Andy Grimbal talks Girl-Power

It's time for us to remember the great Heroine Joan of Arc, this time, by playing the game. Wars&Warriors: Joan of Arc is the new game created by Enlight, soon to be released by the end of this year. We talked to Andy Grimbal, Game Designer at Enlight, and asked him a few questions about the game strategy and how Joan is portraited as a character.

WarCry: Begin my first telling us about the story line; most Joan of Arc movies were exaggerated dramatic. Is the game story composed in the same way?

Andy: Not at all - we do not want to portray her as a victim of the times. We want to portray her as the courageous and inspirational leader that everyone knows, with her immense courage and tremendous leadership skills. As such, we steered clear of all the voices and foreboding commonly associated with Joan of Arc (especially in the movies). This is a liberty we took with the overall design direction in Wars and Warriors: Joan of Arc. Besides, how exciting would it be for the player if they were constantly reminded that their heroine/avatar is on a collision course with death?

WarCry: If we take three things in consideration; the player can only play one side, (The French) the game has no multiplayer feature and the story is predictable - what things make the game to have more variety and fun to play?

Andy: There are many excellent games out there that do not necessarily adhere to the now popular "multiplayer" craze going on. For instance, some of the most celebrated games in gaming history were single-player games. Take for instance the Super Mario series or the recent GTA3 and Vice City. There is no online component - in fact, there is only one character to control, yet that did not affect the success of the game or players from wanting to get involved in the storyline over and over again.
Our criteria for playability and replayability revolve around one axiom: for the game to be fun, there has to be gameplay. We focus first and foremost on this aspect and based on our beta-tester feedback and our own team's input we feel we have achieved that goal.

As for the story, we do follow the historical timeline as closely as possible, whereas if we had merely replicated the annals of history, the game would have been highly predictable. Therefore, players familiar with Joan of Arc's story can expect to find quite a few plot twists as far as historical accuracy is concerned.

Again, in our effort to maximize the player's gaming experience. We also added in a healthy dose of side quests in order to break the linearity of the plot.

On top of this, the player can switch among four playable characters, and they can all be leveled up in any way the player pleases. This means you can upgrade Joan of Arc to be extremely agile in one game, while turning her into a "superwoman" figure with almost superhuman strengths in another. The same goes for all playable characters.

The success of each mission depends on how the player maximizes each playable character's abilities in a cooperative manner. Other than that, there are still a number of ways to achieve objectives. For instance, if La Hire is forced to retreat, the player can still use siege weapons from Alencon. If Alencon is forced to retreat as well, the player can make use of siege houses to build siege engines. If there are no siege houses in the vicinity of a castle, for example, they can always run to the blacksmith to purchase explosive arrows to breach a castle gate. And yes, if the player is adept with the game, the player can simply eschew all teamwork and use just one character to complete the game.

The overall replayability of the game will contribute to the fact that there are 40 weapons and armor types available to acquire as well as a completely non-linear RTS component. Yes, it's an epic saga, but one that can be replayed in myriad ways.

We also have a few "tricks" up our sleeve but that is for the player to find out!

WarCry: Some RTS games fail to offer a good balance between the war units. What is the balance between the cavalry, the infantry and the range units, taking in consideration their price and abilities?

Andy: We haven't included cavalry in Wars and Warriors: Joan of Arc. However, players will see Polemen, Macemen, Crossbowmen, Light Infantry, Heavy Infantry and Archers. The units at that time were actually pretty well balanced between the fighting sides. For instance, both French and English archers are relatively equal in terms of their attributes.

The focus is really on the classes. Therefore, you can say that range units will defeat melee units from a distance, while melee units can demolish archers once they are within striking distance.

Within the game, players can expect to see Archers, Crossbowmen, Light Infantry, Heavy Infantry, Macemen and Polemen. Each of these groups has special attributes and can affect gameplay in various ways. The player will encounter each of these units throughout the game and will have to craft certain defense mechanisms and use different attack combos (which they learn and upgrade during the course of the game) in order to defeat each enemy unit while fighting as one of the player characters. In addition, players will have to devise strategies to most effectively manage their armies while fighting through the RTS aspect of the game.

WarCry: Will Joan take her notorious banner with her into the war?

Andy: Having Joan bare her standard, as it was known, would not have fit within the game's overall scope. The standard was the rallying point for troops in battle. They were over 8 feet long! Imagine Joan carrying such a large flag into battle, then have to wield her sword to defeat enemy troops - it simply would not have worked within our game's current frame

The standard is not ignored, however; as it served as a rallying point in medieval battles, you will get to see Joan's famous standard during RTS, as, well, a rallying point!

WarCry: How many hours of entertainment do you calculate the game will offer the player, set at a normal difficulty level?

Andy: We estimate that hard-core gamers will take about 20 hours to finish the game, while casual gamers may take about 30 hours to complete all the missions.

WarCry: Joan was eventually captured and sentenced to death. Is that how the game will end?

Andy: Well, I wouldn't like to spoil the ending for all those that will take the time to play Wars and Warriors: Joan of Arc to the end! However, I can say that the ending may not be exactly what most people familiar with Joan of Arc's story will expect.

WarCry: Thank you for your time, Andy!

Andy: You're more than welcome!

Related links:

Enlight's website: www.enlight.com
Wars and warriors: Joan of Arc official website: www.enlight.com/joa/