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FEATURE
GAMES
GAMES
How important was it to implement
a story mode in
Battleborn
?
Critical. We love team-games,
but most of them focus solely on
multiplayer. So, you end up with a
game that has a roster of awesome
heroes, and the only thing you can do
with them is punch other players on
the internet. That excludes big groups
of other players who either don’t like
that kind of play, or don’t like it all the
time. “I want to do more with my cool
heroes!” So from the very beginning,
we were dedicated to having a way
to play
Battleborn
, through a narrative
experience which helps establish this
new cool setting we made, and gives
players a chance to test themselves in
different ways other than with PvP.
Is there the option to switch
between first and third person to
play, or is that only included for
specific abilities?
It’s only for a few specific abilities,
picked on a character-by-character
basis. Choosing first-person is a
fundamental choice we made very
early in
Battleborn
. We love the
comfort of controls and the feeling of
immersion this gives you – you really
put yourself in the head of one of our
badass heroes. When you make that
choice, then, you really have to stick
with it. Tracking opponents is done
very differently in first-person and
third-person, and a myriad of game
systems are built around that core
choice. Every once in a while, though,
there’s a reason to pull the camera
back for a specific ability. Rath’s
“Dreadwind” (spinning attack) is a
great example of where the ability is
much more useful when you can see
things right around you.
Do you need to be connected to the
net to play single player? Even local
single player?
Yes. Second only to the character
play,
Battleborn
is a game about growth
and accomplishment, whether you’re
advancing characters, collecting gear,
or completing achievements and
challenges to earn titles. To maintain the
integrity of that accomplishment, it’s
important that we store and track that
data online. This is especially important
because the gear and credits you earn
in a story episode is carried over to
online play. If we didn’t authenticate that
through an online account, we open up
the ability for players to edit their local
profile, giving themselves any item or
advantage they wanted, regardless of
what the game required for you to earn
that. My favourite example of this is the
Battleborn
title “Pentastrike!”. You have
to kill five enemy players within eight
seconds to earn that title. It’s
very
hard
to do. If we made it easier for players
to circumvent the challenge of earning
that title, it loses its impact. That means
it is a toothless reward. Ultimately,
that begins to erode the integrity of
the entire growth/reward loop of
the game, which I believe is one of
the most compelling things about
Battleborn
.
Who is your demographic?
This is an interesting and yet
uncomfortable question for me to
answer! We asked this question a
lot in early
Battleborn
development, as
we started blending genres together.
At the end of the day, I always want to
make a game that as many players as
possible can enjoy. I also like making
‘new’ things, and not just rehashing ten-
year-old ideas. Making something new
always stretches the “demographic”
question. Ultimately, I think
Battleborn
is for core gamers, maybe a bit mass
market. It’s for people who like action
games. It’s for people who like strong,
fun characters.
Battleborn
is for shooter
fans, but also for people who like to
smash things with axes and swords. At
its heart,
Battleborn
is a character action
game, with strong offerings playing
through challenging story episodes or
against other players in our competitive
modes. It’s a big game, with a lot of
appeal to multiple player types. I hate to
throw out the “something for everyone”
phrase, but we did work very hard to
offer substantial content for a wide
group of players.
The Eldrid
These "space
hippies" are
lovers of the
land, and will do
anything to see
the protection of
Solos.
The Rogues
Think of them as
the angsty teens
of the galaxy.
United
Peacekeeping
Republics
Space Russians.
The Jennerit
Imperium
The assassins
of the galaxy,
deadly as they
are sleek.
The Last Light
Consortium
Mostly
cybernetic,
slightly
intelligent,
wholly insane.
•
Battleborn
is out
May 3
the
factions of
battleborn