You probably already know that Sony’s LittleBigPlanet and its sequel allow players to let their imaginations run wild and create everything from silly catapults to actual working calculators.

But one gamer – London-based games journalist-turned music producer Chandra Nair – has used LittleBigPlanet 2 to create the music video to his latest song – with Sony’s blessing.

Chandra, who goes by the producer name Kick-Ass Trainers, explained to Video Games Daily what it took to put together the video She’s The One, which he co-wrote and recorded with fellow producer Laurence Allen.

“I’ve always thought that it would be pretty cool to do something with LBP, but it wasn’t until LBP2 came out that I actually sat down with it to see what the potential was.

“The first huge problem was that I had to complete the game to 100% to unlock all the materials and objects… nightmare!”

But how much of the video was really done in-game?

“In terms of what has been made in LBP2, I’d say 90% of it. Anywhere you see LBP characters is an LBP2 scene created in the game, from scratch. Creating the Lamborghini model was probably the biggest challenge of the entire project.

“The few exceptions have been created by animating photos, but this has only been done because I couldn’t find any other way to recreate it. The text overlays (such as where the ‘bon bon’ text spins in) is all done in After Effects.”

And if the song catches on, it got us thinking: could it end up on TV – and wouldn’t there be legal hassles?

“Sony has been really good with getting it through licensing”, Chandra reveals.

“The video originally had GT5 footage in place of all the car footage we’re now using, but Polyphony Digital didn’t even want to talk about it so we ended up making the car stages and the car in-game. The result is better because the video now has a consistent look and feel.”

“If/when the vid gets picked up by big music channels we could run into problems, as we’ve only been granted an online license. Oh well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it!”

If nothing else, it goes to show the potential of what you can do in LittleBigPlanet 2. Does Chandra reckon the same sort of thing could be achieved in another game?

“I honestly don’t think you could do this in any other game. I didn’t even know you could do this with LBP2 and people who have seen it have no idea the game is so flexible. The game does impose limitations on what you can do… but if you’re clever with camera positions you can do some great stuff.”

See what Kick-Ass Trainers get up to next on their Facebook Page.

And obviously, they are idiots.

According to this report, the angry fans’ issues are targeted at the PC version, and are as follows:

“PC users are upset that the game is a console port, and even includes references to turning off the ‘console’ when saving.”

I’ve played through both the Xbox 360 version and the PC version. The PC version is, as you’d expect, light years ahead. So regardless of how they developed the game internally, for all intents and purposes it may as well be the other way around. In addition, the console reference (oh no!) appears to have been removed. Portal 2 looks stunning on any platform, and if development had been led on PC first, do you honestly think it would look significantly better? The art in the game is beautiful and, both artistically and technically, it’s Valve’s most visually impressive game to date on console and PC. So who cares? Morons!

“The game’s short running time.”

You can’t be serious. Even on a second play through when I already know how to beat every level pretty fast, this is still at least a seven hour game by my timing and will be significantly more on the first play through. In an age where some game franchises hand in a major sequel with a campaign almost as a bonus feature to complement the multiplayer, Portal 2’s running time is actually quite optimal when you consider that every moment of the experience is fantastic. So what’s the problem? Morons!

“The online store, which is already filled with downloadable content”

I can sort of understand this one, a little. But not really. The DLC is just non-essential add-on tat, such as additional “gestures” and skins for use in co-op play: all rather superfluous and I wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole, but y’know, it’s there if you want it – and at least it’s there on day one IF YOU DO. What does it matter whether DLC comes now or later? If there’s any further, proper DLC on the way then I’ll be looking forward to it. But some costumes and other store crap? Who cares? Morons!

“The controversial ARG promotional campaign – which tempted players into buying unrelated indie titles.”

So let me get this right. A company has a product launch. And in the run up to said product launch they do various kinds of marketing, including some alternative reality game nonsense, if you like that kind of thing. And, in said marketing, they have the audacity to try and market some other stuff on the side? No way! That’s good marketing, last time I checked. Does this have anything at all to do with Portal 2, the finished product? No, it does not. Morons!

I know these childish users have already been chastised around half the Internet, but I just couldn’t resist.

Read our Portal 2 review from yesterday morning here if you still haven’t heard what makes it so great.

