Jared Gerritzen and the rest of the crew at Zombie Games are hard at work creating Blacklight: Retribution, the sequel to last year's downloadable first-person shooter Blacklight: Tango Down. Having found the first game to be quite intriguing, I just had to see what the studio was up to for the game's sequel, so I contacted Mr. Gerritzen and got the 411, as they say.
RA: Expand on the phrase shown in the Blacklight Retribution teaser, "designed for PC gamers."
JG: It’s a sad fact that we had to point out that Blacklight is being designed for the PC. Nowadays PC games are ports of games developed for the consoles. We wanted PC gamers to know we're not porting to the PC (the more powerful of the systems). Doing that is the equivalent of scaling up a picture beyond its native resolution--it just looks bad. Rather, we are designing our game to utilize the full power and potential that comes with a PC: better texture shaders, more RAM, faster processors, keyboards and mice, and more.
For example, take controls--Console games that came to the PC shackled gamers with limited control options. It kills me that Black Ops on the PC is toggle sprint and you can’t change it to press and hold. Why is that? Because toggle sprint is standard for console games, but not for PC games. However, PC gamers got stuck with that. It is a minor point but it points to the general philosophy we are taking with the game. We allow you to have toggle sprint or push and hold and default is push and hold. PC gamers like those options and they like the configurability, so we are providing that. Another example, you see too many PC games with quick grenades, which are a console mechanic due to the limitation of the controller. Now I’m not saying we don’t have quick grenades; we did, however, add PC style grenades where the player holds the grenade like a normal weapon. We also added melee weapons that can be pulled out and not only used in quick melee moves. In a nutshell we're keeping PC our number one focus and building it just for that. And that philosophy spans from our approach to graphics to low level hardware support, controls and more.
RA: Blacklight: Tango Down was very ambitious for a downloadable shooter and it certainly proved that it's possible to provide the full-retail experience on a console without the full-retail price-tag. Blacklight: Tango Down was a stepping stone for this idea, so what is Blacklight: Retribution going to provide that takes this theory a step further? Will there be a more extensive campaign? How will multiplayer pan out?
JG: Blacklight: Tango Down was a good game and I’m still very proud of what we did with it, for being a DLC game with a very quick dev cycle, small team, and starting from scratch. Blacklight: Retribution, however, kicks its ass in gameplay, art, and systems. The fact that it is also now a Free-to-Play is a plus as well. All the systems from the first game have been pulled over and added onto and made better. Systems that just didn’t work got cut and or redesigned.
As for what new we're adding, it’s a very long list. We played the hell out of the retail game and talked a lot in-house about its strengths and weaknesses. We read all the reviews and made it priority one when we started Retribution to address the weaknesses that we found and that people (reviewers and gamers both) leveled at the first game. Tango Down is a strong multiplayer game and Blacklight: Retribution builds on that multiplayer foundation--improving it and really taking it far beyond what was put forth with Blacklight: Tango Down. As for a campaign, adding one and trying to compete with today’s single-player games would just be stupid. We don’t want to have to hire an army of animators to make cut scenes everyone skips. So we’re 100% multiplayer focused.
RA: Developers often say they see what the community posts and blogs about a prior product. How closely did Zombie study the feedback given for the original Blacklight? If anything, what is the team's "short list" of things learned? Meaning, the 3-5 biggest bullet-points found for improvement?
JG: I love making games and I also love reading the reviews of them. Some reviews can be completely insane, yet most are very valid and smart and as we say in-house, every opinion is a valid one. Game reporters are guys/gals that love games so much that they're willing to play them all then write about them, which is real passion. So, if I find a review I’ll read it and try to take in what they are saying and I will take it to heart. I also spent hours watching YouTube game videos to see how people play the game, and the ones with commentary are great as well. I do however, tend to not read comments…
So, when we started Retribution we had a ton of feedback based on the first game and we started putting together a plan to address it all and made a list of features to cut, change, and redesign. At the top of our list was addressing the spawning system and bases in the levels. We killed the bases and designed a dynamic spawn system that will bring you to your team and spawn you away from enemies. It is nothing ground breaking, but it makes Blacklight so much better. We also cut out Ammo and Health stations, and added a new system called the Weapon Depot(s). These depots have added a new level of depth to the game. Not only are you able to replenish your ammo and health, but you’re now able to buy powerful weapons of all kinds. Now, as you progress through a match you gain Combat Points which you can use to access these crazy weapons in the depot. The weapons in the depot range from flamethrowers, air strikes, grenades launchers, mini-guns, and (my favorite) Hardsuits.
Ah, yes, Hardsuits. Well, we'll surely get to that when we conclude our interview with Jared Gerritzen in Part 2, and we even answer a few of our Twitter followers' questions. So, head back here soon as we talk more Blacklight: Retribution!
[Part 2]
So, when we started Retribution we had a ton of feedback based on the first game and we started putting together a plan to address it all and made a list of features to cut, change, and redesign. At the top of our list was addressing the spawning system and bases in the levels. We killed the bases and designed a dynamic spawn system that will bring you to your team and spawn you away from enemies. It is nothing ground breaking, but it makes Blacklight so much better. We also cut out Ammo and Health stations, and added a new system called the Weapon Depot(s). These depots have added a new level of depth to the game. Not only are you able to replenish your ammo and health, but you’re now able to buy powerful weapons of all kinds. Now, as you progress through a match you gain Combat Points which you can use to access these crazy weapons in the depot. The weapons in the depot range from flamethrowers, air strikes, grenades launchers, mini-guns, and (my favorite) Hardsuits.
Ah, yes, Hardsuits. Well, we'll surely get to that when we conclude our interview with Jared Gerritzen in Part 2, and we even answer a few of our Twitter followers' questions. So, head back here soon as we talk more Blacklight: Retribution!
[Part 2]
