1-Aug-2003 Judgement day draws near as Rebellion readies its first 2000AD game. Richie Shoemaker takes a train to Mega City Oxford for an exclusive hands-on
There's a cocksure attitude about the Rebellion boys, as if they know something we don't. What with us Brits being generally a nervous and highly-strung bunch, such obvious and relaxed confidence is not something you see very often when you visit a UK games studio - not in my experience anyway. And yet Rebellion co-founder Chris Kingsley and producer Ed Woolf appear unaccustomedly fresh-faced and unconcerned. With Dredd Vs Death so close to release, it's slightly unnerving to see the duo evidently without crease or worry.
Either they're goosed to the eyeballs on speedballs and gin, or development on their first proper 2000AD game is going exactly to plan. Since the lads have yet to try out their newfound powers of flight by jumping out the nearest window, the latter would appear to be closer to the truth.
By rights, of course, Rebellion should be very worried indeed, as the experience of other developers does not bode well. The history books will tell that despite having such an incredibly rich and vast archive of material to draw on, not one developer has managed to do justice to Judge Dredd or his supporting cast over the last two decades.
"It's only really been with the advent of powerful PCs and the current generation of consoles that we've been able to realise our goal of recreating Mega City One," offers Ed Woolf. "The environments in the city are huge and we've built vast areas of Mega City One crammed with citizens, gangs, flying vehicles and robots - you name it."
"Judge Dredd may be the face of the game," adds Chris, "but Mega City One is the real star of the show, and bringing such a vast city to life has simply been impossible up until now."
Streets Of Sin City It is true, Mega City One is enormous - just ask anyone who's read a copy of 2000AD. Stretching across the entire east coast of the USA, it's a vast megalopolis that extends upwards from the dark and disused depths of the old New York Subway, hundreds of feet into the sky where the Grand Halls Of Justice building dwarfs the old Statue Of Liberty. Shopping malls the size of entire suburbs command the expressways, while City Blocks - each one a self-contained city in its own right, house millions of unemployed, dissatisfied and easily led citizens.
Imprisoned in a city where littering, dancing and eating real meat warrant custodial sentences, it's no surprise things kick off as often as they do.
Unsurprisingly, with such a vast area - difficult enough to visualise in one's mind, let alone through a less capable computer - Rebellion have had to be very selective in the areas they chose to include.
"We've picked locations that would appeal to the fans," admits Ed, "although with more than 25 years of Judge Dredd history to pore over, we've had a wealth of choices. But the Undercity is there, as is the Nixon Iso-Cube Penitentiary where rioting is taking place. And Resyk - a place where dead bodies are taken to so they can be recycled for the rest of the city."
"The idea is that what you can't visit in the game, you will at least be able to see," adds Chris. "This isn't Grand Theft Auto in Mega City One - the place is just too big. What we wanted was to include the landmarks that people will want to see, with whole areas, like Ryder Megamall and of course Deadworld, available to explore in great detail."
Judge With A Grudge Deadworld will of course play host to the game's climax: Dredd's showdown with Judge Death in his own backyard. It's a city sentenced to eternal decay by the Dark Judges, a gruesome foursome who have made regular trips to Mega City One over the last quarter century to impose their own brand of warped justice. The slight problem Dredd has when trying to bring in the Dark Judges is that since they are dead, he can't kill them. No doubt he will have to draft in some help from his trusty sidekick Judge Anderson.
"We've created our own unique story which involves the main characters from the comics - so Hershey and Psi Judge Anderson for example are there. But you don't have to be a 2000AD fan to get the plot. It's quite an intense dark story that evolves as you play, as Dredd responds to the madness and mayhem created from the escape of the Dark Judges which are initially being held in their ethereal ghostly form in the Nixon Penitentiary. Of course, to be able to spread their carnage effectively, they need physical bodies. At the end of the game, Judge Death does manage to inhabit a particularly insane body, but I'm not allowed to tell you more..."
Crimewatch Tight security means we will probably have to wait until the review to see how the Dark Judges look in 3D, but it only took a few moments running the streets of Mega City One to recognise a legion of other potential enemies. From simple street perps all the way up to organised and heavily armed gangs - Mega City One's criminal population isn't going to give you a day off just because you're investigating a plot to free Judge Death. As we patrolled a typical street, we saw a vast number of crimes underway, from illicit smoking, littering, wall tagging - all the way up to muggings and assaults, and even a full-blown bank robbery. The beauty is that it's entirely up to you whether to ignore the perps or apprehend them.
"There are a multitude of ways of getting people to surrender," says Ed. "You can sneak up behind them and point a gun in their back, or shoot the gun out of their hands or apprehend the ringleader. If you can affect their morale, they are also more likely to surrender. However, if they have friends around, you may suddenly find yourself in the midst of a huge gun battle, at which point you can return fire legally."