For me it was because of the arguably still-unmatched Half-Life 2 series, combined with the first Portal – one of the most pleasant surprises to come out of any studio in this generation of gaming.

While the first Portal introduced players to the series’ now-trademark wit, charming art style and most importantly, the best 3D puzzle-solving action gaming ever conceived, ultimately it felt like rather a small, if perfectly formed little game.

And there’s a good reason that Portal 2 has taken this long to surface. It’s Valve we’re talking about here – and Valve seldom does things half assed.

GLaDOS is one of gaming's best loved characters. Will she still have the attitude this time around?

Portal 2 not only lasts as long as most any other full-price release you could mention these days, it also feels like a full-price epic in terms of its awesome production values, fantastic audio visual presentation, much broader art style, settings, characters and more developed narrative than the original ever set out to accomplish.

It’s one of the few games this year I was really excited about and after losing a night of decent sleep literally dreaming about how to solve one of the game’s trickier puzzles, I’m pleased to say I’m not disappointed.

My fear was that Valve would just offer some rehashed puzzles we already got in the original, tack on some random gameplay mechanics, while investing a bit more time, money and manpower to soup up the graphics and sound… but not much else.

You'll see a more diverse set of environments in Portal 2.

Well… they certainly souped up the graphics and sound. There are some scenes in this sequel that really blew me away. The whole art style of the game retains the character and charm of the original but does it real justice with a more elaborately constructed world and a richer palette, which features several further types of environment than we found in the clinical-looking box-world from before.

Admittedly most time is spent in Aperture’s “test chambers” (though even these exude a lot more personality than before, because of the decay that has occurred in the unknown amount of time since the first game was set), but you will also see jungle-like and factory-style settings that border on Pixar-like beauty at times.

And sure, some gameplay elements have been added, but fortunately not randomly tacked on. Just as every gameplay element was perfectly realised in the level design of the original, so too is the new stuff in Portal 2.

There are three different coloured “gels” (that look like big blobby coloured paint) that when applied to certain surfaces (often via portal use, obviously) produce different effects – running faster on red, jumping higher from blue, and the ability to convert many non-portal-able surfaces to portal-able ones using white.

The creative direction Valve's taken with Portal 2 can't be gleamed from screens and videos alone. The way story, characters and game experience come together is masterful.

Several other strange and funky new mechanics have been added but I think it makes most sense to let players discover them for themselves, because this stuff is better experienced than explained. Rest assured: it all works wonderfully in gameplay and puzzle-solving terms, and is exactly the kind of serving I was looking for above and beyond what I already got from the original. If you’re worried about just replaying the same levels or that Portal 2 might be more about nostalgia than innovation, don’t be.

Special mention must go the game’s audio production, which just like previous Valve work, is really outstanding. The soundtrack on the whole is suitably epic and on some levels, where tension is starting to build, the behaviour of (often essential off-screen) gameplay elements even affects the chords of the music, which is really proper next-gen audio production, folks.

But the audio also benefits in a BIG way from the excellent contribution of famous UK actor Stephen Merchant (of The Office fame) alongside the returning voice of GLaDOS, as well as the (at least to me) surprise introduction of J.K. Simmons (you know, the newspaper editor in the Spider-Man movies, and the CIA supervisor in Burn After Reading).

This cast comes together unbelievably well as it interacts with the Freeman-like silence of singleplayer character Chell not only in terms of casting and voice acting, but in terms of narrative as we continue to learn more and more about the personalities, stories and histories of this bizarre group, even after the game is finished. The cocktail Valve has come up with on this front is, simply, creative genius.

Plenty of surprises await.

While I did get stuck on two levels in the immensely entertaining singleplayer (for which I think Valve should consider a “hints” option after a very large amount of time in a level passes, or if less skilled players choose to play on an “easy” setting), I’d still easily put the single player at 8 hours+ even for players who don’t get stuck much. Challenge on the whole is rewarding, and about the same as the first game.

And when every level is so well realised, that makes this a smart, stimulating singleplayer experience that’s absolutely not to be missed.

Ed already discussed much of what works well in multiplayer in a separate feature, so I’ll take the easy option of echoing that – really this helps complete a superb end product from Valve. Having said that, while I appreciate the Directors’ Commentary that’s been included, it would have been nice to see some sort of time trials or other play-through extras to add longevity.

Buy it. For science.

