Spartan Total Warrior Interview

If you haven't snapped up Spartan Total Warrior yet, then the game's creators could help you make the decision!

Not so long ago we had the chance to sit down with two of the lovely staff from Creative Assembly, the studio recently bought by Sega. Ian Roxburgh and Sophie Blakemore talked us through the recently released Spartan: Total Warrior.

Available for all three current generation console platforms, the game is an original, action-based war affair on a delicious scale. If you've been eyeing up this game, then you owe it to yourself to read on for that helping hand...

Kikizo: This is the sort of game we aren't used to from Sega as it's quite Western-oriented. Why was this game chosen by Sega for publishing?

Ian: I think Sega decided that, when they were actually moving into produce more Western product, they were looking at our PC titles as well, the Total War series... at that time they came and actually saw what we were actually developing, in secret, for the consoles, so once they saw Spartan Total Warrior, they thought that that's definitely the kind of Western-style product that they really wanted to put on their portfolio, so I think it was just the right place at the right time.

Kikizo: Some strategy games haven't worked that well on consoles; it's always more difficult than playing with a mouse and a keyboard...?

Sophie: Well, Spartan Total Warrior is not a strategy game; it's an action-combat game. So, instead of controlling the masses of troops in front of you, you are actually one of the soldiers in the middle of the troop. You have to fight with all the other soldiers: you're not controlling it, you're not a general. So, it actually puts you in the middle of the action.

Sophie Blakemore, Creative Assembly

Kikizo: The action is awesome but we've also seen maps with troops and things like that...

Sophie: We do have hundreds of troops on screen - and all the troops have a strategy - but you are not controlling the troops. There are maybe 200 warriors on screen at any one time: 100 Spartans, 100 Romans coming together in a massive, epic battle - and you are one of those Spartans, just fighting on your own, fighting with your men, and turning the tide of the battle.

Kikizo: Basically, you're one super-soldier?

Sophie: That's essentially it. You are a Spartan warrior, but you are being guided by the Greek Gods, who have given you these amazing powers... you become, essentially, a super-warrior, a hero, a legend... you are imbued with these amazing magical powers, you can use them to take down dozens of enemies at one time. So, this makes you a lot more fearful than the rest of Spartan allies: you become the man, you become the hard-core.

Kikizo: This is the first game in the series that is being published by Sega. Will there be more cooperation in the future? Is this an ongoing series that will become a Sega property?

Sophie: This is definitely a series that has life. This is definitely something which we will carry working on. This has a lot of life, and there can be a lot of scenarios here. We are very excited about what we can do in the future with it.

Ian Roxburgh

Kikizo: With regards to marketing, is this title geared more towards Europe or to the US?

Ian: To be honest with you, it's a title that we feel is actually going to be equally popular in all regions throughout the world. So the US, Europe, Japan... wherever you look, we think it's a game that will appeal to all sorts of gamers. So, really, it should appeal to everyone.

Kikizo: Sega kind of hope that the fact that this is Western design will appeal to the Japanese, like the Asian design appeals to the Western people - Dynasty Warriors is a good example...?

Ian: Yes, absolutely, I think so. It really is a game design that's a unique game design... that no one in either of the territories would have seen before. We are hoping that it really will appeal universally. There's no reason at all why it shouldn't work just as well in Japan as it does in the West.

Kikizo: In terms of the designs in the game, to have a lot of variety on screen, usually this can be held back by hardware power. Was there anything you couldn't include on current console power?

Sophie: Actually, because it's been in development for three years, we've been able to really push the limits of the engine; so we've actually been able to get a lot of stuff in there that we wanted. I can't think of one thing that we haven't been able to put in! In terms of enemy factions, enemy units, the amount of enemies on screen, your weapons, your powers - there hasn't been anything that we've been limited on, just because we've been working on it for three years, and we've really made sure that we've included everything. We are pushing boundaries on all the consoles.

Kikizo: You have this god-like creature, which is your soldier. Does he gain strength throughout the game? Does he get new powers from the Gods, to keep the gameplay fresh?

Sophie: Yes... throughout the game your warrior develops his skills, he develops his strength and his powers. So, throughout the levels, you start progressing, you get more armour on you, you get more defensive capabilities, you get new weapons - new weapons which can look different, have different effects, different powered effects, and different attacks on the enemies. So, you are changing throughout each level... you are becoming a different person - and you go from being a warrior, to a hero, and eventually to a legend. You become the legend of Sparta, the total-warrior.

Kikizo: And that's with the help of the Gods? Are they also gods that are trying to stop you?

Sophie: Well, there's a bit of a twist in the tale! You are being guided by Aries, the God of war. He's out there to help you, but he's in it for his own sake as well: he loves blood-shed, he loves warfare.

Basically he's getting a kick out of the action - out of all this bloodshed and gore!

Kikizo: And that'll be what our readers will be getting when they pick this up, right?! Good luck with everything.