The true scares of Halloween 2002 came not from monster movie marathons or college dorm parties but a multiplayer Half-Life FPS-RTS hybrid mod named Natural Selection, released that night by Unknown Worlds. Low-tech space marines and bestial aliens shrieked and spat out their trick-or-treated goodies in fright as inter-species war with terrifying tones of Aliens raged across derelict complexes among distant stars.

A solid real-time strategy lay on top of the action, with both sides vying for control of key map points including the resource nodes which paid for structures and upgrades. While Frontiersmen served under a commander who essentially played a top-down RTS, the alien Kharaa were ruled by consensus and chose their own upgrades and classes.

The next step for Unknown Worlds will be Natural Selection 2, a commercial sequel announced in 2006. We recently caught up with studio founder and NS creator Charlie Cleveland to discuss progress since then, the path from mod to commercial release, and improving one of my personal all-time multiplayer favourites... Read more

Gearbox's Mikey Neumann has been billed as many things. Sometimes, he's "a guy who can get you things." Other times, he's a creative director. Today, he's answering some of the questions I had after wrapping up my initial playthrough of Borderlands.

And before we got around to discussing the ending--rest assured that spoilers are limited to the third page--we chatted about a variety of topics that any fan of Borderlands should find interesting, including talk of downloadable content and a vow that "we'll look at what the community really latches on to or wants, and we'll move in that direction."

Shack: Any plans to expand on item trading beyond the "drop this on the ground and hope the right person picks it up" honor system?

Mikey Neumann: If people are clamoring for some trade stuff, or clamoring for some better trade rules, then we'll look at that moving forward. I mean, if you look at the first release of World of Warcraft, it had like, what, 20% of the features it has now? ...Read More

It's been a busy past few years for the crew at Telltale Games. Alongside its traditional CSI titles, the developer has produced numerous bite-sized episodic adventures featuring Sam & Max, Wallace & Gromit, Strong Bad, and the Monkey Island crew. And alongside the steady stream of Tales of Monkey Island episodes on PC and WiiWare, the company just released the second season of Sam & Max on Xbox 360 via Xbox Live, with the remaining episodes of Wallace & Gromit due there shortly.

With all this activity, I caught up with CEO Dan Connors to discuss not just recent events, but where the company is headed in the future and what's coming next. ... Read more

Recently, Shacknews and a handful of other gaming sites participated in a roundtable discussion with Tim Schafer (Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, Psychonauts), meant to see the respected figure discuss developer Double Fine's latest project, Brutal Legend. And talk about Brutal Legend he did, explaining what's in the demo, why the multiplayer aspect was designed first, thoughts on downloadable content, and so forth. But in addition to chatting up the October 13-due title, the conversation also saw Schafer touch on some of his past work and even offer advice on avoiding publisher problems.

Psychonauts was kinda developed like an adventure game was, where we built a lot of assets and we built a lot of worlds, we built a lot of environments, we built a lot of different characters and stuff, and then at the last minute tried to pull it all together and make it work and it didn't work and we were out of time and we had to start over on some stuff.

We really took a more character-centered approach with Brutal Legend, where we started with Eddie. We just built Eddie, and then we said, "What is the essential thing for Eddie to do? It's for him to walk around while playing heavy metal music and swinging his axe around." ....Read more

In the months leading up to BlizzCon, it was anybody's guess as to what the new Battle.net might look like. During interviews, Blizzard developers mostly mumbled about matchmaking, leagues and other features, but were always quick to note that everything was still up in the air. But following the official unveiling of the Battle.net feature list, Blizzard isn't mumbling anymore. On top of the Real ID system and other Xbox Live-esque features, the new Battle.net will also see Blizzard experimenting in radical areas of online service. A prime example is the post-launch StarCraft II Marketplace, which--in addition to supporting the upload of free maps--will allow users to sell high-quality maps and mods, a monetary incentive largely untested in the industry.