Portal 2 is also the reason why, with talk concerning Half-Life 2: Episode 3 once again hotting up recently, I have new faith that the series’ send-off will not only be fantastic but hopefully a whole lot more than we got in the first two brilliant episodes.

At a time when so many games just look and feel more and more the same to me, Portal 2 is unique and wonderful. Clearly it’s going to be one of the best sequels in gaming this year, and it won’t surprise me to see people saying it’s the one they liked best.

Buy it on PC, Steam, Xbox 360 or PS3. (Xbox 360 version tested).

Meanwhile, it’s business as usual at VGD – or at least it will be as soon as we get some fresh blood! We’re looking for talented young writers to add unique gaming opinion and develop the passionate coverage that’s kept VGD a prominent gaming site for more than eight years.

Breaking into full time games journalism might not be a cakewalk, but look: we also know there’s a million and one game sites out there, and eager bloggers who want to be seen have a lot of choice. So, I actually think we need to “sell” this a little bit…

Cunningly, we went back to Edwin and other previous staff to get their views on working with VGD and its key staff (me) and what it did for their careers, to outright “prove” why things tend to work out pretty well for our staff. Here’s what they said!

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell, Online Editor, OXM UK
Worked for Video Games Daily as Editor from 2009-2011

“My earliest memory of Adam is of a guy loudly inquiring of a PR rep whether, in the absence of a promised scoop, he should ‘go fuck a sheep’. This will tell you one thing about the man, other than that he’s never at a loss for a choice word: he believes in cutting the crap. To give a related example, my interview for the position of Kikizo editor consisted of being handed a bag of unreleased games, a list of embargo dates and a pint of Becks.

You’ll want to work with Adam for a few reasons. Firstly, his industry access - name a member of the games biz, and there’s a good chance Adam’s on speaking and/or drinking terms with them. He was first to the punch with a PlayStation 3 hands-on and has sat down with everyone from Satoru Iwata to Kaz Hirai. And after working with Kikizo for two years, I’d chewed the fat with luminaries as diverse as Chet Faliszek, Ray Muzyka, Suda51 and (bizarrely) Alesha Dixon.

Secondly, his unusual combination of publishing experience; Adam has continued to refine his offering to suit different market scenarios. What this will mean for you is a boss who’s always supporting you in new situations as a writer, allowing you to build up skills and experience across a range of publications, on and offline.

Most importantly of all, he will generally insist on paying for your drink. Rare qualities in an employer, I’m sure you’ll agree.”

Andy Robinson, Deputy Editor, CVG
Worked for Kikizo from 2003-2005 as Staff Writer

“I can definitively state I wouldn’t be in the position I am today if it weren’t for my fantastic time and vital experience gained working with Kikizo. Adam’s years of experience running a games media company offers budding online games journalists actual work experience and contact building that’s near-impossible through schooling alone.

Thanks to Adam’s mentorship and my time writing for Kikizo and learning the trade at E3 and other industry events, at a young age I managed to quickly build a name for myself and secure a position at Future Publishing.

It’s testament to the effectiveness of actual work experience in the games industry and its value to employers that so many of Adam’s writers have gone on to full time work in the games industry, media and otherwise.”

Ian Dransfield, PLAY Magazine
Worked for Kikizo from 2005-2009 as Reviewer

“Working with Adam, albeit from a distance, was certainly a good experience for me. He’s a friendly, personable editor, as up front and straightforward as he is helpful. Kikizo is a fine place for anybody to hone their writing skills – you’re never stifled, never asked to write in a particular ‘voice’ and always allowed to be yourself in everything you do. It’s a great place to encourage creativity, of that there’s no doubt.

Kikizo made up part of the early steps of my career in games journalism and was a huge help to getting my foot in the door – something that’s legendarily difficult in this industry. Without the experience and without the help of Adam I doubt I would have been able to get my professional career off the ground, at least not as quickly as I did.”

So, there you have it.

If you’re serious about getting into games media or want to take a few steps up that ladder, Video Games Daily is proven to be one of the best places any aspiring games journo can showcase their work.

This time we’re open to applications from bloggers everywhere. London-based staff will benefit in certain aspects of coverage (this is where all the UK events happen and where all the games get sent to us), however the site has always maintained an international spirit, and we want to continue that with enthusiastic, talented blog contributors who have something interesting to say, no matter where they’re based!

