|
*Exclusive* I recently had the privilege of having a chat with Vince Desi, the CEO for Running With Scissors, about their latest game, Postal III. The interview answers many questions that fans would love to hear about, as well as covering some of the basic gameplay functions. Postal III is the sequel to the popular video game, Postal II, it features complete freedom of choice in a virtual world, in which you act out your daily life - purchase milk, confess your sins, piss on your dad's grave, etcetera. You can do these simple chores in a manner of different ways - do it peacefully, trying not to get too bothered by the way fellow pedestrians treat you (flipping you off, pushing in front of you in a queue, and so on), or you can burst in, all guns blazing, and mow down the occupants in said area, and do things by force.
OMG! PC Games: First of all, thanks for your time. What is the basic storyline to Postal III? Vince Desi: After accidently causing a nuclear explosion at the end of Apocalypse Weekend, the last game in the Postal 2 series, the Postal Dude finds himself in a new city called Catharsis. Here he is confronted with numerous opportunities of employment, necessary for him to continue on his way, and get the hell out of this crazy city. OMG! PC Games: There is very little media released on the internet, regarding Postal III, and many fans believe that it will be a strictly third person game. Can you verify this? Vince Desi: Yes and no, I hate to give answers like this, let me try to explain. The basic view is 3rd person, however because we are introducing a variety of different playable characters, the true perspective changes, so you may see a FPS depending on the situation. OMG! PC Games: Why did you decide on using the Valve engine? Vince Desi: As a developer the most important element of an engine is stability. The Valve Source engine provides stability, for single player and multiplayer, also they provide excellent support. As POSTAL III is its own unique game, we are doing a lot of custom coding, so it’s better for us to know what we have to work with from the start. And STEAM is a major plus. OMG! PC Games: Does Postal III live up to the potential violence of Postal II? Can you give us a few gory examples of situations? Vince Desi: That’s a perverted question. We are not True Crime, GTA, or Manhunt - we are POSTAL, we are about adventure, comedy and political satire. The violence in POSTAL games are situational, and overly unrealistic, we portray human scenarios more like a cartoon would than a dramatic movie, as GTA attempts to. However, while most games glorify violence and common weapons like a chainsaw we prefer to add a touch of the old RWS humour, and so we are introducing our own version of the chainsaw in POSTAL III, we call it The Badger Saw. OMG! PC Games: Interactive environments? Destructible items or buildings? Day and night cycle? Does Postal III offer any new-age level design/engine technology such as those? Vince Desi: Absolutely. POSTAL III goes well beyond the standard improvements today of destructible objects, and day/night effects. Most important is NPC AI, we are working very hard to make our characters truly living individuals, not only will the P Dude be all about freedom of choice, but so will general pedestrians, and other key celebrity characters. Many reviewers who actually took the time to play through Postal 2 were very impressed with the character AI, and so in order to build on the general gameplay element of free choice, this is something we are emphasizing. OMG! PC Games: What systems will Postal III be released on? Vince Desi: Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Mac and Linux. OMG! PC Games: How many hours of gameplay do you think there will be in the game, if you go straight from one mission, to another? Vince Desi: Right now that’s hard to say since we're still in the middle of development. I'm glad to see your question specifically addresses IF you go mission to mission, my guess is 30 hrs if you just ruthlessly destroy your way through, of course exercising your freedom of choice will offer endless hours of not just replay, but new gameplay as POSTAL III is designed for real time responses, evolving as you go, not just standard repetition. OMG! Pc Games: Do the NPCs live out a set life, like in most modern PC Games – or do they still idling wander about, like in previous instalments of Postal? Vince Desi: Are you kidding? When you go to a whore house, do you look for new pussy or the same old same old? POSTAL III will be the richest action character based game; we have over 150 different characters at this time, ranging from physical and cultural differences, as well as intellectual capabilities. OMG! Pc Games: Are you able to tell us when you’re hoping to release Postal III to the public? Vince Desi: I don't deal in hope, my name is not Obama, and I sure as hell don't believe in speaking through my ass like Clinton, so the honest answer is sometime in 2009. OMG! Pc Games: Will there be a demo or trailer released? Can you give us a date? Vince Desi: I'm sure there will be future demos, just not sure when. As a matter of practice, we like to keep things low key, as we are in discussions with different publishers, being on console makes it a whole new POSTAL experience. OMG! Pc Games: Thanks for your time, this is the final question, how much, roughly, has Postal III cost to produce to date? Vince Desi: Let's see...speaking for the time...2 divorces, 1 DUI, how many times can I mortgage my house?
|
