GZ Interview
September 18, 2002
 

The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian takes adventurers to new realms
By Michael Lafferty

His tribe wiped out and an overwhelming number of enemies all around, there is only one thought on the mind of this young warrior, and it is not about self-preservation ­ it is about revenge!

The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian, a PlayStation2 and GameCube release, is an evolving game that challenges players to hone battle skills as they march young Mathayus through 12 combat-laden levels en route to a showdown with the evil mage who wiped out his village and people.

But as William Oertel, the producer at Universal Interactive who worked on The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian, explained, this is not so much a sequel to the successful film starring The Rock, but a prequel to that movie.

Question: The game presents a new adventure for Mathayus, spanning 12 environments. Please explain a little about the story that threads this tale together.

William: "The story is a prequel to the movie. In the game, Mathayus is completing his rite of manhood. He's assigned by his king to kill an evil lord. On the way to this task, Mathayus is captured by Magus, a wizard intent on conquering the known world. He asks for Mathayus' help, and when he declines, Magus imprisons him. When Mathayus breaks out, he finds that his Akkadian tribe has been wiped out by Magus. In order to exact revenge, Mathayus has to travel to distant lands to acquire the Sword of Osiris, which is used to eventually vanquish Magus. "

Q: Does this game take a linear path through the tale?

William: "The story is straightforward in this respect. Players want to control Mathayus as a fighter, and in that way the story unfolds."

Q: The game has numerous power-ups for weapons. Is this game an arcade-style adventure, or more of an action-RPG outing for game players?

William: "It's definitely more in the vein of an arcade-style adventure, but we do have some light RPG elements in the game. As players progress, they do indeed collect various weapons that build upon the previous weapon. Mathayus himself can be upgraded with increased strength and endurance, which in turns makes it easier to fight through the enemies in later levels. Also, these attributes are cumulative as the game is repeated."

Q: How did you create the fighting sequences? Did The Rock do any motion-capture work or was this entirely computer animated? Can you explain a little about the combat system this game uses?

William: "The combat system in the game was designed with accessibility in mind. We didn't want players to spend a lot of time learning a combat system. Therefore, the game is very easy to pick up and start playing (and fighting).

"Initially, one weapon class is available. As the player goes through the game, additional weapon classes are opened up, allowing the player a greater variety in fight strategy. Some enemies are easier to fight with the quick and short swings of the one-handed sword. Against others the more powerful yet slower two-handed sword is more effective.

"When approaching multiple enemies, forethought as to attacking them also comes into play. Does the player jump in and start fighting all of them, or does he charge one, throw him over, knock another down with a foot-sweep, and then drop-kick another? That's the beauty of the combat system — a lot of combat variety in a system that's simple to learn.

"Regarding the animations, all of them are motion-captured. Unfortunately, The Rock's schedule didn't permit him to be available for this part. We were able to utilitze a trained martial artist in his place, though, and this worked out quite well.

"Fortunately, The Rock's schedule did permit him to provide the voice of Mathayus in the game. We know The Rock's fans will appreciate hearing their idol's actual voice."

Q: What kind of game engine does this program employ, and what did it allow you to do to bring this game to life?

William: "Point of View, the developer, already had a proprietary game engine that allowed them to do cross-platform development. The engine also supports real-time lighting and shadows, and allowed us to use skinned and weighted models for the characters."

Q: What was the most difficult element to realize within the game?

William: "What kind of experience do we want to relay to the player?  We knew what the story of the movie would be, and we saw parts of it at certain times, but this is a far cry from seeing the completed movie in a theater. There were many unanswered questions that we had to answer, and it was through the process of answering those that we had to craft the game in a way that hopefully wouldn't be contradictory to the movie (i.e. suspension of disbelief). We wanted players to really feel that this is what Mathayus would have done before the events in the film. In that respect, we succeeded in achieving a look and feel that works with, and is enhanced, by the movie."

Q: Considering the game takes place in fictional/mythical or merely fantastic realms, how did you come up with the different environments the game uses?

William: "From the beginning, we wanted to explore the various mythological references from that time. We wanted the feeling to be that Mathayus is not only taking a spiritual journey but a physical one as well. This helped because it also allowed us to have different environments from the typical desert scenery.

"This is primarily evident in the second half of the game, when Mathayus travels to Minoan Crete. This level is also pretty much the beginning of his journey to avenging the death of his tribe and King. Since the Sword of Osiris is a mythical weapon, we brought in Egyptian gods that intervene on Mathayus' path. This provided us with further ideas for creating particular levels. We also did a lot of research in various books from the period. If you look closely in the Minoan Crete level, you will see that the wall frescoes are actually from the island of Crete."

Q: What is the most opposing force Mathayus will have to overcome during his quest? What is your favorite enemy?

William: "No doubt the end-boss. Mathayus has to fight Magus, but there's a twist at the end that really makes it quite outstanding. Players will be satisfied by the challenging aspect of this enemy. Besides that battle, my favorite would have to be the Sphinx. This boss fight requires several different skills that the player would have honed through playing the game. Also, there is so much going on, from dodging fireballs to fighting the Bast Warriors, to avoiding the attacks from The Sphinx. I really like that fight. "

Q: This game is, more or less, a spin-off from the film. Do you think that the future will see more games either spinning off from movies, or the two mediums working in conjunction to bring a more-thorough experience to consumers?

William: "If you look at it simplistically, it's a spin-off. We treated it much more seriously than that, though. We wanted to provide an additional way for people to become more involved in the world of The Scorpion King. By taking the opportunity to tell this side of the character, we aimed to achieve an effect that is complementary to the experience that viewers of the film felt. I believe that future titles will see greater collaborative efforts between the two mediums, with each concentrating on its unique mode of story-telling to expand the world of entertainment in which people want to immerse themselves."

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