The man behind Blizzard's big online push is Greg Canessa, former head of Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade division. During an interview with Shacknews this weekend, Canessa touched on topics such as the marketplace, console potential, LAN play, and whether we might see games other than Blizzard's on Battle.net in the future. ... Read more

The first title out of famed Doom and Quake creator id to be simultaneously developed for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Mac, Rage almost immediately re-ignited the Blu-ray vs. DVD debate between PS3 and Xbox 360 loyalists when it was first revealed.

And as that debate raged on, PC gamers were dragged into another one after the once PC-centric developer said that the platform was "more of the junior partner."

Even the debut of actual gameplay details did little to quell the vocal internet mob, with concerns about regenerating health, the game's keyboard and mouse controls being tainted by console controllers, and well, just about everything.

However, this doesn't seem to have fazed the folks at id. "The stuff that we've done before, I'm not worried about, and people shouldn't worry about that either," creative director Tim Willits told me after a demonstration of the game... Read more

All things considered, the interview was progressing normally. id CEO Todd Hollenshead and I were sitting across from each other in the QuakeCon Press Lounge. I had just asked when id's next game, Rage, was coming out. I didn't expect a straight answer.

Nor did I get one, but that's beyond the point. Because, as Todd was explaining why id is so reluctant to provide a date--"we don't work to a time, we work to a quality level"--fate intervened in the form of an extremely inquisitive mystery woman. She wanted to know what kind of press would cover video games. And if we were from Game Informer.

The result? An interview that I, and most likely Todd, won't forget any time soon.

Todd Hollenshead: The next Wolfenstein is going to be internal at id. The next big Quake game is going to be internally developed at id. Rage, obviously, and the next Rage, and Doom as well. ...Read more

As a big fan of Frozenbyte's slick platformer Trine, it was unfortunate to see its recent PC release somewhat confused by price-point discrepancies and puzzling platform information.

A typical Trine discussion included any, or all, of these questions: Why is the game $10 more on PC? Will online co-op be patched in soon? When is the PlayStation 3 port coming out? And what's this about an XBLA version?

We caught up with Frozenbyte public relations manager Joel Kinnunen in an attempt to clear up some of this confusion. In our email exchange, we also covered the origin of Trine, whether a sequel or expansion is in the cards, and what the developer is working on next.

Joel Kinnunen: Online co-op is a possibility. But the thing to remember is that it was a possibility with the Shadowgrounds games too, and it never happened. We've always conditioned it to the sales of the game(s)... In any case, any possible online features will not be added to the game until next year, because it just takes a whole lot of time to rewrite the inner workings of the game engine. Read more..

"The art style...is the glue to everything," Gearbox's Mikey Neumann explains above the gentle hum of a crowded meeting room during E3. "It allows us to embrace what our game actually is, and man, when we had that epiphany, when it all came together, we were like, 'shit man, that's what this game is, this game is about having fun.'"

Neumann, whose job title today is "a guy who can get you things," is talking about the radical change that the studio's shooter-RPG Borderlands recently underwent, shifting from a gritty realistic aesthetic to something a bit more... stylized.

It was a risky move, especially considering that the game is nearing completion--it's hitting PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in October--and this is the first time that Gearbox has demonstrated the new art style, in real time, to most of the gaming media.

And though the game's not out until October, it needs to be completed much sooner than that due to the need for testing. "You can subtract two and a half to three months for certification time," he says. "Subtract three months off of October... Read more

Fans are never shy of criticizing Blizzard teams. And while it's tough to imagine the intense scrutiny doesn't affect developer sanity to some degree, StarCraft II lead designer Dustin Browder can say for a fact his game is better for it.

I asked Browder how that feedback factors into Blizzard development during an interview at the company's headquarters last week. Other topics included Battle.net, singleplayer content, new "challenge" missions that act as tutorial levels for casual players, and the decision to keep StarCraft II looking like StarCraft.

Dustin Browder: Everyone always kind of knew that we wanted to make this game feel like you were coming home. Still at its root a really bad-ass, competitive RTS. Not like, "We're bored of RTS, let's redo it completely! Let's get rid of base-building and redo this. We'll have a first-person mode!"

