Marvel Heroes: intervista esclusiva all'autore di Diablo

Gamemag:Can you describe to us Marvel Heroes? What are the main features of the project? Can you tell us about the team that is developing the game?

David Brevik: Marvel Heroes is a free to play massively multiplayer online action role playing game, what that means is it's an Action RPG in the same vein as Diablo, but we really wanted to take that Diablo model and bring it to the next level, we want to make it an MMO experience and bring those features to it such as making it a social experience where it can be both cooperative as well as competitive and the kicker is that it's free.

The defining feature of the game is that you get to play as actual Marvel Heroes. We've taken the tried and true Action RPG gameplay and have refined it to make it even more addictive as well as bringing in massively multiplayer features. The game is also very story driven. One of the best things about working on this game is being able to utilize the incredible Marvel IP and its vast universe of characters and their stories. With that, we are proud to say that our game is being written by Marvel super scribe, Brian Michael Bendis, one of the most influential and prolific Marvel writers in history.

What I can tell you about the team that the team is awesome and I'm proud of all the work that's been done on this game so far.

Gamemag: Marvel Heroes was originally a game from Cryptic Studios. There is still something of the old game or was completely renovated?

David Brevik: The Marvel MMO that Cryptic was originally working on was sold to Atari and became Champions Online. Our game, Marvel Heroes is a game that we have built from the ground up within our studio and are incredibly proud of what we have accomplished so far. We really feel that all the elements are coming together and we have a real special product in our hands.

Gamemag: How you can keep Marvel Heroes profitable from economic point of view and how you can continue to cover the costs of the server considering the free-to-play business model?

David Brevik: The decision to make Marvel Heroes a free to play game was made very early on and thus Marvel Heroes is not your typical F2P game. It was built as an F2P game from the beginning and thus there is no pay to win, level cap, "gateway" or any other way that previous games have tried to change over. The other and more important aspect is that we are creating a AAA product that we feel can compete with any MMO or any other Action RPG and making it F2P will only strengthen the reach of our game, we feel that the quality of our game will speak for itself and will make sense from an economic point of view.

Gamemag: In Marvel Heroes players can play as their favorite Marvel superheroes. Can they levelling the most famous heroes changing their appearance and acquiring skills or not there is an aspect of role-playing game?

David Brevik: There is very much as aspect of role playing in Marvel Heroes. We aren't quite ready yet to talk about how specifically the skills and item system will work but rest assured, the game is an MMO Action RPG, and players will get their fair share of role playing features. Marvel Heroes will definitely scratch that role playing itch.

Yes, players will be playing as their favorite Marvel super heroes and level them up. There will be hundreds of different costumes in the game to really make your heroes unique. An example would be Spider-Man, he of course has his traditional red and blue garb, but he also has his black suit as well as his Future Foundation suit just to name a few. Partnered with the different powers and skills you can assign to that hero, players will be able to make their heroes unique and incredibly powerful.

How does work the random generation of game environments? Have you thought about an end-game?

David Brevik: Game environments will be randomly generated very similar to the way randomly generated levels worked in Diablo 1 & 2. We've created pieces of levels that will be randomly assembled each time you visit the area.

As for the end-game, of course we've thought about it and there are some exciting things coming but we're not ready to discuss those quite yet.

Gamemag: Marvel Heroes will have the same feeling of playing Diablo? We can call it a dungeon crawler?

David Brevik: Absolutely, I was the original creator of Diablo 1 & 2 and I see Marvel Heroes as sort of the spiritual successor to those games. So yes, you can very much call it a dungeon crawler but again we feel that we are taking the genre to a new level. This game would not be possible without what I've learned from making Diablo. We have taken that tried and true satisfaction found in traditional action RPG gameplay and refined it to where we feel the minute to minute experience is fully gratifying.

Gamemag: You can carry out investigations and interacting with non-player characters or is there only to fight?

David Brevik: Our NPCs will not have long dialog trees that you traverse to find answers. Much of our story will be presented through a series of motion comics, which is similar to watching a few minutes of animated movie that give you the context to play. Our game then focuses on the action of fulfilling that story motivation that you just witnessed.

Gamemag: In the past, other games based on comics have not been very successful. Why Marvel Heroes should be different?

David Brevik: Marvel Heroes has the freedom to draw from the entire history of the Marvel universe. With over 8,000 characters to choose from, many with their own immensely rich back stories, we have an opportunity to create something wholly unique. On top of that, our story is written by Brian Michael Bendis, one of Marvel's most accomplished writers.

I can't really comment on how successful other comic games have been, but one thing we are focused on is making a fantastic game first and foremost. We also really focus on the minute to minute gameplay to make sure that even though we are making a Marvel comics based game, we make a great game period.

Gamemag: Which graphics engine is based Marvel Heroes? Supports DirectX 11?

David Brevik: Marvel Heroes is built using Unreal 3 engine and we will be supporting DX11.

Gamemag: When will be released Marvel Heroes? There will be a beta test? Have you a PvP or is it just co-op?

David Brevik: We have not announced a release date yet, but we are working very hard to get it out as soon as possible. We of course don't want to release a game that we aren't satisfied with, but on the other hand we really want to get it out there for everyone to play. The good news is that it may be sooner than you think and we just recently announced that our closed beta starts on October 1st!

I love the idea of PvP but we aren't ready to talk about that yet.

Gamemag: Can we say that Marvel Heroes will be for fans of Diablo what Diablo III was not?

David Brevik: Marvel Heroes is a much different game than Diablo III in almost every way. The game plays differently because you are controlling superheroes, not fantasy characters. The item system is different because it doesn't make sense to pick up swords and shields with this IP. The fact that we are a true MMO is very different. I hope that people enjoy Marvel Heroes for what it is and no other reasons.

Gamemag: Readers of Gamemag have followed with particular attention to the controversy between you and Jay Wilson from Blizzard. Why do not you like Diablo III, and what disapprove of the work of Jay and his team?

David Brevik: As I have stated, Diablo III was just a different game than I would have designed. I think that Jay Wilson and his team made a good Diablo game. I love Blizzard and Blizzard games. Jay, like most of us, is a very passionate game maker. He said some stuff that he later apologized for and I accept his apology and have moved on.