February 2, 2009

Matt Hazard Q&A: Discussing the First True Video Game Parody
By Louis Bedigian

“I think Matt and Duke would be good buddies (heck, they may already know each other in the virtual world).”

Before interviewing Brian Etheridge (Producer at D3Publisher of America, Inc.) regarding Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, I knew just what I wanted to say: "Finally, somebody gets it!" So I asked him – at what moment did the developers "get it"? When was Matt Hazard first conceived?

"The idea initially came from [WGA Award Winner and Dead Head Fred co-writer] Dave Ellis," he said. "I think at first, a lot of us had sort of a puzzled look on our faces when we heard the concept. Some of us got hung up on the, 'Is he a real person or a game character?' issue.

"The idea really started to settle in when we got the first draft of the script Dave had been working on. Matt, as a character, had come alive. He had a dialogue style, some cheesy one-liners, and a bad-ass attitude. But I think the moment, for me at least, where Matt became who he is today was when they came up with his name. Both Dave and Eric at Vicious Cycle had a ton of names lined up for this character, but we kept turning them down for one reason or another until Matt Hazard came up and it immediately made perfect sense to go with."

Give us some history on Matt Hazard. When did the project begin? Has this been a concept floating around in Dave Ellis' mind for a long time?

Brian Etheridge: The project actually started to blossom about two years ago. Vicious Engine 2 was underway and Vicious Cycle was building some systems and prototyping some mechanics that started to feel really good. We started to work on a theme/story for the title and Matt Hazard is eventually what came out of this period. We had run through a bunch of loose concepts, but the idea of comedy and story always stayed at the top of the list of what we wanted to do.

You're poking fun at a lot of game traits, such as the number of times game characters can die. Which traits do you find the most interesting and most worthy of mocking?

BE: First I want to say that we don’t really feel that we are so much “mocking” as much as paying homage to some of these quirks and traits that are in so many different games. For example, the famous Japanese RPG ellipses… while it may be annoying to have to click past like 20 times in a row, I don’t think any of us would have it any other way.

There is such a wealth of game-isms to have fun with, that it was actually harder to pick which ones not to use. I think the best ones, or at least the ones that we had the most fun with were the ones that everyone gets; the things that we all notice while we’re playing games and file away in the backs of our minds. For example, the lame and overly obvious tool tips that appear on loading screens. At this point, is it really necessary to tell the player, “Press the attack button to attack”?

Exactly! I've been saying that for years. Now will the music and/or sound effects poke fun at gaming as well?

BE: In a way, yes, but a lot of our music is tied in to our enemy designs. For example, when the infamous Secret Soldiers of the Waffërthinn show up on the scene, you get all of the omnipotent snare drum marching music that you would expect to accompany a troop of cloned Nazi super-soldiers. We wouldn’t have settled for anything else.

On the other hand, when we were deciding on what Matt’s general theme music would be, we decided that it would have to be what Matt would want to hear in a game of his own design. Being a bit of an anachronism himself, Matt would want nothing short of ear-shredding dive bomb guitar solos that emulate his libido. And what Matt wants, Matt gets. We worked with Red Note Audio in North Carolina to create a number of different tracks that go along with what is happening to Matt in the game. They brought a more modern edge to it so that we wouldn’t over stimulate the audience, but I’m sure that fans of Helloween and Yngwie Malmsteen won’t be disappointed with Matt’s music.

Matt Hazard mocks gaming, but he himself is the star of a game. At the end of the day, you want people to enjoy the gameplay as much as they enjoy the story. So how do you balance that to ensure both aspects are equally entertaining?

BE: Much like the chicken obviously came before Eggs Benedict, the gameplay came first in our game design. We had been prototyping gameplay mechanics and some of our final features long before we had conceived Matt as a character. Because of this, we were able to go through several iterations on our systems before we settled on the final version. For example, our cover system went through a ton of changes before Eric came up with the idea for the Point and Cover system. We had been looking for a way to make the transition between cover objects simple, but we had mostly been resorting to different button combinations for the different moves. It never felt quite as good as we had hoped, so in the end, we essentially scrapped what we had started with and went for something totally different. It turned out really good.

What specifically can you tell us about the story that we don't already know?

BE: I could tell you that it’s awesome, but I think you already knew that.

Seriously this time, I think that something that people might not realize is that our writer/lead designer, Dave Ellis, put a ton of time and effort into creating a real history for Matt. That’s partially the reason why we were able to trick some people into thinking Matt had once existed. Dave created this whole slew of back catalog titles. He even went so far as to detail out the games that Matt’s sidekicks were in; old Marathon titles that existed before Matt’s time. I think that’s why the story is so believable and why the characters feel like they have a connection. In a sense, all of these people have a past with each other; Matt, Captain Carpenter, Bill the Wizard, Master Chef… they all go way back.

The Behind the Game presentation from the trailer was great – will any of that be present in the final game?

BE: We have a similar intro in the very beginning of the game, but that particular piece was created for our first looks. I would say, though, that there is that style of presentation throughout.

A game like Matt Hazard opens the door for some very amusing cheat code possibilities. Are there any you can share with us?

BE: Matt Hazard is too bad ass to cheat but you never know what Wally will throw at him.

Thus far, Matt Hazard appears to really mock American/European games but not the Japanese market. Will there be any anime or RPG jokes in there? Or will that have to wait for the next Matt Hazard?

BE: You have only to wait for the next preview build (which is out at this point).

Let me just give you a hint at what we will be showing… androgynous dudes with hair that will make your girlfriend want to get his hairdressers number, giant swords, an over abundance of poorly translated text, and an ellipsis.

Once players stop laughing at the story, what will they get out of the gameplay experience? Is this a pure 2D or 3D affair? A mix of the two, or…?

BE: The game is purely 3D. There are some 2D characters from Matt’s past that make an appearance, but for the most part, the guys that Matt used to duke it out with in the old days are getting a makeover for the next-gen consoles.

Classic games have clearly inspired the story. Have they inspired any aspects of the gameplay as well?

BE: Most definitely. We patterned some of our boss battles after more traditional gameplay design. For example, instead of having an enemy that you just have to pump full of lead, we have one boss in particular that will make you think about how you’ve been playing the whole time. Instead of running and covering, you have to stop and watch for his patterns, remember when to attack, and pick the right weapons to counter his particular attacks.

Will Matt Hazard be a retail or online release?

BE: Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard will be hitting shelves this March on Xbox 360 and PS3.

What would Matt Hazard say if he met Duke Nukem?

BE: You know, I think Matt and Duke would be good buddies (heck, they may already know each other in the virtual world). I think they would sit down at a bar, grab a cold one, and chit chat about their glory days.

It sounds like E3 09 will return to its glory, spectacle-filled days of the past. If that's the case, and booth babes are brought back, tell me: will you have pixelated models walking the show floor?

BE: All I know is that if there was a way to get the original Chun-Li from SFII to come model at our booth, I would give up like a year’s salary for that. I’m not too into the new and “improved” giant thigh version of Chun Li, though… she would only get a couple weeks of my salary. (Yes, I know she always had big thighs, but now they are ridiculous!)

Thank you for your time.

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