We’re looking for a range of applicants right now – there are no particular roles we’re defining up front, to be honest. We’re just going to see what fits.

Impress us: Email us at jobopps [at] kikizo [dot] com and explain why you’d be great for VGD, along with relevant work examples (doesn’t have to be published, but does need to either be awesome or show potential!) and a CV/resume (doesn’t matter if it’s basic).

Whether you’re the games reviewer the internet doesn’t even know it needs yet, an opinionated industry analyst in the making, or fancy taking on a broad challenge on the site, get in touch! Who knows where it might take you…

Get the no-nonsense lowdown from myself, MSN’s Simon Munk, Gamesweasel’s Matt Cuttle, Andy Robinson and John Houlihan from CVG, and a bit of Konami’s Jon Murphy and Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton thrown in for good measure.

Since this interview was about the only thing I did in Amsterdam resembling “work”, I thought it sensible to throw out an update. Click through to go and see the video…

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I review 

Last night I was hanging around in Soho with a friend, enjoying a sneaky Sunday pint outside one of our favourite pubs. Randomly, one of the UK games industry’s better known PR people strolled past; he was in town for a preview event taking place just this morning. In our catch-up banter, we discovered that despite being mercilessly immersed in gaming, we both have a huge pile of games to get through but just haven’t got around to playing them. 

For him, the issue is a lack of time to actually play though any games (which makes sense, as I know he works really hard to keep us games media types happy). But for me these days, it seems to be more a question of apathy towards actually playing through lengthy video games in general. I’ve felt this way for about the last year; I just haven’t fancied devoting the time required to play through any of the last year’s major releases. Not even the furore of Modern Warfare 2 or the charm of Mario Galaxy 2 tempted me; I’ve just felt like I’d rather spend my leisure time doing other stuff. I had quietly, almost guiltily been wondering: do I no longer care about my most important pastime? 

The reason I’m mentioning all this here is because I had a sneaky feeling that Sonic 4 might change this current ‘lull’ in my attitude towards spending time playing games.

Bosses are remixed from classic Sonic 1 and 2 encounters.

I knew that Sonic 4 would be one of probably two games released this year which I would medically need to play (the other being Portal 2), mainly because of how emotionally invested in each series I have been in the past. (Particularly Sonic, without which I would probably never have ended up becoming involved in games in the first place). I also knew that since Sonic 4 was being released episodically, it probably wouldn’t be too large a time investment. 

So when Sega’s friendly PR man gave me a PSN code to download the game last week, I switched on a console with an itch to play a game (rather than watch a Blu-ray or DVD) for the first time in literally months – since Super Street Fighter IV, I think. (Actually I had already been playing Sonic 4 on iPhone, released on App Store last Thursday, but the console version – released later this week – is a whole lot more impressive).

Screaming ‘Classic Sega’, Sonic 4 is simple, beautiful, slick, and for me, one of those rare titles that reminds me why I liked playing games in the first place. It’s a nice blend of classic 2D Sonic gameplay with modern, impressive HD graphics. By the time I finished playing through, I realised my assumptions were right: I feel like I suddenly care about games again! And I felt excited enough to steal the review opportunity from our regular editors. 

Lost Labyrinth zone is a thing of exquisite beauty...

Sega’s done away with the extended cast of characters (everyone – including Tails – is OUT) and now it’s just Sonic against Dr Robotnik, just like the old days. It nicely echoes the much-requested ‘back to basics’ approach in Sonic 4, and fortunately the game lives up to expectations – it’s actually worthy of being the first ‘numbered’ entry in the original series in sixteen years. 

My biggest concern about the game from having seen the trailers and gameplay footage was that the core physics seemed a little bit off, but exactly the opposite is true. Sonic’s overall movement has been updated slightly since the originals, and after a few minutes of initial play it feels really natural, and actually more dynamic; in particular I like the stronger link between jumping and momentum, Sonic’s improved vertical running strength, and most of all the precise level of directional control you have over him at all times – whether on the ground or while in the air. The fusion of the more modern, 3D Sonic-era ‘homing attack’ with old-school 2D gameplay ingredients actually works quite wonderfully; I think they’ve got the core control just right and the resulting pace of gameplay matches the style of level design rather well. (It does feel a little bit tricky on the iPhone at times, but with a real controller there are no real concerns). 

