Silent Storm Interview #2

To gamers who favor the computer role-playing genre, Nival Interactive is a highly recognizable name, possibly the most familiar of the many studios located in Eastern Europe. Based in the Russian capital of Moscow, the company has earned a reputation for itself internationally by producing a succession of interesting titles combining RPG and strategy elements. First among these were the Rage of Mages titles, called Allods in their home market, followed by Evil Islands: Curse of the Lost Soul, a successor in spirit if not in name. Subsequently, we have seen Etherlords and Etherlords II. All of these have shared a leaning toward the realm of fantasy, but Silent Storm will bring this string to an end. When it reaches the market in the fairly near future, its action will take place in Europe during World War II.

Within two independent campaigns, one for each side, the player will undertake secret missions behind enemy lines while leading an elite squad of no more than five selected from a pool comprising over 40 soldiers of 30 different nationalities. The equipment available to them will include some 75 weapons ranging from commando daggers to hand-held rocket launchers and various experimental prototypes. A couple of other notable features are a non-linear campaign structure with 24 missions plus the ability to embark on an unlimited number of automatically generated missions, multiple ways to accomplish almost any objective, and an interactive environment with fully deformable geometry that reportedly will let you destroy anything. Although we've kept the game square in our sites for some time, we were pleased when we received the opportunity to learn more about it from Project Leader Dmitry Zakharov.

Dmitry Zakharov: The Silent Storm team is made up of game industry professionals who were in game production before they came to work at Nival. Most of them were involved to some degree with our previous projects including the Rage of Mages series, Evil Islands, Etherlords and Blitzkrieg, our recent WWII RTS. The strength of the team really lies in the members' diverse range of interests - something that really shines through in Silent Storm's design.

RPG Vault: As we all know, there have been other 3D turn-based games. How do you differentiate your game from the rest?

Dmitry Zakharov: Silent Storm offers many revolutionary features, but the one that really stands out is the ability to completely destroy objects and structures. This affects tactics and gameplay like nothing else before it - no longer are you limited to going in the front door, up a flight of stairs or over some obstacle. With the right weapon, you can shoot through almost anything, anywhere in the game. This gives you the freedom to play the way you want to, not the way a level designer chooses.

RPG Vault: Do you tend to look at other titles while you're developing a game? What influences you during the development process?

Dmitry Zakharov: We always keep an eye on what else is out there and being developed - after all, we PLAY games too! But, games that are being developed at the same time as ours have little effect on our development process. That's because we believe strongly that the vision for a game must be in place before you even start the project - and the success of any game depends on seeing that vision through to completion.

Another important influence is feedback from gamers. We keep in close contact with them through our forums and give consideration to their remarks and wishes. This helps us to make better games.

RPG Vault: What are you willing to tell our readers about Silent Storm's storyline? What are the primary and secondary objectives?

Dmitry Zakharov: It's 1943, and you've been chosen to lead an elite multinational squad behind enemy lines to gather secret information and sabotage your enemy's war efforts. That's your main objective at first, but there is an entire sub-plot underneath that you'll be clued in on as you advance through the two campaigns. With every bit of information you acquire, you will start to feel your objectives shift. You will also have a lot of choices because the storyline isn't scripted - it's based on what you find and where you decide to gather other clues.

You will also have nearly unlimited opportunities to engage in random encounters. These help you strengthen your squad's skills and prepare for the next objective. In other words, we've prepared a lot of surprises for you. :)