Interviews

February 20, 2008

War From Another World – Exploring Turning Point: Fall of Liberty’s Alternate Battleground with Spark Unlimited’s Dean Martinetti
By Louis Bedigian

“Few games break out of that. I wanted to be working on one that did.”

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty – an uncommon FPS in a world of games that’s all too common. It centers on an alternate universe where the Nazis attack New York City, and from what I heard was being touted as a cinematic first-person shooter.

But I’m corrected. “Actually,” said Dean Martinetti, Senior Producer at Spark Unlimited, “It’s a 50s pulp comic stylized game (art-wise) that we made to be simple and fun for everyone. It is a game that casual non-FPS gamers can get their hands on, as well as the hard core gamer who just wants to try something a little bit more on the classic FPS gaming side.

“So we took the idea of setting it in the 50s and encompassed the WHOLE package as a 50s retro styled, themed game. Of course, they didn't have video games in the 50s so our style of gameplay comes from the classics like Duke Nukem, Castle Wolfenstein and DOOM.”


Turning Point features an alternate reality where Nazis invade New York. Give us the background on this – why New York, why the Nazis? What makes this a compelling scenario that translates to compelling gameplay?

Dean Martinetti: New York City is known all over the world as the "big apple," the "city that never sleeps," and for pretty much anyone in the world is the most recognizable city in America. I think New York is just really identifiable with the world and picking it was a smart move on our part. Why Nazis? Well because it's WWII and they were the lead antagonists in that war, so it's the obvious choice. We would have gone with mutated soldiers from Russia, but someone else beat us to it.

How destructive will the environments be, specifically New York? Will landmarks be destroyed or damaged?

DM: Landmarks get destroyed in the game while you play, but you can't blow up any landmarks. Again, this goes back to what I said before in a way; everyone is so spoiled on "next gen" tech that blows up everything and has a million effects on screen at once, that they do not realize they are playing the same games they played 10 years ago. There are maybe a dozen titles that actually reinvent the wheel, so to speak, in FPS games. The rest are just putting more paint on it and adding more FX for us to OOOH and AHHH over.


What gameplay mechanics have been created around the alternate reality theme?

DM: We have a "grapple" mode where you can rush a soldier and grapple with him for his weapon. We don't give you ammo crates or stock you up with insane amounts of ammo clips like a lot of other games do. Instead we make you hunt for your weapons and ammo. It's all about survival in this game, and because we have always said that we want you to feel isolated, we make it so you have to engage the enemy in hand to hand combat for weapons and ammo. This is where the grapple comes in, it's pretty sweet and it's something we are all very proud of. Grabbing an enemy and slamming his face into a TV set or throwing him off a bridge is very satisfying.

What other cities/environments will become battlegrounds in Turning Point?

DM: Washington DC and London are both in the game. We have the suburbs of Washington, with the monument and the Lincoln memorial and the White house - where you actually get to enter it, fight in it and then destroy it. (OK, so there is one destructible for you.) London has the Tower of London and the London Bridge.


You chose Michael Giacchino as the composer for Turning Point. Tell us about that. Obviously the decision to use him was easy – but what did it take to nail down one of the hardest working composers in both Hollywood and the game industry?

DM: It literally took a phone call. He is good friends with the owners of the company so it was really pretty simple.

One of the trends in video games is to create a main character who's more than just a man with a gun; he has a story, a reason for fighting, and so on. Dan Carson's story is pretty interesting – tell us about the formation of this character, why a non-soldier was appealing, etc.

DM: The majority of FPS games have three main characters: Space Marine, who is all scarred up and on so much juice he looks like Mr. Olympia; Ex military guy, who wants a normal life; and then the military guy who just can't seem to get out. It’s passé, it's old. Few games break out of that. I wanted to be working on one that did.

So I said we should make him a construction worker, he should be just an ordinary guy and for this title we follow him through the mayhem and watch him try to survive.


Since Dan is not a soldier and must scavenge for weaponry, how will you acquire your first weapon? Does the game begin with one already equipped?

DM: Players have to grapple a soldier who parachutes onto a sky bridge by mistake and take his gun. It's in the demo for XBLA. This is how Dan gets his first gun.

Thank you for your time.