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Developers on why Indiana Jones is First Person: "First-person gameplay is part of MachineGames’ DNA"

Draugoth

Gold Member
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In an interview published on the Lucasfilm website, MachineGames game director Jerk Gustafsson was asked if the developers tried third-person during development.

First-person gameplay is part of MachineGames’ DNA, and we wanted to see how we could use this to create a really immersive experience around stepping into the shoes of the world’s most famous archaeologist

Gustafsson explained.

It also separates our game from many other action-adventure titles, making it a unique experience that you cannot find anywhere else. However, we still want to show Indy as much as possible, so we have a seamless flow between first-person gameplay and third-person actions, events, and cinematics.


Via IGN
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Went over to YouTube and watched some clips of the Chronicles of Riddick game I was crazy about back in the day. Knew I remembered right that they also switched to third person for cinematics and traversal stuff.

Basically same devs, and if they capture the same magic as that title, we’re in for a classic.

On a related note, seems like a low hanging fruit for someone to remake Riddick…I’m not sure it’s playable on any console these days.
 

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Sounds like you suck at making games.

Bitch please. If you polled 100 people if they wanted this in third or first, they would’ve had a major win for third.

Good luck with the game but it ain’t for me to be in first person flailing a whip like a Jack ass. Make this a $20 VR game instead and you’d see more interest.

This could’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with uncharted and tomb raider if done right.
 

ungalo

Member
So basically not for the benefit of the game, but to fit into the narrow mold of the developer. How dull.
What does that even mean ? What plays on the strenght of the studio benefits the game.

I can understand people preferring a third person experience but not to the extent where we can call this choice out of place. It's not a Dark Souls racing game or something like that.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I am sorry but you mold the studio to stay true to the IP, not the other way around. Your obligation is to Indiana Jones and its fanbase, not YOUR fanbase. No one knows who the fuck you are. You have won a total of zero GOTYs. Your DNA is average at best. This was their chance to take the next big leap forward and get to that A tier list, and they blew it by staying in their comfort zone.

And I truly despise this idea of doing something just to be different. It has that very Game of Thrones Subverting Expectations feel to it. Indiana Jones being similar to Tomb Raider and Uncharted wont kill Indiana Jones. If comparisons are to be made then you ensure that they go favorably your way. Especially now that you are part of a $3 trilllion company and are working on a next gen console with more horsepower than TR and Uncharted had access to last gen. They had the opportunity to stand out and they pretty much conceded before ever stepping in the ring.
 
Of course its for the benefit of the game that the devs use the systems they're comfortable with and know the ins and outs in when making it.
Looked awesome.

What they're saying is that another developer could have been chosen for this IP instead.

Insomniac getting Spider-Man made a lot of sense since they had already made open world games with traversal, not to mention their gadget wheels and experience with 3rd person action.

MachineGames was never going to be the right team for the job here and it shows already.

When most people think of Indiana Jones in game form, they will and I think rightfully so think of Tomb Raider and Uncharted. I've played a lot of Indiana Jones video games over the years and the best parts of the games historically have been the puzzles, but I don't really think that's enough for a AAA game in 2024. This seems like Wolfenstein with Indiana Jones as a playable character.

The fact that they're even talking about it is a concession and acknowledgment that this is quite the choice.
 

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Family Feud Lol GIF by Steve Harvey




And we're off.
The best thing these dudes have done is HELPED on Doom 2016.

I didn’t like the new wolfensteins at all personally, but wolfenstein gameplay loop to Indiana jones is leaps and bounds different. Like you can’t inject heavy mayhem first person lineage into this kind of game. So… maybe they were the wrong folks to tackle this IP correctly?

Visuals are the best part just like wolfenstein to me.

Basically I’m not the target audience I guess but shit if it had been a third person game I would’ve been eager to try it day one to give them the benefit of the doubt.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
This is the Xbox tax. 🤷‍♂️

First person suddenly is controversial. No one could have seen this coming.
Suddenly first-person is a plight to humanity, Avowed looks like a Kinect game, The Outer Wilds was "terrible", Hellblade was wildly overrated, etc.. etc..


Wonder what caused such a dramatic shift in the narrative around these games and studios???

think sesame street GIF
Nonsense. There is no xbox tax. Especially on this forum that voted for Halo Infinite as GOTY in 2021, and rated Starfield over FF16 and Spiderman 2.

I made the poll partially because I knew people would dismiss criticism as fanboy bias. Lets face it, almost 3/4 of gamers feel the same way.

AKcjyer.jpg


Zaq2D7h.png
 

Mr Moose

Member
He said so when they bought Tomb Raider timed.
“Do I wish I had an owned IP [intellectual property] first-party action adventure game?” said Spencer. “Absolutely. But I don’t right now. This is one that fits well.”

