courtesy of ign
Wii fans, go ahead add another game to the growing roster of titles coming down the pipeline. Publisher Codemasters has given us the exclusive scoop on its first project for Nintendo's new generation console. It's called Heatseeker and it's one part Ace Combat, one part After Burner, and all-out speed and destruction. The game is co-developed by IR Gurus, the maker of the well-received historic dogfighter Heroes of the Pacific, and is set for release on Wii, PlayStation 2 and PSP next March. We had the chance to chat with the Ben Board, the title's producer. We've provided that interview plus first-ever gameplay screenshots below.
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IGN Wii: Thanks for answering our questions, Ben. How long has Heatseeker been in development and how big is the development team?
Ben Board: Our first jet model rolled out of the hangar in January 2006. The engine for IR Gurus' WWII flight game, Heroes of the Pacific, gave us a great launch pad, so Heatseeker hit the afterburner straight from the start! Since then the core team has grown to thirty people - not including a supporting art team of twenty, fifteen voice actors, a dozen focus testers, a nine-man live action shoot, and a military authenticity consultant. The credits run for eight pages!
IGN WII: Nice. So what's Heatseeker's storyline all about?
Ben: It opens with terrorist attacks reported on a rolling-news TV station. As a peace-keeper in the International Council, you are surprised by a suspiciously well-equipped attack. From there the action never lets up. The globe-spanning trail features an unhinged smuggling boss, a rogue Federation Admiral with a fleet of warships and nothing to lose, and ultimately to a dictator with a nuclear arsenal that you know he'll use.
IGN Wii: How many fighter jets will be available in the finished game?
Ben: You can pull G in over 30 flyable fighters and their amazing variants, and you'll see another ten flying alongside (and exploding into fiery frags) during the game. They include fully licensed planes from the mighty F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon to the stealthy fifth generation F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II, and detailed recreations of "bad guys" all the way from the classic MiG-29 and Su-27 to the ultra-modern Su-47 and MiG-1.44. And the final bonus unlock? My favorite plane of all time, the coolest machine to ever take to the skies, packing an armament that you wouldn't believe if I told you (and I'm not going to).
IGN Wii: Do the jets fly differently? How have you worked to give each jet an individual style?
Ben: Absolutely. Each plane has thirty-five individual control parameters - the weight of the plane, the amount of engine thrust, the effectiveness of the afterburners and throttle, the pitch, roll and yaw rates, the amount of lift generated by the wing surfaces - and every one has been tuned to make each plane special. But you don't have to worry about the stuff under the hood. Just choose the one that fits you best, pick the weapon load-out that suits the mission profile, kick the tires and light the fires!
IGN Wii: How are you bringing these planes to life from a visual standpoint?
Ben: In addition to the planes being modeled and textured to the manufacturer's own specification, every one has fully animating parts including ailerons, air brakes, engine nozzles, and landing gear; watching the Raptor's missile bay doors open to release a barrage of long-range missiles before snapping stealthily shut again is a sight to quicken the pulse of any jet nut. Jet flames and contrails, blazing cannons, and exciting high speed effects add to the immersion, and should you get clipped by a missile, hell, you'll know about it. And everything is rendered with spherical harmonic lighting. Watching highlights play across those metal curves as the jets roll and climb is much more exciting than I should admit to. But when the bogeys appear on the HUD, the afterburners light up and the weapons drop from the rails the game really comes to life. You've never seen explosions like these. Each plane has been built twice, with a special 'fragged' version busted into scarred lumps of bent metal and twisted machinery. As your missile hits you'll watch them scatter to the winds in epic clouds of flame and smoke and shards, each explosion hand-scripted to make the most spectacular theatre of airborne destruction you've ever seen.
IGN Wii: That sounds pretty awesome. What environments will players be flying over in the game?
Ben: The storyline takes the player through ten unique environments, from the Atlantic, a sandy naval base under surprise attack by a mysterious rebel force, to a lush Caribbean paradise of a beauty at odds with the fiendish goings-on inside its mountains, on down to the harsh blue Antarctic where huge fleets face off amongst frozen canyons and burning oil rigs, and finally east, where you'll fly under broiling red skies to a fortified citadel on a bleak peninsula. If you can't knock that out before the clock runs down, the world's prospects are looking seriously crispy.
