The player

JOE GRIFFINhears about the new game Warp, a strange mix of ET, Metal Gear Solidand old-school action

ONE OF THE most interesting titles at a recent EA showcase was Warp, a stealth/action game in which you play a cute alien trying to escape some nasty human scientists. The title comes from your ability to teleport through walls and into objects, including humans.

Julia Pung is the marketing co-ordinator for Warp’s developer, Trapdoor.

What are the primary influences for Warp?

We were trying for something new; it started with the core mechanics. The developer was a big fan of Metal Gear Solid, and he wanted to incorporate stealth in the game in a fun way. He thought that was a great example. We also looked at movies, cartoons and comics where the character was isolated and alone and you just want to help them.

Metal Gear Solidisn't the first game I'd think of.

Ha! I know. Well, other people say Portal. That was also a natural extension of the development of the game. You're an alien, trapped, you have these crazy powers. Where would you be? You're in captivity, trapped in a lab – there are definitely going to be comparisons.

Was it hard to make the alien emotive with no voice and only his eyes and his posture to express himself?

Whether or not to have him talk was a huge debate in the development. There was something more vulnerable about his inability to express himself. We had a great animation team who put a lot of thought into the way he moves, so you get a feel for who this character is even though he doesn’t speak.

Was it important not to make him grotesque or aggressive?

We thought if he was too aggressive looking, you couldn’t empathise with him and if he looked too alien, you mightn’t want to be that character! Finally we settled on something that was cute and appealing, but still very alien.

Would you say it’s a humane game? It seems to have something to say about wrongful imprisonment.

I think there’s that message. You start off as a prisoner, like a lab rat, and in the game you can kill all the scientists and get revenge, but you can also play through it all non-violently.

Is it important to have consequences for the violence?

Yeah. There are a lot of games where you push one button and someone’s head pops off, but we thought, no, if you’re going to be killing people it had to be really gory – almost a deterrent from doing it. We don’t want [violence] to be the only way to play it.

theplayer@irishtimes.com