Interview: What's Next From Tecmo?

Three creators. Three games. No mercy. Kikizo takes a flying tour of Tecmo's top developers to check out Again for DS, Undead Knights for PSP and Quantum Theory for PS3.

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Kikizo: What kinds of zombies can you create?

Shibata: OK, an example of the variety of zombies is a soldier whose main weapon is using bombs, and when that turns into a zombie it can still throw bombs at the soldiers who are alive. If there are gigantic enemies then when they turn into zombies they will be the same height, the same build. All their characteristics can be completely carried over.

It might seem as if we're just randomly throwing zombies around, but there will be instances where you will have to be clever and make good use of the zombies - stacking them up to make a ladder to overcome a wall, or to reach the entrance of a big castle where you're going to have to pick up a big chunk of something, which requires X amount of zombies. At the same time, one of the attractions of an action game is just slashing and hacking tons of enemies at once. It's a balance and combination of those things in Undead Knights.

To a certain extent you'll be able to just run through some of the battlefields just hacking and slashing, or creating zombies and not really doing anything with them. But you will eventually have to look at the situation - you may try to go up against something by yourself with a few zombies, and nothing will happen.

So you're going to have to go back, kill more enemies, gather up a larger zombie troupe, and see what other tactics you can use - whether it's shaking a tower or shaking a gate to knock enemies down, then mashing them. So there is a careful balance we're integrating into the game. You won't have to worry too much that you can get through this game without really using the zombies at all.

Kikizo: Was there a particular source of inspiration for Undead Knights? Perhaps from outside gaming?

Shibata: Any zombie film you could name off the top of your head - oh, and the Thriller music video by Michael Jackson. I think what we took from those was how the zombies change and transform, and their movement 'styles'. If we were to just create a regular zombie game where you're being attacked, it wouldn't really matter, but this time around you're the one using the zombies, so we want to make sure they're being portrayed the way they should, that they're moving the way you would expect zombies to move.

Kikizo: Why did you decide to bring it to PSP?

Shibata: I love PSP! [laughs] Because of my special interest in the system, I wanted to challenge myself to create an action game for the PSP. I already had the concept laid out, which worked perfectly, and as we got started on the project it seemed like a perfect fit. I definitely want to make a hit title for PSP, and hopefully this will be that hit.

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