Read on.

Imre Jele, Volatile Games' Project Director of Dead to Rights: Retribution

Aggrogamer: How did you become involved with this project? What made Namco bring the franchise back after such a long period?

Imre Jele: The Dead to Rights franchise has never really been forgotten about. Namco looked at several ideas over the years but wasn't really able to find one to meet their high expectations for this new episode.

Blitz Games Studios had some ongoing projects with NBGA and in one of our meetings, our Volatile Games division proposed a complete reboot of the Dead to Rights franchise, reimagining the story from day one and rebuilding the game play from scratch.

Aggrogamer: When re-imaging the franchise what approach did you take to the game design? What sets this game apart from, not only its predecessors, but from other titles that have re-envisioned their respective franchises?

Imre Jele: The games industry is moving forward at an amazing pace. It’s not only that raw computing power is massively increasing with every generation of console, but also the raft of brand new technological solutions and ever changing game play mechanics on offer. For example, the way player health or character control is handled is fundamentally different compared with a few years ago.

With Dead to Rights: Retribution, we wanted to create a game that is still recognizably part of the franchise but also suitable for a new generation of players. So, we took the best and coolest elements of the original game and then constructed a whole new experience around them.

Our Focus mode and Takedown system for example, should bring back the favorite moments of the original game, but they are embedded within a brand new combat system. We created a groundbreaking system that seamlessly combines third person fighting and shooting elements along with a commandable AI partner, which allows the player to decide how he wants to fight the enemies.

Aggrogamer: Are you concerned that the new direction might alienate existing fans?

Imre Jele: This is a brand new game, with a fresh take on the story and game play, but we also put a lot of effort into making sure it remains faithful to the original. I’m confident that both fans of the original game and players that are new to Grant City will love it.

Aggrogamer: One of the hallmarks of the series has been the inventive combat, and it seems you all have upped the ante as far as that goes? What can we expect from Retribution as far as combat is concerned?

Imre Jele: Yes, players will find a brand new combat system in Dead to Rights: Retribution. We wanted to portray a true action hero and make sure Jack can use his guns, fists and his dog at the same time to fight the enemy.

If Jack is unarmed and faced with three armed enemies, the player can grab one of the bad guys and throw him into the next one. As they both fall, Jack can disarm the third guy and finish him with a head shot using his own weapon. He can then turn to face the recovered first enemy and use a couple of combos to execute him with a vicious Takedown move. Finally, Jack can set Shadow on the final guy and listen to him screaming as he walks away. In this scenario, Jack takes out three bad guys in less than three seconds, using three different game play mechanics. That pretty much sums up Dead to Rights: Retribution.

Aggrogamer: From a storyline perspective, will we see bits and pieces lifted from the previous titles in the series? Something for the stalwart fans of the franchise? "Hard-Boiled" easter eggs, so to speak?

Imre Jele: We show how Jack and Shadow first started to fight crime together. We kept all the major characters, places and even some events from the original game, although some of them only have cameo appearances. My favorite is Preacherman, who only made it to one scene but is so utterly cool that he almost steals the show from Jack.

Aggrogamer: Stylistically, are you still drawing from Hong Kong action cinema and "gun-fu"? What other influences are you pulling from.

Imre Jele: We drew inspiration from loads of different action movies and games, but there have been many, probably more surprising sources, like classical Film Noir pieces. The combination of these gives us ‘Game Noir’, which uses many of the classic storytelling devices and visuals as a backdrop for a relentless action experience.

Aggrogamer: With Retribution, it seems like Grant City is really taking on a life of its own - what steps were taken to make the city feel more alive?

Imre Jele: Absolutely, Grant City is a character in its own right and an integrated part of the story but probably the most important aspect of the city is its visual quality. As Art Manager, Ian Pestridge summed up recently: “We wanted to fully immerse the player in a truly believable Neo-Noir dystopia. Grant City is a decaying metropolis in its autumn years reflected in its rusting architecture and bleak statues.

We spent a lot of time researching comparable American cities and created a huge amount of concept art. These not only helped the environmental artists, but gave inspiration to character artists and level designers alike. We even created a huge 6x2m mural in our office portraying Grant City.

Aggrogamer: Can we expect downloadable content to expand the game's universe? New areas or characters? Or missions that delve deeper into another character's background, Frank Slate for example?

Imre Jele: We’re planning on releasing a selection of DLCs. The first two – the Jack and Shadow Packs – will be available on the day of release for players who pre-ordered the game from participating retailers. These packs offer cool features like Action mode, which really pushes this already over-the-top action game to the max by turning Jack’s ammunition into explosive rounds, or Shadow’s camouflage which hides him from the enemies while also giving him an all-new look. There’ll be more also but I can’t tell you about that just yet! Watch this space for more information soon.

Aggrogamer: What kind of combat finishers can we look forward to? What ideas never made it into the game because they were too over the top? What do you find yourself using the most playing through the game?

Imre Jele: Well, Shadow’s playfully named “Teste-kill” seems to have grabbed plenty of attention so far, but there are many others. Jack has Takedowns for every weapon category, including grenades, but my favorite is the Sniper gun finishing move.

The creative meetings around the execution moves of our lead characters were both disturbing and absolutely hilarious in equal measures. A meeting where you can get rewarded for the suggestion, “what if the dog rips the bad guy’s balls off?” is a meeting I want to be at! In the end we didn’t hold back and players can enjoy Jack’s and Shadow’s savage moods in all their full, bloody glory.

Dead to Rights: Retribution will be hitting store shelves April 13, 2010. I dub this day: Testuesday. Lastly, here's a developer diary that discusses the creation of the main anti-hero and his trusty sidekick.