Recently I had the opportunity to sit in on a conference call with Iron Man 2’s Development Director Mike McHale and Producer Dean Martinetti. I noticed at the very beginning of the call that this wasn’t going to be your typical interview. Sure, Mike and Dean were full of excitement about the upcoming release of Sega and Marvel’s new comic-based game, Iron Man 2, but there was something deeper to their excitement. At first, I couldn’t put my finger on it. However, by the end of the call, not only did I know what was going on, but I also shared their enthusiasm.
Many press members were invited to sit in on the call. We were given the opportunity to question the developers about the game and what we can anticipate; basically it was supposed to be your typical press call, the type big studios have to drum up interest in a game. Before I get into the meat of the interview, I want to share a few points from my perspective.
I have often wondered if I have a skewed perspective when it comes to movie games. Granted, I have some strong feelings, like most gamers, about how bad they can be. However, in recent years, the Marvel games have impressed me. I enjoyed the first Iron Man game and loved the secret tie-in it had with The Incredible Hulk. I enjoyed the gameplay, though at times a bit complex. So, when I was invited to the call, I wasn’t sure at first what I would ask or even what to expect.
I actually thought the call would be your typical hype, with big talk about the movie tie-in, and that there would be a huge focus on the movie itself. I expected lots of marketing speak with structured responses with built-in key words like “action-packed, hyper-uber-ultra amazingly cool effects,” and other such jargon. What I didn’t expect was to hear the intensity of Mike’s and Dean’s fervor for this game. Sure, when working on a game, you get excited talking about it, and you talk it up. However, these two spoke with pure passion, the kind of excitement you hear from some kid playing the demo of a game in a local game store. It was the sort filled with awe and delivered with intense must-have drama that only something truly badass can summon. I could tell that Dean and Mike loved working on Iron Man 2; moreover, they enjoyed playing it, and for me, that was the most important part of the interview.
Mike started the interview by explaining the concept of Iron Man 2.
“The Iron Man 2 game is an extension of the film and allows you to further explore the Iron Man universe,” Mike said. “And you can play as Iron Man and, for the first time ever, play as War Machine. You can fully customize the suits, take them out and kick some butt! There is a wide range of destructibility, a lot of great villains taken directly from the comic books and a lot of the great characters taken from the film.”
When asked how close the game follows the movie, we learned a little more about Mike’s design philosophies in regards to licensed games.
“Traditionally movie games have tried to follow a movie beat by beat,” he said. “And then fill in the blanks in between, or tell the story of what’s happening just off camera ... I don’t really think following a movie scene by scene is the best way to make a movie game. What we have done [for Iron Man 2] is actually written a completely new story. We want the player to feel like they are part of and playing in the film universe. So we have taken great steps to recreate the characters and the environments of the film, but the story is completely new. This is so the user will never play scenes from the movie and retread old ground. And we [the development team] can actually design all the content for great gameplay rather than trying to shoehorn gameplay into scenes from the movie.”
What was exciting to hear was that Iron Man 2 will be a continuation of the film universe. So, after you watch the movie and feel like you want a little more, you can put the game disk in your favored system and continue the story.
Dean was asked what the team did to make the game better than the first. His responses were all about ease of use for the player. He promises flight is much better, and upgrading weapons and armor and melee fighting is all much easier. The idea being that Iron Man 2 will allow users to pick up the game and start playing with ease from the get-go, rather than having lengthy tutorial missions. He made a poignant statement that I could really feel the sincerity of.
“The team took all the feedback online and from the reviewers and anywhere they could get feedback and then asked, ‘How can we make this game better than the first?’ And that is exactly what we set out to do with Iron Man 2, to make a better game than the first one,” Dean said.
The team took the elements that worked from the first game, fixed what didn’t, and pushed the technology beyond what can be done on film. Mike eluded to some of the bosses being some of the biggest in any video game ever made, and certainly so large that they would have been impossible to be the film.
This is the moment the interview really took off. As they talked about the game, both Mike and Dean shared in their excitement about how Iron Man 2 is going to be an extremely fun game. With the abilities to fully customize suits, design weapons, design armor and then unleash the power of your own creativity, you really begin to feel like Tony Stark. The lab is a huge part of this game, and with a first-person perspective (from Tony’s point of view) in the lab, you will be able to design and combine weapons and projectiles in hundreds of possible configurations. Dean even spoke of a time when he mounted rocket packs on each shoulder and went out blazing the enemies with rocket volleys of 12 rounds each! It was fun listening to each of them speak, as they could hardly contain their excitement, and they wanted to share so much more than they could.
Mike and Dean made promises that there will be plenty of epic battles, inside and outside, as well as a new storyline written by Matt Fraction from Marvel Comics. All this news was above and beyond anything I expected. Add all of this with Mike’s and Dean’s personal experiences and intense descriptions of their game sessions, I couldn’t help but get excited about the upcoming summer blockbuster. Actually, I haven’t been this excited about a game since the announcement of Fallout 3 a few years ago. I eagerly anticipate Iron Man 2 and look forward to designing my very own can of whoop ass to unleash on Crimson Dynamo and any who intend to harm the innocent!
Iron Man 2 launches May 4, 2010, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PSP and DS. Keep an eye out for my review of the game shortly after!
