September 30, 2008

Mythologically Speaking: Q&A with Rise of the Argonauts' Andrew Rubino
By Louis Bedigian

“All this enabled us to build an immersive world that the player could lose himself in, even in fantastical places that only existed in these stories.”

When creating Rise of the Argonauts, one thing stood out in the minds of development team members like game designer Andrew Rubino: immersion. "Probably our biggest goal with Rise of the Argonauts was that the player can fully immerse himself in the world and not just feel like he’s playing a video game," said Rubino. "But when we looked at a lot of RPG conventions, we found many elements that interrupted the player’s experience. We want players running through Greece, making important decisions and battling fierce enemies, not spending 10 minutes navigating through menus screens. So we streamlined the RPG elements, keeping the depth while removing the complexity.

"For example, we don’t have any arbitrary stats: items and upgrades all give Jason a unique, tangible ability, not something vague like “Int +1.” Instead, Jason gets weapons like the Fist of Ares, which causes shields to explode, ripping apart nearby enemies with shrapnel. Anybody can read that description and immediately understand how that weapon works and why it’s useful. In this way, player customization makes a huge difference on how the game plays, but it’s a much faster experience."

Stats aren't the only thing that have been streamlined. Regarding the dialogue trees, Rubino says, "We’ve made all of Jason’s choices significant because every dialogue choice in the game is aligned with one of Jason’s patron gods: Ares, Athena, Apollo, and Hermes. A choice aligned with a god will reflect what that god is all about. Ares choices are very direct and aggressive; Apollo choices are more compassionate, and so on. This gives players more flexibility to personalize Jason. Is your Jason a clever trickster in the spirit of Odysseus? Then you’ll probably lean towards Hermes choices. The decision is yours.

"As you know, the gods are always watching in mythological Greece, so when you make a choice aligned with a particular god, that god is pleased with Jason and his favor increases. Gaining favor with a god grants Jason new abilities, which means that every time a player makes a choice, he is leveling his character."

As a new take on Greek mythology, how do you prepare for a game like Rise of the Argonauts? Was it just a matter of basic research?

Andrew Rubino: We were all huge fans of Greek mythology from before we even started this project, so we wanted to create an experience that would do those stories justice. The mythology is so incredibly rich, and one of our goals was to really bring the world of those myths to life. Oftentimes when a movie or game shows mythological Greece, the world is very bare, with stark white marble columns and statues, but that’s not how it would have looked back then. The columns would have intricately painted patterns, and the statues would also be painted, as well as wearing beautiful clothes, to give just a few examples.

To get that vibrant, lived in world in the game, we spent a lot time studying the history of ancient Greece as well as the myths that form the basis for our game. We also spent time at various museums, studying Greek artwork, crafts, and architecture. All this enabled us to build an immersive world that the player could lose himself in, even in fantastical places that only existed in these stories.

Let's discuss the game's version of Jason, as well as the other characters. How will Rise of the Argonauts change and/or expand upon the story?

AR: We’ve written our own creative reinterpretation of the Jason and the Argonauts myth. For example, Jason doesn’t really do much in the original myth; instead he lets the Argonauts do all the work for him. That might make for an interesting strategy game, but it doesn’t quite work for an Action/RPG. We also wanted the player to craft his own Jason via their decisions in the world, and we wrote the story with this in mind.

Rise of the Argonauts is, at its heart, a love story. At the opening of the game, Jason is king of Iolcus, who is getting married to his beloved, the princess Alceme. In the middle of their vows, Alceme is shot dead by an assassin’s arrow, and even after Jason exacts his vengeance on the mysterious archer, he cannot let her go. Jason is determined to find a way to bring Alceme back to life, and eventually learns that Golden Fleece is the only way. With his Argonauts alongside him, Jason searches every corner of Greece, but a dark cult seeks to make sure Alceme stays dead.

Ultimately, gameplay will make or break this game. So what can we expect from the combat?

AR: Our goal was to deliver an action experience better than anything you’ve seen in an RPG before, so you can expect combat that is fast-paced and lethal. Enemies don’t have a million hit points; a single strike will visibly cripple an enemy or maybe even kill him. Your foes won’t just run up and let you beat on them, though. Jason can try to quickly dodge around enemies so his attacks slip past their shields, or he can just break through their shields with a series of powerful blows. As a weapons master, Jason has a variety of moves with his sword, mace, and spear, which the player can switch to at any time, even in the middle of combos.

