Interview Arkane on Arx Fatalis and the Future

[Jason]

Tags: Arkane Studios; Arx Fatalis

In an <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4212/from_new_to_arkane_ten_years_of_.php?page=1" target="blank">interview with Gamasutra</a>, Arkane's Raphael Colantonio reflected on the development of <b>Arx Fatalis</b>.
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<blockquote>"I think it was the most true game that we've worked on and done," says Colantonio. "It was exactly what I wanted to do. There were too many bugs, I know that. But still I am very proud of it." At a time when games were made by teams of 30 people or more, Arkane created Arx Fatalis with only nine people. "We sweated blood on that one."</blockquote>
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Very inspiring. Too bad they spent the next seven years not making anything worth playing. But all is not lost as they have another blood-sweating opportunity on the way.
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<blockquote>"Wait for next announcements," says Colantonio. "It's gonna be exactly what we want to do. Not a compromised, marketed game. We've been lucky to find a publisher that supports us and understands this kind of game and is supportive of them. The people who like the kind of games that we like are going to be really excited.
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"There are companies that do first person shooters," he continues. "There are companies that do sports games. We do first person immersive games with depth. That's what we do. </blockquote>
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.gamasutra.com/">Gamasutra</A>

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Fuck off, dark messiah kicked ass.

Maybe it's just my fetish for stabbing things in the face though.

 

[Jora]

Arx is one of my favorite games. Great atmosphere and interactivity. I still remember getting out of the goblin prison, running away from the giant tunnel worm, using telekinesis to brew a potion in the inn without angering the bartender, levitating my way to the ice dragon before the plot required it, making potions in the laboratory, the echoing voices of the liches in the final hall of the crypt...

 

[Burning Bridges]

"Wait for next announcements," says Colantonio. "It's gonna be exactly what we want to do. Not a compromised, marketed game. We've been lucky to find a publisher that supports us and understands this kind of game and is supportive of them. The people who like the kind of games that we like are going to be really excited.

Wait for an announcement is what people have been doing for six years.

But, hey, I am still hyped about Arx 2. Or any other game that follows Ultima Underworld. As I was hyped in 2002 when I heard about Arx. If I am honest, I think chances are slim that something like Underworld will ever come again, and it will hurt when Arcane finally go under, like others before them (I have seen many similar stories begin like that, and usually they don't end well). But wouldn't it be an improvement if now they had at least begun work on Arx 2 (as it had appeared when they had licensed the Source engine, several years ago ..), and not this constant teasing that work will begin as soon as they've finished another stupid action game that their publisher wants first (and which their fans don't give a shit about).

On second thought, It actually worries me a bit when he said how they worked on Biococks 2 and now they got the opportunity to start on a second project, something different. Which other, exploitable IPs does 2K hold? I'll hold down my expectations.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Which other, exploitable IPs does 2K hold? I'll hold down my expectations.

X-COM

 

[Burning Bridges]

Interesting, but doesn't go with that

first person immersive games with depth

comment. Except, if .. No, that's too retarded to even think of.

 

[DefJam101]

Dark Messiah was pretty cool minus the wallspike kicking and slishy slashy '5 feet away' sword combat.

 

[Naked Ninja]

Very cool, I hold on to hope that they get an opportunity to make a real sequel to Arx.

 

[thesheeep]

Interesting, but doesn't go with that

first person immersive games with depth

comment. Except, if .. No, that's too retarded to even think of.

Why not?
I mean, okay, it wouldn't be a strategy game, obviously, but an RPG/FPS-game in the X-COM universe. I see no reason against that. Assuming that the game wouldn't suck, that is.
Also, that would give the "with depth"-term a whole new meaning

 

[JarlFrank]

I actually liked Dark Messiah because I like fantasy first/third person slashers. A bigger, more open-world game with more RPG elements using Dark Messiah-like combat would be awesome.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

I actually liked Dark Messiah because I like fantasy first/third person slashers. A bigger, more open-world game with more RPG elements using Dark Messiah-like combat would be awesome.

Yes.
Also less fucking HP bloat.

 

[Martin]

I found Arx Fatalis to be very poor on all fronts and pretty disappointing in the end.
I didnt know their team was so small at the time though....still.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

I didn't like Arx much either. Dark Messiah however was pretty good.

Whatever happend to The Crossing?

 

[godsend1989]

dark messiah combat was broke period

 

[Kingston]

I actually liked Dark Messiah because I like fantasy first/third person slashers. A bigger, more open-world game with more RPG elements using Dark Messiah-like combat would be awesome.

Yes.
Also less fucking HP bloat.

The ending levels were pretty terrible too. All those one-hit-kill death knights and shit. And the boss battle was pretty anticlimactic. Still, the parts of the game where you just adventure and kill stuff are really fun. Pushing orcs and goblins down a cliff never gets old.

Too bad they didn't release the SDK. Who knows what fun mods and levels it would've spawned. They actually had the SDK ready for release, but Ubisoft decided against releasing it (kkkonspiracy??).