I've been at studios that wanted to do that. First-person mode was going to go into every Command & Conquer since 1999. It was going to be like, "First-person mode!" [laughs] It was like, oh my god you guys, this is a terrible idea. So we really wanted to make it like--we still think RTS games are cool. If you're bored, then that's cool, go buy another game and we're fine with that. But we think RTS games are cool, we think you'll have a lot of fun if we make a really good one--let's just make a good one. Read more..

If John Carmack is id Software's mad scientist, then Doom: Resurrection is his latest experiment. Developed largely by id/Ritual veteran Tom Mustaine and his team at Escalation Studios, Resurrection is a rail shooter take on Doom 3, priced at the premium rate of $10.

With the launch of the game today, I sat down with Carmack and Mustaine to talk about the risky project. Also covered are Carmack's criticism of the iPhone's current shortcomings, his take on how the ZeniMax acquisition will affect his time to develop pet projects, and what's coming next from id Mobile.

John Carmack: The biggest worry about the platform in general is that if everybody thinks all games are going to cost $1.99, you're never going to DS or PSP-like original titles coming on the iPhone because it just won't be justified. But there definitely is that worry, if people think that iPhone games just really have to be cheap. Obviously people pay $20, $30, $40 for a DS, PSP title coming out at the high-end. Read more..

Much to the chagrin of Half-Life fans, but to the pleasure of Left 4 Dead fiends, Valve announced a full sequel to its zombie shooter on Monday, set for a quick turn-around release on November 17. The sequel will feature four new characters across five new campaigns set in New Orleans. Versus and Survival mode play will be supported for all of the maps out of the box, along with a new unannounced game mode. A fresh cadre of weapons, zombies, AI improvements and other additions are planned.

To get a handle on the situation, we took twenty to hit up Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi and developer Chet Feliszek for some choice anecdotes on the new game. Included are finer details on the sequel's upgrades, shared frustration with stacking players, Left 4 Dead's connection to HBO's "The Wire," and more. ... Read more

"It's not supposed to be the game that's gonna replace your big games, like Battlefield 2 or 2142," producer Gordon Van Dyke tells me of the upcoming Battlefield 1943. "It's more action-based and it's not as heavily [focused] on the strategy, per se."

Powered by the Frostbite engine--the same technology that was behind last year's destruction-happy Battlefield: Bad Company on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360--the downloadable multiplayer shooter packs remakes of three Battlefield 1942 (PC) maps.

But make no mistake console Battlefield fans, this isn't just Bad Company with three different maps. Even though it uses the same overall technology, the gameplay has been tweaked, focusing more on fast pick up and play action than strategy.

Those that have played Battlefield 1942, you're in for some surprises too. Sure, you may know the maps by heart, but the addition of destructible environments changes things a bit. A fence blocking your progress? Go ahead and knock it down with... Read more

The latest patch to Team Fortress 2 introduced some very mysterious mechanics--primarily, the addition of a 50-slot "backpack" to store items, and a new slot for headgear to accompany the traditional unlockables.

Naturally, the steathily-added features set off a storm of speculation amongst the fan community. Just how far is Valve going with these World of Warcraft-esque changes? When can I buy an epic mount for my Heavy?

In reality, the hats will be purely cosmetic in nature--at least initially. Valve's Robin Walker told us that while the TF2 team is interested in exploring more radical, RPG-style mechanics, the plan is to slowly introduce these new elements in order to carefully "measure the effect of each change, both on the game and on the community."

"The primary change here is simply the decoupling of achievements and unlockables, which is the source of most of the negative feedback we've received around previous class packs," said Walker. "It'll provide multiple ways... Read more

There's something very refreshing about 2K Czech's approach to "open world" gameplay with Mafia.

For a game that tells the story of a larger-than-life mobster, and does so over the span of a decade, there's a handcrafted feel about this new sequel. The developers are less interested in using the open world as a playground for gamers, and more as a backdrop for the narrative they've crafted--an approach in line with the first, somewhat under-appreciated title in the series.

Recently I sat in on a roundtable interview with Denby Grace, producer on the project at 2K Games. As Grace held court in an Italian restaurant on the edge of San Francisco's Little Italy, we fired questions at him ranging in topic from the game's ambitious narrative, to the series' infamous traffic laws.

