Sphinx: exclusive interview

THQ's Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy isn't due to arrive 'til early next year, but with an ambitious development team hellbent on producing a Zelda-style arcade-adventure of space-Egyptians and what not, we just had to know more about this quirky title.

Originally designed for GameCube and PS2, Sphinx has recently been announced for the Xbox as well - but just what exactly can we expect from the title? Creative Manager Rob Loftus was on hand to talk us through the game:

Can you briefly give us the back-story, and bring us up to date with what's happening in this title?

Loftus: Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy follows the story of Sphinx, an apprentice to a local magician, as he becomes lost through an ancient portal. Lost and with no apparent way to get back he stumbles upon Prince Tut being betrayed by his brother and subsequently mummified. Sphinx decides to help Prince Tut and in doing so discovers that there may be a more sinister plot behind the betrayal.

We're in the midst of translating the game for international markets and tidying things up for a European release in Q1 of 2004.

What kind of innovations can we expect in the game?

Loftus: While there are platform elements in Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, it is not a platform game. The gameplay is about exploration, adventure and the evolution of the player in ability in a large and detailed world. The goal was to provide a Zelda-like action-adventure experience on the PS2, which we believe has yet to be done.

Tell us about some of the characters' moves and powers.

Loftus: The player will take control of Sphinx and the Mummy. Both of these characters are completely different in their gameplay and their personalities.

Sphinx is our headstrong hero and he has a lot of athletic moves that he can do, like swimming and climbing. We wanted to give the player a character that would be very athletic and let the player improve his abilities as the game went on and then allowing the player to enter new areas once they've mastered new abilities. Sphinx's gameplay is punctuated with arcade-style swordplay against the game's villains.

The Mummy on the other hand is fragile and can't take on enemies head on. It's his job to help Sphinx on his quest by providing investigative assistance.

The Mummy will solve puzzles in a completely new way - by putting himself in harms way. The Mummy will use all the traps meant for the living against the game's villains.

You'll be able to put the Mummy through all sorts of torturous situations. You'll be able to light him on fire, electrocute him, split him into three parts, and even smash him until he's paper thin. The player will have to use all these abilities in concert to solve the Mummy Chapters.

What kind of level settings can we expect - anything that particularly stands out?

Loftus: We wanted to provide a variety of locations for the player to explore beyond just the deserts of ancient Egypt. The player will be in ancient palaces, lost temples and canal lined cities. They'll even explore an apocalyptic locale that has already seen the effects of the game's villains.

What kind of graphical effects can we expect to see in the game that will blow us away?

Loftus: There has been a big focus on a feature quality presentation in Sphinx. To do so, the technology had to be able to support some brilliant looking environments populated with highly detailed and extremely expressive creatures.

Eurocom created an engine with this in mind and they've delivered it running at 60fps.

What kind of tasks can we expect from the game? Can you tell us about some of the mini-games?

Loftus: The focus of the game is the development of Sphinx and Mummy in ability and using these abilities to further their progress through the game. The player will have to master using different abilities and weapons (for example, double jump and the blowpipe) to solve puzzles and explore deeper into the game world.

We have several mini-games for the player to try. Many of the inhabitants of the game world have athletic challenges for the player in the form of races or obstacles courses. Some merchants will allow you to play games for money as well.

What is it that will make gamers come back to the title even after they've completed it?

We spent a lot of time making the world interactive. Like I mentioned above there are mini-games for the player to try in addition to the main quest. We also have some mini-quests that will reward the more curious player with items that will help them along their quest.

The player is also able to populate the Abydos Musuem with all sorts of fauna. It's here that the player will be able to get an up close view of all the enemies in the game and a description of how nasty they are.

All the mini-games and mini-quests have their own rewards and will give players many things to do outside of the critical path quest.

So do you have further plans for the Sphinx characters - is a sequel in the works already?

Can't comment on any kind of sequel plans. Stay tuned!