A Game On The Wii Possibly Taking Out Left 4 Dead

[Poseidon©]

I'm serious. The Grinder (FPS), a game for the Wii, 4 player online co-op, and 4 player offline co-op, Wii Speak support, possibly something like Nazi Zombies, (maybe) DLC, and (rumored) 30 hours-60 hours of gameplay.

 

Can it get any BETTER then this?

 

High Voltage is making this game using the Q3 engine (the engine that The Conduit uses). The Q3 engine IS STILL IN PRODUCTION, imagine what the REAL game will be like in 1 YEAR. Yeah, pretty dam* awesome.

 

EXCLUSIVE Interview with HVS on The Grinder

 

Kombo: First of all, thank you for having the guts to develop something as brilliant as this on Wii! Care to give us an overview on The Grinder for our uninformed readers?

 

Eric: We are just making the sorts of games we want to play on the Wii. It's basically a first person shooter version of a classic grindhouse horror movie. Up to four players co-operate as they move through environments set in the American Southwest while they battle vast hordes of classic monsters like Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, Slashers and many more.

 

Players get to use a mixture of 'normal' weapons like shotguns or pistols, and sort of home-brew 'monster hunting' weapons like bows that fire dynamite arrows, or molotov cocktails. To keep the players on their toes, the exact route through the level, as well as their goals, placement of pickups, and even the types and position of the enemies, can change each time they play, adding a tremendous amount of replayability. Lastly, players will be able to improve their gear, and even the characters over the course of the game, adding a certain degree of customizability to the mix.

 

But the most important thing to remember is that you get to kill lots and lots of monsters!

 

Kombo: Can you tell us anything about the storyline? Will it be integral to the player's experience in The Grinder or is gameplay your primary focus?

 

Eric: The focus is on the gameplay, but that doesn't mean we're going to have a watered down story, just that we want it to enhance and enrich the gameplay experience rather than take the player away from it.

 

The primary storyline is this; in the world of Grinder, monsters have always been a problem, but now they are starting to become a significant threat to humanity, taking over entire towns and even small cities. This is because most of the species are "infectious", able to turn their victims into creatures like themselves. To combat this threat, the government has started a "scorched earth" strategy, where they bomb the infected areas into oblivion, regardless of any collateral damage.

 

Luckily, there are some humans that are immune to the infection, and make their living by charging affected areas to go in and kill off the monsters before more extreme measures need to be taken.

 

There are two primary types of these Monster Hunters; Professionals and Freelancers. Professionals are actual businesses, with the latest tech, lots of manpower and methodical, proven tactics. They are also extremely expensive. Freelancers are basically drifters that try to make a few bucks off of their immunity by taking out infestations (or "nests") in small towns and communities.

 

Our story follows a group of four Freelancers that were brought together for a a simple job to clean out a nest in a tiny Southwestern town called Coyote Ridge.

 

Of course, this "simple job" turns out to be anything but simple... And there's a whole lot more at stake than the survival of Coyote Ridge.

 

But really this all just scratches the surface of what we've got planned.

 

Kombo: How do you plan on telling the story? In The Conduit you insisted on not having too many cutscenes to keep players focused. Is it the same in The Grinder?

 

Eric: We're going to try to keep them focused, by handling as much of the story as possible in game. Our characters are all equipped with headsets, so they will talk back and forth during the pauses between combats, or when they reach key points in the level. Our goal is to keep the player as immersed in the game world as possible. Any cutscene can be skipped unless there is critical game mission information for the player.

 

Kombo: How many characters are in The Grinder, who are they and what are the differences between them?

 

Eric: We have announced four playable characters. They have some gameplay variations, as well as significant personality differences which the players will learn about as the characters talk back and forth during the game.

 

Hector is a tough Hispanic badass biker-looking dude (think 'Machete') who used to be a professional monster hunter, but his bad attitude got him blacklisted. Now he alternates between monster hunting and bounty hunting. He's the toughest member of the team.

 

Our oldest hunter is Doc, who worked as a freelancer for nearly twenty years, until one of his jobs went really bad, and he retired, becoming a small town doctor. He knows Hector from way back, and owed him a favor, which is why he's saddling up again. Doc is our healer, capable of fixing up himself, or the others, as needed.

 

The rookie of our group is AJ. An urban explorer, she and some of her friends were poking around an abandoned prison when a Slasher attacked. As the sole survivor, she knows it's only a matter of time before the Slasher finishes the job, so she's trying to help while she can. AJ is the most agile member of the group; she can jump to locations that are otherwise out of reach.