Law Of The Urban Jungle This is the catch - as well as upholding the law, Dredd must keep within it himself. Needless to say, the first thing we did was to unnecessarily execute a few passers-by, then some captured crims, and some more onlookers; behaviour that pretty soon incurred the wrath of the Special Judges. Flying down out of the sky in their H-Wagons, they did their best to arrest us, and we were forced to scarper. To avoid getting into this sort of trouble, you have to keep your Law Meter in the black, for which you're eventually rewarded with special arcade modes and multiplayer skins. GTA it isn't, but Dredd Vs Death will still offer plenty of scope for players to do their own thing outside the remit of the main story.
"If you explore every nook and cranny of the city," adds Ed, "you'll uncover secondary objectives which you can choose to fulfil if you want to see absolutely everything the game has to offer."
Aside from setting and story, the two most important aspects of any first-person shooter are the graphics and AI. It's hard to gauge an unfinished game after just a few hours play, but it appears Rebellion's claims that its AI system "responds to events occurring around it, rather than having scripted linear events" is not unfounded. Take out a gang leader and his followers will flee. Or they may not, depending on the situation they find themselves in. Against a lone Judge they might stand and fight, against a squad they quickly give up or display suicidal tendencies. We played through the same situation three times, each time the AI reacted in noticeably different ways.
The 3D engine itself is undoubtedly powerful, for aside from all the buildings, backdrops and vehicles buzzing about, it's not uncommon to see over a dozen characters on screen at any time. And while this may not seem like an awfully large number, it's a good few more than most 3D engines can handle.
Living (Rag)Doll Ragdoll physics, the latest must-have shooter feature, will provide much of the game's appeal. Launch a round of Hi-Ex into a pack of zombies and they fly across the room, legs and arms flailing wildly in true comic-book style, coming to rest in a crumpled heap of broken bones and sagging flesh, with no evidence of clipping to be seen. What impressed us most of all was seeing a Fatty waddling across the street, his bellywheel squeaking underneath the strain of his enormous gut. If you thought the ladies in DOA Beach Volleyball had impressive norks, wait 'til you see a Fatty on the move.
It is, as Chris revealed, close to the end of development for Dredd Vs Death, a time when typically a games developer is a hive of frenzied activity, as bug reports pour out from printers and tired bodies slump to the ground through exhaustion. However, there is no such panic here. A wander around the offices of the Oxford studio reveals that the troops are as relaxed about the whole thing as the generals. Bodies are washed and alert, screens appear busy, and sleeping bags are nowhere to be seen. Had I not seen and played the very latest, near beta, version of the game for myself, I might have come away thinking Dredd Vs Death was barely at the planning stage.
I left Rebellion's eerily quiet and efficient offices a few hours later, satisfied I had seen what is sure to be - though it's hardly saying much - the best 2000AD-inspired game in the comic's 25-year history. If Rebellion's collective and understated reassurances are anything to go by, few will be disappointed.
Rebellion is making every effort to make the game true to the Dredd tradition, but there are a few things we would really like to see added to the mix. The number one thing most fans would welcome is of course Dredd's Lawmaster bike (and indeed Rebellion admits they wanted to include this). The super high-powered chopper isn't just the preferred mode of transport for a Mega City Judge, it's a two-wheeled weapon stockpile and mobile office, with ammunition stores, on-board computer, scattergun, and of course the Cyclops TX laser cannon. However, something we're more concerned about is that Dredd always has his weapon drawn and has to rely on it for everything, just like any other FPS hero. What we'd really like to see is Dredd kicking in doors with his trademark boots or grabbing perps by the throat with his gloved fists - basically showing the force of authority you'd expect. Perhaps Rebellion should introduce a 'Dredd Stance' option - press a key and Dredd takes a deep breath, puts his hands on his manly hips and booms "I am the law". An unearthly silence would settle, after which the perps would drop their weapons, piss themselves and run like screaming girls. Not very FPS perhaps, but very Dredd.
// Rogue Blooper
As all good 2000AD fans will recall, there was talk of a Rogue Trooper game a couple of years ago - we even saw a couple of pieces of concept art. But since VU Games signed up Dredd Vs Death, details on my favourite 2000AD character's transferral to PC have been non-existent. Does the planned third-person action title still exist? "To be honest, we have so many characters to choose from, we've decided to see how Dredd fares before we decide who next to bring to the screen," says Rebellion's Chris Kingsley. "Rogue is an obvious choice, but people are equally keen to see Slaine, Johnny Alpha and Halo Jones. It's an almost impossible choice." Curiously, the team is more ready to discuss a Dredd sequel... "But again, who should we have as Dredd's rival?" asks Chris. "Over the last 25 years Dredd has dispatched dozens and dozens of memorable characters... it's a nightmare." Reading all those old Progs again, yep, it must be a horrendous task.
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