Curse: The Eye of Isis - interview

Today we bring you an interview about Curse: The Eye of Isis, the upcoming game by Asylum Entertainment, London-based game developer. We have spoken about Curse with Jason White, the game´s Art Director. Read our interview and learn more about the story, gameplay, locations, main characters and so on.

Doupe: First of all quite a typical questions - could you please introduce yourself and your company?

Jason White: My name is Jason White and I´m the Art Director at Asylum Entertainment, London-based game developer.

Doupe: What is the story of your latest survival action game Curse: The Eye of Isis? Could you in brief describe the "Eye of Isis" and the sense of this relic?

Jason White: The story is set in 1890, and takes the player on a horror adventure from a museum in Victorian London to the heart of an Egyptian Pyramid.  At the centre of the story is a priceless statuette called the Eye of Isis, the disturbance of which unleashes an ancient supernatural force of immense evil - The Curse. Caught up in the horrific events are engineer Darien Dane and his friend, museum researcher Victoria Sutton.

 

Doupe: The main characters of Curse: The Eye of Isis are going to be the young and brave engineer Darien Dane and his assistent Victoria. What can you tell us about these characters? What are theirs (dis)advantages? Are players going to see any kind of "love story" at the background?

Jason White: Darien and Victoria are childhood friends linked by their archeologist parents. As the story unfolds they discover amazing secrets about their past - How Darien`s father knew of the Curse, how Victoria became an orphan. You swap between the players at key points in the game. As for romance between Darien and Victoria, we`ll keep you guessing!

Doupe: Player will visit a many exotic locations like Egypt. What other places can we expect to see? Do you try to create authentic enviroments that will look like today´s world or have you been inspired with your own fantasy?

Jason White: Between London and Egypt, the action takes place on a huge victorian steamship, which can get really claustrophobic below decks! The environments are designed to look realistic and believable for the 1890`s time period. However as you near your final objective in the ancient tombs  you begin to see the supernatural presence of the Curse taking over the environment itself.

Doupe: Tell us some example of a typical mission. What will be the player`s objectives?

Jason White: In the first objective of the game, playing as Darien, you have slipped past the police guard into the museum. Your first task is to find Victoria who you know is somewhere inside. On the way you explore rooms, find pickups, get clues as to Victoria`s location, and face your first enemies, bodies of policemen and museum staff that have been resurrected by the Curse.

Doupe: Could you tell us something more about game´s puzzles?

Jason White: There are a variety of puzzles including finding ingredients for a Curse cure, and pushing objects to solve various challenges. All of these are integrated into the story in a believable way.

 

Doupe: Will Curse: The Eye of Isis be more action or puzzle-solving oriented?

Jason White: We are looking to achieve a nice balance between the two.

Doupe: What about NPCs? Will player cooperate with friendly characters? What kinds of enemies are going to be present in Curse: The Eye of Isis?

Jason White: Early in the game you are introduced to Abdul, a friendly NPC who has first hand knowledge of the mystery of the Curse. He provides help and advice at key points throughout the game and also acts as an extra mobile inventory so you can swap and manage your pickup items. As well as Abdul, there are a number of other friendly NPC`s who provide help. There are a wide range of enemies in curse: possessed humans and other creatures, mummies, terrifying bosses, as well as rival humans who want to get their hands on the Eye of Isis.

Doupe: What sort of weapons and other items will player use in Curse: The Eye of Isis? Will there be magic too?

Jason White: These include various victorian guns and some other surprises. My favourites are an awesome old fashioned flamethrower and a cool crossbow where you can retrieve used arrows from defeated NPC`s and the environment.

Doupe: The dark atmosphere is necessary for all of horror action/adventure game, I think. How will the graphics and music be used to make tense and atmospheric moments in your game?

Jason White: All the classic horror ingredients are there in Curse: eerie deserted spaces, cinematic camerawork, lightning storms, and extended dark areas where the player is forced to use the lantern. Ambient sounds and music are used to unsettle the player and wind up the suspense. Most often it is the familar sights and sounds which are the most creepy - a clock ticking, footsteps, dripping water.  All these elements are combined in Curse to create anatmosphere of tension and fear.

 

Doupe: How long will the full version of Curse: The Eye of Isis be?

Jason White: It will provide roughly 12 - 15 hours of play

Doupe: What is the current status of the game`s development? When do you plan to release the full version of your game?

Jason White: Curse is due for release in Autumn 2003

Doupe: Will there be a demo of the PC version before the official release of the game?

Jason White: No

Doupe: Right now, do you have any idea of system requirements of Curse: The Eye of Isis?

Minimum Specifications

  • P3 400 or better
  • true 8 meg graphics card
  • 32 meg of memory
  • DirectX 9.0
  • Sound Card compatible with DirectX
  • 2 Button Mouse
  • Standard Keyboard
  • Running from CD

Recommended Specifications

  • P3 800 or better
  • Hardware Tranform & Lighting Graphics card with 16 meg texture memory
  • 64 meg of memory
  • DirectX 9.0
  • Sound Card compatible with DirectX
  • 2 Button Mouse
  • Standard Keyboard
  • Running from CD

 

Doupe: And the final question - why should the players be excited about your game? What main innovations is The Eye of Isis going to bring, especially compared with other survival action games?

Jason White: Curse combines a great storyline with a rich range of enemy characters and varied gameplay. Players should find the Curse itself an interesting new idea - when you defeat one possessed enemy, this intelligent evil cloud will simply migrate to find a new host to resurrect and fight you with.  For special effects fans there is a cool "shockwave effect" in boss combat where the environment warps on impact.

Doupe: Thank you for your time and patience. Is there anything else you would like to tell to our readers?

Jason White: Watch this space!

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