And let’s not forget about the Argonauts who’ll fight by Jason’s side. Achilles’ double-bladed spear can decapitate multiple foes at once. The swift Atalanta can turn a satyr into a pin-cushion in a matter of seconds before raining flaming arrows down on the rest of his tribe. Pan, ancient and wise, can blind your enemies with Apollo’s holy light, or heal your wounds on the battlefield. Finally, there is Hercules, Jason’s old friend, who can use his incredible strength to rip a man in half like a phonebook.

Can you tell us about the stages/environment designs we'll get to explore?

AR: Jason travels all over ancient Greece in his search for the Golden Fleece, visiting all sorts of unique places. He begins in his own kingdom, Iolcus, where he’ll prepare his epic journey after hunting the Blacktongue cultists who murdered his beloved.

On the remote isle of Saria, Jason encounters a tribe of peaceful Centaurs who are tormented by a great beast and an even greater evil within their own ranks.

In the city of Mycenae, Jason must fight in the arena to prove his honor to the angry citizens and his father-in-law, King Lycomedes, who blame him for the death of princess Alceme.

Jason can also travel to the cursed island of Kythra, home to no one but bizarre stone statues and Athena’s former high priestess, Medusa.

And that’s just a taste of what players can expect to see in Rise of the Argonauts.

What are some of the weapons Jason will be able to utilize?

AR: Jason can find new swords, maces, spears, and armor on his quest to find the Golden Fleece, but these new items aren’t just minor upgrades that Jason buys from the blacksmith in the next town over. There’s no vendor trash here. Each item has its own unique abilities, and each item has its own story that reflects a significant moment.

No item is necessarily better than another. Each weapon has its own special properties that make it strong in certain situations or with certain play-styles. A nimble player might choose to wield the Veteran’s Blade, a sword which can lacerate enemies and slow them down, while a more aggressive player might prefer the Spear of Virtue, which creates electrical markers below every enemy Jason kills. If Jason can get an enemy to step on these markers, a bolt of lighting will smite them from the heavens.

Does he have any powers or special abilities?

AR: Jason starts his journey as a warrior without peer, but he can continue to grow even stronger by earning favor with his patron gods. Each god will grant Jason Aspects, powerful abilities that reflect that god’s ideology. For example, Ares is all about wading into combat with no concern for defense, so he gives Jason Aspects like Conquest, which gives Jason health whenever he kills a foe, and Rampage, which temporaily gives Jason the strength to toss enemies across the battlefield with every blow. Hermes, on the other hand, is more about trickery and agility, so he bestows Jason with Merciless Strikes, which lets Jason deal massive damage if he can get behind his enemies, which works great with Quicksilver, an Aspect that increases the speed of Jason’s dodges. There are 25 Aspects per god, so players have 100 Aspects to choose from!

The gods will also sometimes directly intervene on Jason’s behalf though God Powers, such as Gates of Tartarus, in which Hermes opens up a gateway to the Underworld that acts as a mini-black hole which will rip enemies’ souls out of their bodies if Jason can knock them into it. Jason can call upon Athena to grant him Storm Spear, which let’s Jason hurl bolts of lightning at his foes, blasting through their shields and tearing through their bodies. These are just two examples of the sixteen God Powers players can get in the game, but they are all very powerful and very cool.

Rise of the Argonauts will have some memorable boss battles, I hear…

AR: Absolutely. We have a variety of epic encounters throughout the game, where Jason will battle legendary foes. I mentioned earlier that Medusa is on the island of Kythra, but she’s not the tiny, snake-haired woman you might be expecting. Medusa offended Athena with her arrogance, so the goddess cursed her into becoming an enormous, bloated beast. When Jason finds Medusa, she is suspended from the ceiling by enormous eels that wrap around every inch of the temple. In Medusa’s hands is a statue of herself, the symbol of her pride. As the battle rages, players are given an interesting choice: they can attack Medusa directly, killing her for her crimes, or they can attack her statue, causing her to realize the scope of her failure and starting her down the path of redemption.

If you kill Medusa, her brother Perseus will grieve for her, but will join the Argonauts to aide you on your quest. If you save Medusa, however, Athena will command her to join your crew as the beginning of her penance.

Tyler Bates was chosen as the game's composer. What made the developer or publisher select a film composer over a game composer?

AR: It was never a question of game composer versus film composer. We wanted the music in Rise of the Argonauts, like the game itself, to be unique and powerful. Everything Tyler has worked on in film lives up to that. Not only that, but Tyler was really excited by what were trying to do, and was very interested in understanding how the game worked so he could compose to fit the experience.

Personally, I think our score sounds unlike any other game out there, and it really works well with the world we have created.

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