LoK: Soul Reaver II Interview at Gaming Age (by Patrick Klepek)
- 9/6/2000
- By Patrick Klepek, Andrew Bennett, Richard Lemarchand, Marc David, and Gaming Age
Profile[]
Now the sequel, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, is just around the corner (current release is set for March 2001) for the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast, and we thought we’d shoot over some questions to Crystal Dynamics, and the following is what transpired. For more information on the game, make sure to check out our full, in-depth preview here. Enjoy!
Answering the questions are Andrew Bennett, Executive Producer, Soul Reaver 2, Richard Lemarchand, Lead Designer, Soul Reaver 2 and Marc David, Lead Programmer, Soul Reaver 2.Gaming Age: How quickly after development was completed on the original LoK: Soul Reaver did creation for the sequel begin?
Andrew: After we finished up all the different versions of Soul Reaver 1 (PSX, PC and International), the team were given a much deserved rest. Work on Soul Reaver 2 started in earnest in October ’99 on two fronts. The programmers worked on improving the game engine and tools. At the same time, the Designers led again by Director Amy Hennig started work on all the elements of the game itself including: storyline; enemy and NPC concepts and the toolbox of puzzle ideas which could be used in the game.
Richard: There were more than a couple of team members who were more than a bit disappointed with Soul Reaver’s ending, too! However, we had to get the game finished, and it’s important to us to behave professionally. We did the best we could to amputate the end of story in a way that would provide some closure, but would allow us to pick up the threads in Soul Reaver 2. We most definitely won’t be ignoring the cliff-hanger ending. Quite the contrary, in fact: what happens next answers questions that have thus far gone unanswered, and provides the basis for a whole new chapter in the tortured existence of both Raziel, and the whole of Nosgoth…
Gaming Age: What’s up with Raziel this time around? Is he up to some new opposition with Kain, or another force entirely?
Richard: Kain continues to play a very instrumental role in Raziel’s unfolding fates in Soul Reaver 2. Rather than a new opposition between Raziel and Kain, what we’re going to see is the cancerous growth of an opposition that stretches back many hundreds, if not thousands, of years… In Soul Reaver Kain appeared to be something of a deranged tyrant, and Raziel a rebellious hero. There are some shocks in store, though. People should be paying very close attention to what Kain says in Soul Reaver, and should dwell on the advisedness of forging alliances without being in full possession of all the facts…
Andrew: It was partially business related, the PlayStation 1 market for games which appeal to an older audience is growing smaller and smaller as the console matures and gets cheaper. Mainly the reason was creative. The Soul Reaver team is one of the most technically experienced and creative in the industry today and we wanted to give them a chance to really make Soul Reaver 2 the game that they wanted.
Gaming Age: How will using two next-generation consoles benefit LoK: Soul Reaver 2 in terms of not only visuals, but also gameplay wise?
Marc: Soul Reaver 1 pushed every one of the PlayStation’s limits. This meant that our memory was full and we had the CPU and GPU running at near capacity. Throughout we fought to achieve 30 frames per second, but on PS2 we will always have 60 frames per second. On PS2 the limits that were making it difficult to expand the game disappear, and we’re able to add content and features, which really opens things up creatively. So, this is not only on the obvious graphics front, but it allows us to make the world much more complete with the addition of more classes of interactive objects. Enemy and Boss interactions will be more intelligent with the use of AI algorithms we couldn’t afford before, making the whole experience more engaging and fun. We’re also making the Boss encounters more spectacular through the use of our vastly improved particle effects system. Sound and music will have similar improvements to the graphical systems, with more resources at their disposal. SR2 will offer an overall better gaming experience, not just a prettier one.
Richard: Raziel is getting lots of new special powers, not just at his fingertips but embedded in his right arm up to the elbow. In Soul Reaver we touched on the idea of imbuing the energetic maelstrom that is the Soul Reaver weapon with the element of fire. We’ve expanded that idea for Soul Reaver 2 to a large number of elemental classes, each of which give the Reaver unique abilities. From thawing frozen lakes to creating bridges of shadow, illuminating pitch-black areas or awakening ancient earth powers, these abilities will ‘gate’ the world, and allow the game to open up very naturally as Raziel develops and gains these new abilities.
Gaming Age: How much interaction will Raziel have with NPCs? Will anyone help fight along with him at anytime during his quest?
Richard: There is a host of characters, from both Soul Reaver and Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain that will play a significant role in Raziel’s new journeys across the blighted lands of Nosgoth, and we’re working on lip-syncing technologies and other techniques that will allow these agents of fate to act more expressively. Raziel does have allies (some old, some new) although they are probably not who either he or the players of Soul Reaver expect them to be. The hour of treachery and revelation is at hand…
Richard: History… geography… players new to Nosgoth might currently not know too much about either, but those intertwined dimensions form a dense manifold of incrimination, destiny, and shocking coincidence.
Gaming Age: If you could nail down the coolest addition that has been made to LoK: Soul Reaver 2, what would it be?
Richard: Soul Reaver 2 is such a hyperleap in so many directions of advancement that it’s simply impossible to nail down a single coolest addition. The textures, the mesh, the sound, the AI, the models, the animation, the game design, the plot…
Andrew: We’re slated to have Soul Reaver 2 in the stores in March ’01.
Gaming Age: Has there been any talk of a PC conversion of LoK: Soul Reaver 2, or has that been ruled out for the time being?
Andrew:: Currently we’re planning to release Soul Reaver 2 on Dreamcast and PS2. There are no plans for a PC version at the moment.
Andrew: Crystal ideally wants to give the LoK fans a game every year, but these type of games take a long time to make – typically 2 years. We looked at this problem and decided to have 2 teams working simultaneously, but about a year out of step with each other. All the LoK fans who played the original Blood Omen have wanted to see more of Kain and his adventures, so we decided to work on another Blood Omen game. Blood Omen II is it’s working title and it’ll be out on PS2 around the end of 2001.
Gaming Age: What kinds of directions can we see the Legacy of Kain franchise heading toward in the future? Might we see a movie or animated cartoon starring Raziel someday?
Andrew: There has already been a comic book and Crystal is working with BlueBox on creating a set of Soul Reaver toys which will be out later this year. We’re really excited about these and we know that the fans will really like them. A movie is a possibility, but nothing’s even remotely concrete.
Team:Run like hell.
References[]
- ↑ LoK: Soul Reaver II Interview at Gaming Age (by Patrick Klepek)
