INTERVIEW with Patrick Home, Midway Associate Producer for
HOUR of VICTORY for XBOX 360: Due Summer, 2007

GH: How did Midway decide upon n-Fusion to be the development team for this new title?

Patrick: n-Fusion has a history of making well received military shooters, and specifically shooters in the WW2 genre. We believed that by combining n-Fusion’s experience in the genre with the tools of the Unreal Engine 3 that we could produce a high quality and successful game.

GH: I understand that Hour of Victory is built on the Unreal Engine 3. How was it that this engine was chosen over others?

Patrick: It’s tough to argue with the successful track record of games based on the various versions of the Unreal Engine. With the third version of Unreal we are seeing not only a significant leap in the quality of the visuals and gameplay experience but also the development tools that are a part of the engine. These tools allow huge increases in the efficiency and creativity of developers.

GH: How long has HoV been in development? And, does it look like the game will be released on time?

Patrick: Midway and n-Fusion started developing Hour of Victory in 2005. We are currently on track for our release date this summer.

GH: How well has the Beta testing come along? Or, is it in beta yet?

Patrick: We are not in the Beta testing phase yet, but we will be very soon.

GH: Who wrote the script for the game? And, how authentic will it be in relation to the actual WWII events?

Patrick: The story/script was primarily written by Josh Mandel and John Plaster with various drafts by done other team members. If you are familiar with n-Fusion’s previous games, you’ll know who John Plaster is.
Hour of Victory is taking the route of historical fiction for its story. However, while the specific story did not occur in the war, all of the locations and battles are consistent with events in WWII.

GH: What kind of MP will be included? Any CoOP?

Patrick: We’ll actually be making announcements about multiplayer modes next week, so I can’t really disclose that info right now.

GH: Is there any serious consideration to release the game for PC?

Patrick: At the moment we are totally focused on making the game for the Xbox 360. However, we are using Unreal Engine 3 which has a great PC version as well so we always have the option to make a PC version of Hour of Victory at a later date.

GH: Since the game is being released on XBOX 360, if it were released for PC are there any minimum system requirements you have in mind?

Patrick: It’d be really premature to estimate what the requirements would be now, but they’d most likely be consistent with other PC games using Unreal Engine 3.

GH: What type of gamer do you think will be attracted to HoV?

Patrick: We think HoV will appeal to a broad range of gamers. The multiple POV’s allow gamers to play the game in the style that they enjoy. The player who enjoys intense action shooters is really going to find something they enjoy in Hour of Victory with the commando. The player that enjoys a stealthier shooter is going to enjoy the covert op. The gamer that likes playing the sniper will enjoy playing the Ranger.

GH: What kind of replay value do you consider the game to have?

Patrick: We believe making use of the POV’s will really increase the replayability of the game. You might get one experience playing a level with one of the POV’s but get something different and unique with one of the other POV’s. In addition we are keeping the scripting of enemies to a minimum meaning you will see different tactics used each time you play.

GH: Do you consider HoV to be a first-class game as opposed to a budget game? Will it be priced accordingly?

Patrick: Our focus has always been on creating a high quality, AAA game that gamers of all types will enjoy. The price should be consistent with other Xbox 360 games.

GH: Will vehicles be drivable? And, what kinds of vehicles are included if so? Any flying involved?

Patrick: We wanted vehicles to work in a very open fashion in Hour of Victory. In a lot of other shooters if you are in a vehicle in a particular level that is all you do. We didn’t want to use vehicles like that. What we’ve done is allow the player to use vehicles at their discretion. You may come across a tank, and you can jump in and wreak some havoc, but you don’t have to use the tank if you don’t want to. We have a wide variety of vehicles. Sherman tanks, Tiger tanks, jeeps, kubelwagons, Jagdpanther tanks, Blitz trucks, and several others. The player will not be flying in the game, but there are various allied and German aircraft in the game.