Mad Gears zone is a bit like Metropolis from Sonic 2, but not quite as ball-breakingly tough.

It can’t really be said that in terms of raw level design – the way that platforms, enemies and bonuses are lovingly positioned – that these levels match the genius of the original Sonic, although to be fair it’s not that far off. There were only a couple of areas I actually thought were ‘bad’ (both in the otherwise exceptionally beautiful ‘Lost Labyrinth’ zone). One involved a pesky switch puzzle that felt somewhat out of place in the overall scheme of things, and the other was simply a matter of the game not telling me I needed to use the analogue stick to get from A to B rather than awkwardly trying to jump through the section – it took me about 50 deaths to figure that one out, and there seems to be no reason why the d-pad is rendered useless in that particular area.

Unless you only started following the video game ‘scene’ in the last couple of years, chances are you know already who Ed Fries is.

The popular industry exec was one of the original visionaries behind the first Xbox, and was loved by gamers for bringing about some of the system’s biggest and best franchises.

One of them was a little game called Halo. Back in our classic 2005 video interview with Ed, he tells us a bit more about the story behind that one – but today we’re not looking at Halo, its sequels or the upcoming Halo: Reach. That’s because Ed Fries is back with a “new” Halo you never expected: Halo 2600.

The title, developed by Ed in his spare time over the last six months, imagines what it would be like to have created a Halo game back in the days of the ancient Atari 2600 console.

Understandably, we were endeared to the project as soon as we heard about it, and earlier this evening fired off an email to Ed to see if he’d let us in on the story.

“The memories it brought back were more like, ‘Hey it’s fun to make games!’ And ‘Hey, I can still do this’”, he told us in the email.

“The 2600 is very difficult to program, and so it presents a really interesting and fun kind of challenge. Very good development tools exist these days so I really enjoyed the whole experience.”

Here at VGD we typically feel upbeat about games these days, with all the innovation that’s going on all the time. But occasionally, you can understand some gamers’ views about lack of originality in games when they talk about too many sequels or whatever.

So does Ed think developers should maybe think back to what made games fun in the 2600 era?

Who says Atari 2600 games can't fly off the shelves these days?

“It’s funny but I was thinking about it in the opposite way: ‘Have we learned anything over the last 30 years that would make games more fun if we could go back in time and live under the same constraints as existed in the old days, or have all the advances just come from the hardware getting more capable over time?’ I’m not sure Halo 2600 answers that question or not but it’s fun to think about.”

OK, so we’re guessing Ed still has a few contacts at Microsoft, despite leaving the company around more than six years ago. Why doesn’t he see if they’d like to put Halo 2600 out on Live Arcade or as a hidden easter egg in Halo Reach?

“If they want to do something with it they are welcome to it”, he explains.

“I tried to keep a few people at Bungie and at Microsoft in the loop during development just in case they were going to get upset about what I was doing but they never discouraged me, so I just kept plugging away.”

I'd rather play Halo 2600 than Halo Reach right now...

Find out more about Halo 2600 at the official site here. Meanwhile, though, what else has Ed been up to? As always, he’s always working on something:

“I’m doing some stuff with 3D UI through a cool company called Canesta, and that makes me think that the combination of 3D (Kinect-like) UI combined with 3D vision could be something really new and compelling.”

We look forward to learning more about that. But if 3D seems too expensive and Atari-era graphics aren’t quite your thing, then head here to find out what Bungie might be working on next back on planet earth…

Continue to page 2 for Ed’s “About Halo 2600″ document which has a ton more info.

A not very long time ago in a conference chamber not very far away we had the opportunity to chat with Jake Neri, Producer with LucasArts on Star Wars: The Old Republic, the hotly anticipated BioWare-developed PC MMO. Here are the results. For maximum impact, print the article onto cellophane and move it slowly past eye-level whilst staring at a map of the constellations.

VGD: You have an incredible amount of spoken dialogue in this game, and in three languages to boot! Can you talk me through how you’ve pulled that off?

Jake Neri: Well we’re still in the middle of developing that. It’s a tremendous effort, we have a huge team collaborating on that both at LucasArts and at BioWare studios in Austin and Edmonton are working on that project. It is a massive undertaking, but the pay-off for the player is really huge, and I think that was something that we decided early on – when we wanted to go to full-voice, we wanted to make sure we could do that in all the key languages, to reach as many as people as possible. We’re trying to create a world phenomenon with the game, we don’t think we can do that unless you can hear it in the language which you speak.

