes him through the world of demons and angels that exists just beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles. Caught up in a series of catastrophic events, John must seek out and destroy pure evil before peace on Earth is destroyed forever. Overall, the plot for the game is very similar to that of the movie, although the movie includes a twin sister element as well. Our game is more focused on the activity of the player character John Constantine.
HomeLAN - How much input have you received from the film makers for the game?
Dylan Beale - I’m delighted to say that we received a pretty much unprecedented level of input and support from the filmmakers and the guys at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the game. We got to see the film script extremely early on – suffice to say we were very happy with the way that the original property has been treated. We also got to see a lot of early footage from the movie to help us guide the tone and flow of the game, not to mention get the storyline right. We got thousands of special effects shots and files in order to keep the visual side of the game looking as coherent as possible to the film and the filmmakers have been checking out and approving the game all along the way. Constantine will be the first WB-licensed game to actually recreate a pivotal live-action scene from the movie entirely in computer graphics – this level of commitment from the filmmakers and WB really help to show that they are very excited about the project.
HomeLAN - How would you describe the main character in the game, Constantine?
Dylan Beale - In very broad terms, John Constantine is an irreverent mystic detective. A dab hand with incantations and holy artefacts with a cool attitude and demeanour too. Despite John actually doing (mostly!) good things during his time on Earth, Constantine is the kind of guy who, when he dies, Heaven won’t take him and Hell will most definitely want him – maybe to wreak revenge for the suffering he has given the Damned - or maybe not. Constantine isn’t afraid to call Satan an asshole, nor is he one to suffer fools gladly – John is actually a very wily character who is good at manipulating others to his favour. Hooked on cigarettes and alcohol and suffering from terminal lung cancer, Constantine is clearly a tormented soul himself - although his worst habit is probably just being in the ‘wrong’ place at the ‘wrong’ time. More of which will be explored in the storyline of the game and the film. In some respects Constantine’s character resembles that of most other peoples, in so far that nobody is perfect and everybody has flaws despite them wanting to achieve a better purpose. It is these more realistic and gritty elements of the hero that make him very enduring and likeable.
HomeLAN - What sort of locations and settings will the game have?
Dylan Beale - The game features all the main locations and settings from the film, with some new ones added that are just for the game. John’s investigation will take to Hell and back – literally – through mortuaries and police stations to spooky libraries and even bowling alleys. Some of the levels in the game have an equivalent in Hell as well…. these levels really pushed the hardware to its limits and give you a good idea of how amazing the special effects will be in the movie as well.
HomeLAN - What kinds of weapons and items will Constantine have?
Dylan Beale - Constantine has an array of incantations and holy artefacts that he can use to send the demons back to where they came. On the magical side – Constantine can use Exorcism to defeat the possessed, Stormcrow to defeat crowds of lower ranked demons with summoned lightning, Gargoyle to turn demons to stone who can then be shattered and more incantations that I don’t want to talk about just yet! John can also discover a range of primary artefacts (weapons) in the game – from the Crucifier that fires nails pulled from the dead flesh of martyrs, through to the Witch’s Curse, a pistol which fires stones picked up on the road to Damascus, to the Dragon’s Breath flamethrower and beyond. Secondary artefacts include holy water bombs that can be thrown against half-breed demons – to burn away the human shell in order to reveal the monster inside - and the Amityville Screech Beetle that acts as a flashbang grenade for the demonic generation. When thrown the Amityville Screech Beetle emits a frequency that stuns demons, therefore making easy pickings for Constantine.
HomeLAN - What sort of enemies will be faced in the game
Dylan Beale - The game features the demons from the film – called the Scavenger Scout and the Seplavite. The Scouts hop along the ground or ceiling and will either spit at long distance or grab at short distance. Not very nice! The Seplavites are airborne demons and fire hell plasma at John from long distances. When wounded they launch into a kamikaze-style attack on John before fading to dust.
We also created a bunch of demons that are exclusive to the game, gaining full approval from WB and the filmmakers along the way.
Each new demon has differing looks and abilities, for example the Impaler is the resulting demon from someone that has committed suicide from a high fall – all the bones stick out of its body. The Impaler is very big and heavy, and will use its weight to do damage to Constantine when charging at him. The Cleaver is much more slight, and uses speed to its advantage. The Cleaver is the result of suicidal females who, twisted by hate, one of their arms has evolved into a blade. This blade is used to slice at John and even deflect bullets too – a favourite in the studios regarding the design, however the Cleavers are nearly as wily as Constantine so be warned!
HomeLAN - What other types of unique gameplay features will Constantine have?
Dylan Beale - Constantine features a nifty gameplay mechanic where some of the actions you perform in the Hell dimension affect the landscape on Earth and vice versa. We have implemented this gameplay into some of the puzzles and also regarding waypoint progress, where you must defeat a boss in Hell to open part of a level that can then be explored on Earth.
HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the graphics engine for the game?
Dylan Beale - Constantine uses a heavily improved and modified version of our proven multiplatform TWED technology. The engine allows us to have a wide range of high quality effects
HomeLAN - What is the current status of the game’s progress and when will it be released?
Dylan Beale - The game is pretty much complete now, bar a few small tweaks and bug fixes here and there. As for when it releases that very much depends on the intents of SCi and Warner Bros. Clearly the release date of the film has an important part to play, though we are very confident that the game will be released somewhere in the latter part of Q1 2005.
HomeLAN - Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Constantine?
Dylan Beale - There is sometimes a really cool ‘gunslinger’ animation that plays only occasionally when John Constantine does a 180degree turn. See if you can find it when you play the game!
Oh and apart from that? We just hope you enjoy it – its’ been real fun to make the game as good as possible and we’re confident that the quality is there in the final product.
http://www.homelanfed.com/index.php?id=28383