Spencer revealed that he’s a fan of the PlayStation-exclusive Uncharted series, and that Microsoft has tried to make something comparable in the past.

“I’m a big fan of Uncharted,” said Spencer, “and I wish we had an action adventure game of that ilk. We’ve started some, and we’ve looked at them. But we don’t have one today of that quality. This [partnership with publisher Square Enix] is an opportunity.”
 
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Punished Miku

Gold Member
Phil wanted Xbox to have their own Uncharted, this could potentially have been that.
They got Plague Tale on GP day 1 and it didn't change much for them. Guardians of the Galaxy and Tomb Raider are probably the 2nd closest. That didn't change anything for them either and both of those studios had to be sold off. Rise of the Tomb Raider exclusivity was a famous debacle for Xbox. There's no better example of an Xbox tax than that. They had to literally apologize for it and tell everyone how long it was exclusive because of repeated interviews just like this one. They are smart to just focus on what they do well and do their own thing, imho. Hellblade is obviously going for the cinematic graphics crown, and I really don't need more than 1 game like that a whole generation.
 
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ManaByte

Gold Member

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
It just takes a small amount of loud people to start a negative narrative. The overwhelming silent majority votes without interacting here. Don't gaslight me with this bullshit.
So the overwhelming silent majority who voted for Starfield over Spiderman 2 counts but the overwhelming silent majority that said they like third person over first person dont? What?

Also, isnt starfield still mostly negative on steam. Is that silent majority or no?
 

Punished Miku

Gold Member
So the overwhelming silent majority who voted for Starfield over Spiderman 2 counts but the overwhelming silent majority that said they like third person over first person dont? What?

Also, isnt starfield still mostly negative on steam. Is that silent majority or no?
This thread is about Indiana Jones and I'll stick to that so I don't get banned. Read the OP, that's what we're talking about. I think it's ridiculous. I'm not talking about Halo GOTY or Starfield.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
I don't like the first person perspective for this game, but I'm keeping an open mind.

Went over to YouTube and watched some clips of the Chronicles of Riddick game I was crazy about back in the day. Knew I remembered right that they also switched to third person for cinematics and traversal stuff.

Basically same devs, and if they capture the same magic as that title, we’re in for a classic.

On a related note, seems like a low hanging fruit for someone to remake Riddick…I’m not sure it’s playable on any console these days.
I doubt it's the same devs, Riddick came out over 20 years ago and there are probably 5-10x the number of people working on this.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I don't know about any tax...but there's definitely a complex

Yep, who knew before yesterday that first person games are the literal spawn of satan.



I doubt it's the same devs, Riddick came out over 20 years ago and there are probably 5-10x the number of people working on this.

 
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analog_future

Resident Crybaby
Nonsense. There is no xbox tax. Especially on this forum that voted for Halo Infinite as GOTY in 2021, and rated Starfield over FF16 and Spiderman 2.

I made the poll partially because I knew people would dismiss criticism as fanboy bias. Lets face it, almost 3/4 of gamers feel the same way.

AKcjyer.jpg


Zaq2D7h.png

Read the comments yourself. I'm not necessarily saying this forum as a whole is PS centric, but there's absolutely a large swath of very prominent and outspoken members that troll solely because of the platform a game is on. The GOTY poll results for Starfield compared to the narrative around the game here should speak for itself. You'd think Starfield was the worst game of the year going off of a vast amount of comments here.

Not to mention that if you don't prefer first person, then don't play first person games. You don't need to comment on every FPS game thread declaring that it's the worst thing in the world. That'd be like going into the BG3 thread and declaring it a travesty because it's a CRPG or going into a Spider-Man 2 thread and saying it's garbage because it doesn't have deep RPG elements or branching storylines. It's just silly.

There's brigadiers in virtually every xbox-centric thread here declaring said game, or said publisher, or said showcase to be the scum of the earth. It's cringy and tiresome.
 
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Vick

Member
The best choice for it and what actually got me excited for the game. A new Indy adventure free from any kind of comparison whatsoever.

Many were apparently looking forward to something that had no chance in hell to be even close to things made almost ten years ago:

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But I for sure as fuck wasn't.

They did the smart thing for a million reasons actually. My most hyped game at the moment, already watched the trailer like 20 times.
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
On a related note, seems like a low hanging fruit for someone to remake Riddick…I’m not sure it’s playable on any console these days.

There's a remastered version of Butcher Bay on the 360/PS3 versions of Dark Athena and its pretty well done. A remaster absolutely zero people talk about lol

You'll have to dust off your 360 or PS3 though.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
Yep, who knew before yesterday that first person games are the literal spawn of satan.





Ah yes, the one guy who does everything to make a game like this.

Also: I bet if you ask this guy he would tell you he's not the guy he was 20 years ago. This whole "from the same devs:" thing is wildly overblown especially as the industry has gotten so much bigger and these devs have gotten older.
 
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