What is the sequel doing differently from the original? More importantly: what happens when you shoot someone in the face? Read on to find out.... Read more

During its press event in London last week, Bethesda not only cleared up the status of its long in-development project Rogue Warrior, but also announced it would be publishing A2M's action shooter WET and licensing a series of Elder Scrolls novels.

Rogue Warrior, a shooter based on the exploits of Navy SEAL Richard Marcinko, was originally announced in 2006 as a Zombie Studios project. The game has since been scrapped, and the core project turned over to Alien vs. Predator developer Rebellion.

"Suffice it to say, we were not happy with what the direction of that project was," said Bethesda marketing VP Pete Hines during the event.

Zombie's ambitious multiplayer plans for Rogue Warrior have been scaled back to deathmatch and team DM, while the singleplayer component is now a one-man affair that focuses more on Marcinko's unique personality. This focus is marked... Read more

Earlier today, Fallout 3 developer Bethesda Softworks announced "Fallout: New Vegas," a new title in the Fallout series of post-nuclear RPGs.

Not a true sequel to Fallout 3, New Vegas is instead a spin-off RPG in the same style under development at Obsidian Entertainment. Obsidian was founded by former members of Black Isle, the original developers of the Fallout franchise, making the project a unique partnership between Fallout veterans and the current series stewards.

Following the press event in London, I caught up with Bethesda marketing VP Pete Hines to talk a bit about the project and other Fallout-related items.

Shack: When did Bethesda start thinking about a Fallout spin-off?

Pete Hines: It's something that we've discussed at night for a while, and just had talked about doing. And we said, well, if we're going to do this, we... Read more

It's a little mindboggling to think of how big BioWare has gotten over the past few years.

On the one hand, the company is developing two major RPGs in Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2. That alone would be an impressive showing.

But on top of those titles, BioWare is also tackling a new Star Wars MMO--a project so daunting, and potentially lucrative, that it almost dwarfs the more traditional efforts.

At last week's Game Developers Conference, I caught up with BioWare founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk. While I could have easily spent my limited time asking about just one of the projects, I tried to cover all three with a few questions apiece--starting with the old-school RPG being demonstrated next door. ... Read more

Dawn of War II was a risky sequel for Relic. It radically changes the gameplay of a series that was already successful for the company. And, as lead designer Jonny Ebbert had feared, I wasn't sure I liked it much at first.

But after giving it a few more hours, and taking a look at the co-op campaign during a long playthrough today, Relic has very predictably proven me wrong. The team has done something I didn't think possible--they simplified their hardcore RTS, and somehow made it more fun in the process.

After wasting a few hundred Orks, I got a chance to talk with Dawn of War II principal designer Jonny Ebbert. A sharp, easy-going guy, Ebbert had plenty to say on Relic's past, present and future as a company, in addition to specific details on the development and future of Dawn of War II.

What sorts of free updates and DLC are in store for Dawn of War II owners? How stable is Relic in this economy? What would a Homeworld sequel look like--and is it even realistic to hope for one? Click on through for the full interview. ... Read more

My interview with Ensemble Studios director of technology Dave Pottinger and lead designer Graeme Devine wasn't all depressing. We did eventually cover the finer details of Halo Wars, their upcoming RTS designed from the ground up for the Xbox 360.

During our extended conversation, Pottinger and Devine described the challenging process of crafting an RTS for a new audience, and talked about the feedback they've received from their casual focus groups. They also touched on what hardcore RTS fans will like about the game, and explained key development choices--including the reason for why the Flood aren't a playable faction.

Shack: What is it about RTS games that repels new users? Is there one primary thing you can point to?

Dave Pottinger: Everyone has different answers. I think it's complexity and the obstruction. The idea of--

Shack: Just not having control of that one character?

Dave Pottinger: Yeah, the idea of not being a specific guy, and having to select and then order. That's where we've spent a lot on our controls and our teaching, and our tutorial focuses pretty heavily on that. That's where a lot of people get tripped up. They're running around the map, and they say, "I want to attack this," and they don't have anything selected, and they're pressing X like a madman. Read more..