Looks like an Inquisitor player to us.

VGD: Do you think this game will convert many Star Wars fans to MMO fans?

Neri: I think so, yeah, I definitely think so. That’s one of our goals. We understand the Star Wars audience pretty deeply, we’re very fortunate to be very much in touch with those fans. At LucasArts it’s a big part of what we’re doing, trying to understand those fans, because they’re are passionate and they’re all out there. We also know from working on things like Galaxies we have no problem with attracting people to the genre just based on the fact that it is Star Wars. So we feel like a lot of the things we’re doing – the story, trying to make you feel like a hero early on, trying to make sure that the combat is cinematic and action-packed – we think those things will bring in new players and we’re hoping they are. At the same time, there are hardcore MMO players that are going to want to play this as well, so we’re making sure that the game fulfils their expectations as well.

VGD: MMOs don’t tend to blow people’s minds with their production values. Do you think gamers in this genre really care for that kind of thing, and are you trying to raise the bar?

Neri: It’s one of the huge technical hurdles in the MMO biz. We can’t always control the scene like you can in a single player game, we have certain limitations with physics, right, we can’t do as much physics at any one time. Because in one scene you might have 250 people on-screen, and you can’t control the environment as well as you can in single player. Now that being said, as far as inside the genre goes, we’re certainly trying to push the boundaries of what you can and can’t do. Combat is a perfect example – very cinematic, very heroic, all over the map, lots of flips and acrobatics, lots of choreography in our swordplay, the ability to block blaster bolts, use force powers…

VGD: Old Republic takes place 3000 years before the original film trilogy, but after the events of the Knights of the Old Republic games. What state is the universe in at present?

Neri: It’s an interesting time. The Sith are there, and they’re ready to do some serious damage… The Sith are different in our world than they are anywhere else. We’ve heard a lot of questions about will we answer what happens in KOTOR 1 and 2. We don’t have a ton of detail on that, we know fans want to understand that, so perhaps we’ll address that at some point.

Somebody's just burned his own fringe off.

VGD: BioWare must be pretty clued-up on the Star Wars franchise by now, having developed KOTOR. How would you characterise your relationship with them?

Neri: They’re very familiar, and I would say that we have a really excellent relationship with them. It’s very collaborative, very free, we trust them quite a bit. They know Star Wars very well. And they have contributed quite heavily to it, in all honesty, so they’re a key trusted partner for sure.

VGD: I’m sure there’s always been a sizeable percentage of Star Wars fans at BioWare.

Neri: Absolutely. They’ve done a great job. KOTOR 1 was an amazing game that they were responsible for, along with the folks at LucasArts. Again, they’re a good partner.

VGD: Thanks for talking to us, Jake.

The game’s slated for a Spring 2011 release.

Depending on who you read, real-time strategy is dead, dying or cuddled up in a leather armchair somewhere polishing its war medals and writing angry letters to the local gazette. The genre needs a shot in the arm, and what better franchise to wield the syringe than Command & Conquer, one of the oldest and most successful of top-down tank molesters. At a recent EA showcase, we caught up with Raj Joshi, producer on Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, for his thoughts on base-building, the competition and whether you really can squeeze the full range of options into an Xbox 360 controller.

VideoGamesDaily: Hello Raj, thanks for chatting with us. Do you think this kind of preview event does justice to a game, particularly an RTS title like this one? You don’t really get to experience the feature set in full…

Raj Joshi: I think it works pretty good, getting everybody together for the first time for a hands on on multiplayer, getting into a match and seeing how it comes alive dynamically with many people. We’ve been doing hands-on one-on-one through the single player campaign, and I think that although single player’s very important for Command and Conquer because a lot of people try to do that, I think our game really shines when you have five team-mates, you get to see the three different classes in action and work together with people.

So we’ve had some people play through three to four rounds, I think that’s where people get the real taste of it. It is tough because you need long enough to tech up and really get a feel for things, get well-versed… But I think it’s a good taste. Definitely better than half an hour sitting down with the single player campaign, trying to get through a mission, and trying to base an opinion on that. I think this is a little better than our single player stuff we’ve been doing lately.

