Jason Kingsley Interview with GameSpot UK (December 7, 1998)
Aliens Vs Predator Interview Part II
16:33, 07 December 1998
In the second part of our exclusive interview with Jason Kingsley with talk about the multiplayer, the violence level and why this is going to be the scariest game of all time.
GameSpot UK: How much is there to do on the game?
Jason Kingsley: We finishing off multiplayer and tweaking the levels. At the moment the game is too hard.
GameSpot UK: Tell us about the multiplayer
Jason Kingsley: We don't yet know the final details, but it will be a lot better than Half-Life's multiplayer. Aliens Vs Predator works superbly well on a LAN and on cable modems, the key for us is making it work on the Internet.
GameSpot UK: Won't the marines be at a disadvantage in a multiplayer game?
Jason Kingsley: Yes. It's impossible to balance all three characters, each have different strengths and weaknesses. There's no way you can make them all the same. So what we've done is to change the environments and objectives around.
If you play a horde of Aliens trying to stop a Predator from escaping you've won the game if you have killed the Predator once, where as the Predator has to kill you all the time to escape.
It is not how many frags you get -- unless your playing Predator against Predator or Alien against Alien. In an open fight in a corridor a Marine can kill an Alien, but if the Alien creeps up behind the Marine then it's a different story. You have to get into the mindset of the character. If you play as a Marine when you are playing the Alien character it is just not going to work.
GameSpot UK: What about a level editor?
Jason Kingsley: We use off the shelf tools to create our levels so it will be difficult for someone else to create a level. I'm sure people will still try -- would be great to see if they can. This comes back to the engine. We haven't compromised anything to make it easy for someone to create levels.
GameSpot UK: Are you a Alien or Predator fan?
Jason Kingsley: I love them both, but I'm on the side of the marine. He's the underdog. The Aliens and Predators are there for a fight, the Marine doesn't want to be there.
GameSpot UK: Is this going to be the scariest game ever?
Jason Kingsley: I hope so -- it makes me sweat when I play it. I've seen people actually jump back when the face hugger attacks and others fall off their chairs.
GameSpot UK: What's the level of violence like?
Jason Kingsley: It's very gory. If you creep up to someone and you shoot them with a spear gun their head will come off.
GameSpot UK: Do you think you'll get into any problems with the BBFC?
Jason Kingsley: I would imagine there could be problems, but the violence is not against innocent victims, you playing either a Marine, Predator or an Alien and the other guys are trying to kill you. You are in a war situation.
GameSpot UK: March release?
Jason Kingsley: It's up to Fox, but I would imagine a March date.
[The final page of the interview is not archived]