IGN Wii: Are the environments interactive?
Ben: Break bridges. Annihilate airports. Demolish docks. Flatten fortresses. Fly in under the radar, low and fast, tracer fire inches from your cockpit, and get a missile into that submarine tunnel. And with every hit, watch the buildings crumble and the smoke rise.
IGN Wii: Would you describe the game as a flight simulator or an arcade-style jet fighter?
Ben: This game is about fast combat, shattering explosions, instant maneuvers and sexy planes. In Heatseeker you'll be at twenty kills before the opposition has got clearance to taxi. We have concentrated on accessibility, clarity and simplicity in the flight model and interface, to make sure the player has one thing in mind: lock on to them before they lock onto you. We do offer the choice of first- and third-person perspectives, and arcade or more realistic control paradigms to let the player choose how he wants to fly -- but with missile combat brought up close and personal, the kill count reaching three figures, the game marries arcade realism. We don't limit ammo counts, just recharge rates (except in one very special case). Watch your tally climb with each kill. Rack up kills to trigger the lock-defying stealth mode. Avoid incoming missiles with a reflex-testing twitch mechanics -- hit the button in time and you will execute a stomach-scrambling maneuver that will see the danger scream past, but if you're too slow? My advice: don't be.
IGN Wii: Tell us about the Impact Cam and how it works.
Ben: The First Commandment of Heatseeker: 'thou shalt not just destroy tiny enemies miles away'. We call them 'blip kills', and we don't like them. When you've hit something, you want to watch. Heatseeker's Impact Cam makes air combat into an action movie. Dozens of short hand-crafted destruction sequences are triggered on key kills to show the fruits of your explosive labors up close, using every special effect we've ever heard of: bullet time, blurs, burns, shakes, shudders, sounds, and oh, so many particles.
IGN Wii: Nice. What kinds of weapons will be at your disposal?
Ben: Well, we finally called a halt at forty missiles and bombs. Start with the workaday SRAM, a short range, low damage, general purpose missile, and the B1K, a lump of dynamite in an iron shell, and work up through the ranks: the MRAM and LRAM for air superiority; the RPOD rocket system, a sort of aerial shotgun; and more ground missiles, cluster bombs, parachute bombs, fuel-air bunker busters, and electromagnetic pulse weapons than you'll know what to do with. If you're very good indeed, we might give you the A-SLAMR. But just one. Use it very, very carefully.
IGN Wii: Is there a multiplayer mode of any kind?
Ben: This time around the PS2 game focuses on the single-player experience, we decided to use that time to make the missions cooler, the environments more lush, and the fireworks so damn hot. The PSP build features network play and a range of game modes, from dogfights, to team dogfights, ground assault as well as an eye watering race mode.
IGN Wii: Nintendo's Wii console opens up some exciting possibilities for jet fighter games. How are you using Nintendo's innovative controller in Heatseeker?
Ben: An arcade jet fighter game is a natural fit with the controller. Heatseeker is all about throwing your jet around the sky, trying to get on his six before he gets on yours, and the physical nature of the Wii controller connects the player's movements directly to the plane's. We're playing with a hangar full of different configurations to test out the amazing selection of control methods the Wii offers. Do we use the Wii-mote to point at targets while the nunchuk's thumbstick controls the plane, or is held like a joystick to let its accelerometers do the work, or do we use the Wii-mote to mimic holding the plane in your hand, while movements on the Nunchuk jink away from missiles? They all work, they're all great, and we're playing the game to find what's best!
IGN Wii: When will the game be available for the various systems?
Ben: March 2007 on all platforms.
IGN Wii: Any final words for Wii owners and jet fighter fans anticipating Heatseeker?
Ben: See the flight, feel the fight! Heatseeker is larger-than-life, in-your-face, pyromaniac rollercoaster that brings explosive arcade close-quarters missile combat to your console. The best explosions, the sexiest planes, the most spectacular weapons, all with the unique tactile control of the Wii.
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