Exclusive: Joint Operations Special: Day one

Novalogic. Delta Force. Delta Force. Novalogic. Two terms that go together like strawberries and cream; beer and chips. When you think of Novalogic you think, of course, of the Delta Force series.

Certainly, with almost 20 years of success in the games industry, the small but perfectly formed developer/publisher based in Calabasas, CA, has been served well by its affiliation with the top secret(ish) US military organisation.

Yet something rather different is afoot in the labyrinthine corridors of Novalogic HQ; and while there's no suggestion die hard Delta Force fans need panic, (Black Hawk down expansion Team Sabre has just released after all) the company is emancipating itself from the licence-related shackles of DF for a serious new endeavour: Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising.

At first glance, Joint Operations looks to be standard Novalogic fare, but there's one crucial difference: vehicles. Playable vehicles. Lots of 'em. Because no matter how you try and spin Delta Force, those crack troops just don't like driving, and as a result, you won't see fleets of controllable military craft in a Delta Force title - sure they're there in Team Sabre, but only 'on rails'.

In case you hadn't guessed already, Joint Operations is a direct response to the success of Electronic Arts' hugely popular online multiplayer action shooter Battlefield 1942. It appears the team has seen the success EA has enjoyed, seen the huge potential for this style of game in conjunction with its online Novaworld service, and created a bespoke franchise to fit.

But while similar in principle this is no mere Battlefield clone; and with BF: Vietnam waiting in the wings, it clearly can't afford to be. "Our on-foot combat and ballistics system are leaps and bounds ahead of that found in Battlefield," explains Joint Ops producer Joel Taubel.

"We definitely want vehicles in but we don't want to take away one of the best things we do: on-foot combat." And taking another swipe at his main rival, while underlining his team's drive towards realism: "With our ballistics system you can expect the guns to react and handle as they would in real life."

Another advantage of losing the Delta Force licence means Novalogic has been able to be more creative with the setting. As such, the game is set in Indonesia in the near future (2006). "Topically, Indonesia has become a big political hotspot," says Taubel. "There are Al-Qaeda groups there - a whole range of topics to take us away from the desert!"

"We're trying to create a story arc that lasts three or four games," adds US PR manager Marcus Beer. And the company is now in a strong position to reach the parts Delta Force couldn't reach. "We're not using WWI or WW2 like Battlefield," says Beer. "We can take Joint Ops anywhere we want to take it. We can set it on the moon in 3026 if we like, or do a flight simulator."

And while vehicles are a huge addition to the proceedings, we got the impression the team is not a little thrilled to be out of the desert for a change, (that sand really does get everywhere).

"We know we can do desert - now we can flex our creative muscles and really show off what we can do with our engine," enthuses Taubel. "It's a great way to show off the engine - you can land on a beach and watch the sunset and it's beautiful."

With on-foot combat already cited as a key difference from Battlefield, Taubel is also keen to stress that his team hasn't just ripped off the vehicular element of EA's title either. "There's a temptation to go the Battlefield route, which is having all the [vehicle] movement on the left hand.

"I was a big fan at first of trying to stick with a standard so that people who had played Battlefield would find Joint Ops easy to get in to.

"But there is a better way to do it. One of my biggest complaints of BF is that steering is very binary, very on-off - with ours you can add that level of complexity by having analogue steering via the mouse."

But with controls in-vehicle largely the same as out, coupled with a smooth transition between the two, it's far from unwieldy and actually very intuitive. Plus, there's a stack of land-, air- and water-based vehicles to get to grips with, from dune biggies and simple indigenous river boats, to WWII-style landing craft and the mighty Stryker APC chopper.

Certainly, in the multiplayer games we played there was nothing short of a fight to get the controls of some of the more impressive vehicles. And while single-player campaigns are included, multiplayer is what Joint Ops is all about.

With this in mind, Novalogic is particularly concerned with making it as easy and accessible an experience as possible for gamers from across the globe. "We're not going to tell you who you're to side with politically, for instance," says Taubel.

"All countries will be in there - we're not going to discriminate against anywhere; we're going to take a snapshot of the world as it is just before the game ships. You'll be able to have flags on the shoulders of your team from every country in the world."

And if that wasn't enough, players will also be able to add their own tags onto skins, which can be uploaded to Novaworld. "As long as it's approved, [So no genitalia, kids - Ed.] you'll see that tag on all of your team members in the game; there's a square patch on the back of the skins where people can put their squad tags." But more on the multiplayer side of things later in the week...

Well that about wraps up our introduction into the epic, action-packed world of Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising, but the fun has quite literally only just begun.

Be sure to check back every day this week as we take an in-depth look at every aspect of this potential Battlefield beater, from video interviews with key team members and awesome direct feed footage and exclusive sound clips to all important hands-on impressions and even more exclusive shots. Wowza!

Battlefield's crown is there for the taking and Novalogic is coming out all guns blazing with its new killer franchise, Joint Operations - just make sure you're strapped in tight for the ride.

Johnny Minkley