VGD: Obviously the fanbase for the core series is huge and passionate, but do you think that the fourth game is one newcomers will get into?

Joshi: I think more so than before, having the mobile crawler, the class choice which hopefully will appeal to first-person shooter multiplayer players, where it’s more focussed. Rather than having all 88 units accessible at once and trying to figure out your path, you pick a class and that kind of determines your play style. Having that mobile base and not having to do Tiberium harvesting will hopefully help people jump in, and not having as many units to control at once. Plus the play style of multiplayer is more like first person shooter mode, where it’s kind of this domination style capturing of control points.

We’re hoping all these things kind of added together will make it easier to get into. It’s not a casual game by any stretch of the information, but I think more casual than, like, Red Alert 3, where the build order was very specific, all the units were very specifically good at one little thing. So that one was very oriented to the micromanaging player.

The man himself.

VGD: The C&C fan community is particularly close to the development team. Does the new game owe much to this relationship?

Joshi: Definitely. One thing, as far as the story goes, is that we’ve really researched everything the community has written over the past 15 years and integrated a lot of their lore into the way we’re wrapping up the Tiberium saga. So a lot of the key story points came from the community as well, and then were bedded back out with the community again.

Will it be on the PS3 or won’t it? Will Shepherd be in one piece by the finale or won’t he? Will you be able to jump twixt the sheets with the entire cast, or just its female members? Questions hang round Mass Effect 2 like bits of shrapnel in zero-G. Here are answers to a few of them, care of game producer Adrien Cho.

VideoGamesDaily: So, Mass Effect 2. The first one was obviously a highly acclaimed game, but it came out in the midst of a lot of exclusive content on Xbox 360. Do you think it got a fair share of the attention?

Adrien Cho: I thought actually Microsoft was a really good publishing partner, they really supported us, and they recognised what a unique IP Mass Effect became. And they helped foster that, and allowed us to do a lot of different things. And with a sequel now I think we’re able to branch out more with EA to an all-new audience. So I felt that we’re only going to be able to reach out to more people with the new game, hopefully people who didn’t get a chance to play Mass 1. One of the goals was to say “hey, give it a try – we’ve made everything a little more accessible, combat, the shooter aspects of it.” We want people who’ve never even played an RPG, who don’t consider themselves RPG players, but are maybe drawn towards the sci-fi aspects of it, the shooting aspects of it… This game will hold up with the best shooters out there, and you get some real cool role-playing elements as well.

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VGD: With the greatest respect to the Old Republic guys, I feel like their title and many others in this genre has this sterile feel to it. Whereas with Mass Effect, the environment is much deeper, much richer.

Cho: I’m so proud of our art team. The end product is just amazing.

VGD: All these effects, all these lighting and filter tricks – you just don’t get that level of quality in many PC titles…

Cho: I think we really pushed the hardware a lot in Mass 1, and the great thing about Mass 2, with all aspects of Mass 2, is that we’re even more familiar with it. So from a gameplay side, from a design side, to the writing, we’re able to squeeze even more out. By the time we shipped Mass 1, we started to plan for Mass 2, and we immediately knew the areas where it was like “hey, I think we can do this better, we can get more detail in it.” And you can just see the environments, they’re absolutely amazing, like – you get this expanse of city out here, the flares, the buildings…

VGD: I like the grain effect in the distance.

Cho: Yeah, the fog – even the small stuff, seemingly the background stuff is just as detailed, if you look at the walls…

VGD: This is Unreal Engine 3 tech, right?

Cho: It’s Unreal. We’ve really pushed Unreal. I don’t recall a game using Unreal tech that looks quite like ours, and I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved with the art style.

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VGD: And you were an artist originally, so presumably you’ve had a personal investment in this aspect of the product.

Cho: I was lead tech on Mass 1, and I continued to do that role a bit into Mass 2, but I evolved into more of a production role, and I gave up the tech/art role too a good friend of mine. But early on when we started Mass 2, one of the things we felt we could improve upon was the blurred textures. That’s part of the nature of the technology we’re using, but I was like “we’re going to solve that problem.” So I bet my friend – the lead cinematic animator – a case of beer that we will fix that problem. I’ve got a lot riding on that! [laughs] Aside from the pride, I’ve got some beer to make sure that the game looks a high def and as polished as possible.