Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars Makes the Call for Third-Person Action and RPG Elements
by Louis Bedigian 

“Theoretically the player doesn't need to fight against monsters, but it's hard to finish the levels without killing. Kill or be killed – that's the general rule.” 

Waves of monsters, repeated dangers, unrelenting offenses – it’s just another day in the life of the fighters in Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars. 

An upcoming action game for PC and, quite unexpectedly, Nintendo Wii, Call for Heroes features two different playable characters. Simply referred to as the Warrior and the Amazon, the two characters come equipped with a unique set of weapons and special abilities. 

Attila Siladji, a Programmer on Call for Heroes, took some time to tell us about the direction the development team has taken with each character. “The Warrior will rely more on his mighty attacking and defending abilities,” Attila started. “The Amazon has very powerful regeneration and blind/invisibility abilities. With the Warrior it’s easier to rush into battle because of its higher armor and resistance to damages. In contrast to the male character, for the Amazon is better to keep enemies [at a] distance.” 

Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars is described as a "third-person action game with RPG elements." Several games have made that claim, so please explain what that means to this particular project. 

Attila Siladji: The game features a heavy emphasis on combat which requires quick action and reflexes from the player. Also, there is a basic character development system. By killing monsters the player gains experience. Three basic characteristics can be upgraded: strength, armor and health. In addition to this, with each upgrade the player can choose a new special ability. Weapons are also gaining levels. During the game the AI will keep statistics for each weapon (hits, kills). The more skilled the character becomes with a weapon, the chances to make critical or fatal hits increases. With a critical hit the weapon makes double or quad damage, and with a fatal hit – as you guess – kills instantly the enemy. 

Give us a sense for how the game will play. Do the controls follow the usual format for a third-person PC game? 

AS: Controlling the main character is similar to other third-person action games. The controls are totally configurable and the combination of keyboard and mouse is used. Movement and action keys or shortcut keys for the items and special abilities can be set. The main goal is to find and capture the Dark Souls. Every level is time limited, and within the given time the task must be done, otherwise the mission fails. When all Dark Souls are captured a teleport which leads to the next level opens. Usually there are more spawn points from which the player can start the level. 

Is this an open-ended game? Do you get to decide where to go and who you'll fight, and in what order? 

AS: The game has one end, but in each level the player can choose where to go first and in which order to capture the Dark Souls. Also, usually there are [multiple] spawn points where the player can start the level. Theoretically the player doesn’t need to fight against monsters, but it’s hard to finish the levels without killing. Kill or be killed – that’s the general rule. 

What kinds of attacks, weapons, or spells will the characters use? 

AS: Each character has its own set of weapons and special abilities (spells). The weapons are a mix of medieval and fantasy style; they include bows, crossbows, axes, swords, etc. Each weapon (except the first one) has a primary and an alternate attack. For example, the Warrior can stun nearby monsters for a few seconds with the War Hammer, or the Amazon can paralyze creatures with some of its weapons. 

Generally the Warrior emphasizes melee combat over long-range projectiles; on the other side the Amazon primary focuses on ranged combat with bows and crossbows. There are 15 types of special abilities per character, divided into three basic categories. These are Might, Defense and Cold based for the male; and Regeneration, Fire and Invisibility based abilities for the woman character. So the player can cast fire balls, spawn meteors from the sky, use regeneration spells, enchant weapons so they become very powerful, freeze enemies with cold based abilities, cast very destructive spells like the Electric Shock, and poison monsters. With the main character’s progression during the game, these special abilities will be accessible. The player decides which one will get with each level-up / upgrade. 

Talk about the different projectile attacks. 

AS: Ranged attacks are more common for the woman character. She has a set of bows, crossbows and a spear. The Warrior can throw axes and has a very destructive mid-range weapon: Skull of Annihilation, which is very useful when, a group of enemies are coming toward the main character, but the player must be careful with this weapon because it hurts everyone nearby. 

Call for Heroes will feature 18 types of monsters. What can you tell us about the way they will fight and defend against attacks? 

AS: The main focus is on grouped attacks. The enemies waste no time showing themselves, and are very impatient to taste your sword... somehow their smart brains have vanished, and what’s left is a horde of brainless monsters begging for blood and some action. Defending is not important for them (maybe they just don’t realize that it could be useful), because when hordes of monsters are attacking, the player is the one who should care more about defending. 

Are different strategies needed to defeat each type of monster? 

AS: Because most often they attack in groups, this leaves not much of monster-specific strategies for the player. He/she will need to concentrate more on how to survive the attack wave. 

However, even if they are in groups, some types of monsters should have special attention from the player. One of them is certainly the Undead Priest, who has the ability to spawn any type of monster. It is not a big deal if a few Skeletons are spawned, but [if] a few Punishers more among the attackers, [they] can quickly finish the player. 

Hunters are fast and crazy women [who hunt] the player until they finish him/her with their sharp blades. They have the ability to resurrect. It’s wise to keep them [at a] distance if possible, and use ranged weapons to attack them. Zombie Hunters are very dangerous with their projectiles, but are weak in melee combat. 

These are just a few examples, but generally each monster has a weakness and the player should take advantage of it. 

How will the monsters differ in shape, size, etc.? 

AS: Most of the monsters are human-like creatures. Also, we have three flying monsters. Some of them are casting spells while others are using medieval-type weapons. 

There's a final boss at the end of the game – what will it be like? Also, are there any other boss battles planned? 

AS: There are three bosses at the end of the game: the Guardians. The player will fight [against] them in an arena before the player faces the chief demon. The Guardians will combine melee and ranged attacks with a few special ones, like spawning meteors from the sky or a thorny projectile which chases the player until it explodes or is killed. 

As an action game, I would imagine that enemy encounters are very frequent. Are these encounters random, based on particular areas of the game, or do enemies re-spawn wherever you are? 

AS: Yes, enemies in Call for Heroes are very frequent. Majority of them will spawn somewhere after some trigger event; the event can be anything from item pickup, Dark Soul capture, or just passing through an invisible trigger. Players will never know when and where the enemies will spawn. Of course there are monsters which are already placed in the levels, so if you spot them early you can surprise the victim by sneaking up from behind. 

What are the fantasy worlds / stages we'll get to visit in Call for Heroes? 

AS: The game is divided into 15 parts, and most of them are outdoor environments. The environments include grass-strewn plains, ravaged villages and fortresses, deserts, mysterious palaces, dark dungeons with burning lava, and fields covered with snow and ice. 

Can you tell us anything about the forthcoming Wii version -- such as how its controls / gameplay may differ with the Wii remote? 

AS: It is too early to say anything about the Wii version, but [I am] sure that we will fully utilize the Wii remote features. 

Thank you for your time.