 

Miko is a former Japanese assassin. She's extremely talented, and was getting bored with her job until she accepted a job that turned out to involve a Werewolf as the target, a fact she was not aware of until he shifted from human to Werewolf form as she went for the killing blow. She nearly died in the ensuing fight, but emerged triumphant, getting a huge rush from the challenge. Miko is extremely lethal with any melee weapon.

 

Our fifth main character is named "Book". He's not playable, he serves as a 'support' character, guiding the team to objectives arranging for them to get gear and providing other help as needed. Nobody has ever met him in person, but they all know his voice. He's a reclusive genius that works with many freelancers, providing vital information about any type of monster, arranging to have weapons & ammunition at strategic drop points, setting up jobs, etc.

 

Kombo: Will you be supporting the Wii MotionPlus this time around?

 

Eric: We are fans of the peripheral and I think we'll have something to show folks soon that we find very exciting.

 

Kombo: It seems that the Quantum3 engine is always improving! What major hurdles were you able to overcome in The Grinder that seemed impossible before?

 

Eric: The most significant has, of course, been our on screen enemy count, which we have dramatically increased thanks to our Imposter technology.

 

But we have had other major strides forwards as well... Our streaming mechanics have been significantly optimized, allowing us to have more open environments, and our lighting is getting even more stunning, allowing us to do effects in real time that previously would have resulted in performance hits.

 

The Quantum3 engine still has a lot of untapped potential, and we will continue to push it to it's limits!

 

Kombo: Is it true...? 65 characters on screen at once? At a stable framerate? How!?

 

Eric: Yep! It's pretty darn cool.

 

It's a method that allows us to basically "re-use" a single enemy model multiple times in the game, while still allowing them to each have their own AI, their own stats, and their own variations of height, coloration, etc.

 

Kombo: Call me traditional but I am very happy with your decision to include split-screen mode! Was it a priority?

 

Eric: Definately! Don't get me wrong, online gaming is a lot of fun, but nothing beats sitting down with a buddy & playing a game side by side. You can communicate and coordinate much more accurately that way, and you can punch them in the arm if they wind up getting you killed...

 

Kombo: Can we expect to have it in The Conduit's inevitable sequel?

 

Eric: Well, we haven't announced anything just yet...

 

But it would be safe to assume once we've gone to the trouble of perfecting a given technology or technique, we like to get as much mileage out of it as possible...

 

Kombo: Probably one of The Grinder's more appealing aspect is its online mode. I'm sure you are very excited about this! Care to share the details with us?

 

Eric: Sure! The idea is that, no matter how many players are participating, all four characters are in the world. Any that aren't being controlled by players are run by the AI. This allows other players to jump in, or out, without disrupting the game for everyone else, and ensures that the challenge doesn't suddenly ramp up or down as the number of players changes.

 

Kombo: Can I hop online with a friend ala Mario Kart Wii?

 

Eric: That's the plan!

 

Kombo: Is WiiSpeak support confirmed?

 

Eric: Of course! However, even without it, our characters will call out critical information to each other, allowing players to be alerted to changing situations, even if none of the human players says anything.

 

Kombo: Now that the Wii has a storage solution, can we look forward to downloadable content for The Grinder?

 

Eric: This is another feature that we are looking into, but it's too early to outline what our plans for that might be.

 

Kombo: Finally, when is your target release date?

 

Eric: Given that we are working on this the same way we did for the Conduit, the middle of next year seems like a safe bet. But honestly, some of that will depend on who we partner with for the publishing rights.

 

Kombo: Any last words for the fans?

 

Eric: We really and truly appreciate the attention and support that they have given us already with the Conduit, and I'd like to let them know that their enthusiasm really gets us pumped up to do the best job we possibly can. We are going to do everything possible to give them the sort of games that they really want, not the sort of games we _think_ they want. So, let us know if there are "must have" features for you to consider purchasing the Grinder. We are listening.

 

*INTERVIEWED BY: http://wii.kombo.com/article.php?artid=14249*

[Flame Dragon]

Odds are I won't get it, but it sounds like it will be great and it will make many of the core games that Nintendo has pushed to the side very happy.

[Poseidon©]

Odds are I won't get it' date=' but it sounds like it will be great and it will make many of the core games that Nintendo has pushed to the side very happy.

[/quote']

Yeah, I'm core player. I'm going to get The Conduit and already have Call of Duty: World at War, I hope Nintendo announces something at E3.

[Poseidon©]

Bump.