She's hot, she'll allegedly boast "awesome physics," and she gives literal meaning to the term "boomstick." Alicia is the Bullet Witch, protagonist and saver of worlds in developer Cavia's upcoming Bullet Witch third-person shooter for the Xbox 360. Seeing as how third-person shooters seem to spawn faster than mosquitoes (or first-person shooters), I spoke with Jeremiah Cohn, Product Manager at Atari, to find out more about what Cavia plans to do to set heroine Alicia apart from the likes of the always popular Resident Evil 4, Gears of War, and other such titles.
Shack: What's the back story for Bullet Witch?
Jeremiah Cohn: Well, after a series of events (disturbing events, I might add) occur between now and 2013, the world is in despair and Alicia (pronounced All-ee-see-yah) is the only one with the knowledge and power to save us all from total destruction.
Shack: Tell us more about Alicia. What is she, exactly, and why is she the one that has to save earth from all the bad, scary stuff? Also, what is a Bullet Witch? Is Alicia the only one, or are there others?
Jeremiah Cohn: Alicia is an awesome character. She's got it all: sophistication, skill, and voices in her head. ;) She is the Bullet Witch, she's a witch with special powers, but why she's a witch and how she became a witch you'll have to play the game to find out. As for now, Alicia is the only Bullet Witch.
Shack: What is "the Darkness," and how does it affect game play?
Jeremiah Cohn: The Darkness is a voice inside Alicia's head. Who it is and where it came from is a secret I'm not telling. It affects the game play in that it helps the person "playing" Alicia as to what they should or should not be looking for, doing or fighting, but it's also more than that.
Shack: Tell us about Alicia's broom. It's obviously a weapon, but what sort of functionality does it have?
Jeremiah Cohn: The weapon Alicia wields is called a "Gun-Rod." It's called that because it is both a gun and a magical staff (or rod, as they say in the magical world) used to channel and cast spells.
The game begins with the machine gun but the player has the option to upgrade the gun to add the other variations like the shotgun, cannon and gatling gun.
Shack: How are players able to add new weapon types to their Gun-Rod?
Jeremiah Cohn: Once upgraded the Gun-Rod can quickly be switched between the different variations during play. There is also a spell, which imbues the Gun-Rod with elemental magic that further upgrades the weapon based on the variation -- for example the machine gun becomes a fire weapon and the shotgun becomes a wind weapon.
The sniper mode is a light elemental upgrade to the cannon.
Finally, there is unlimited ammo in the game as Alicia creates the ammo with her magic power -- at times the player may need to let her rest to refill the ammo and reload, but there isn't any searching for ammo or anything like that.
Shack: What sort of melee attacks does Alicia possess?
Jeremiah Cohn: Alicia uses the gun-rod in a hybrid golf-swing-meets-quarterstaff-like smack down.
Shack: What sort of magic spells are available for Alicia to wield? Please provide 3-4 examples, with details.
Jeremiah Cohn: Well, there are three different levels of spells that you can obtain, and several spells within those levels. I'll give you a few examples, but you'll have to play the game to find out where they are in the game!
Raven Panic: Call upon a murder of ravens to aggressively assault and distract enemies.
Meteor Shower: Conjure fiery balls of destruction from the angry skies to demolish everything in your path.
Ancient Wall: Summon a primeval wall that temporarily protects you from ensuing attacks.
Turn the page to read more about Bullet Witch.
_PAGE_BREAK_Shack: Tell us all about how magic works in this game.
Jeremiah Cohn: Alicia begins the game with a couple spells and unlocks more as the game progresses. Spells can be upgraded and made even more powerful -- overall there are nine different spells within 3 elemental circles of magic -- fire, wind and lightning.
Using the spells effectively is a big part of the fun and the game was designed to easily select a spell and quickly cast in the midst of action. There is a mana bar that is tapped as spells are cast and slowly regenerates over time. The size of this bar can be increased as the player develops Alicia's character.
Shack: How do you upgrade your spells?
Jeremiah Cohn: At the end of every stage the player gets points which can be used to upgrade Alicia's spells, weapons and stats. The player chooses how to upgrade Alicia so there is a bit of reliability where you can play through multiple times and upgrade Alicia differently (more spell focused vs. more weapon focused).
Shack: Do upgrade points apply to both the gun-broom and magic upgrades, or do you get separate upgrade points for each?
Jeremiah Cohn: Upgrade points are general and the player decides what to upgrade.
Shack: What, besides wielding a shotgun-like broomstick, would you describe as one of the focal points of Bullet Witch, something that will make jaws drop when this game is finally released?
Jeremiah Cohn: Physics. I want to stress the awesome physics in this title.
Shack: Tell us more about the physics, then!
Jeremiah Cohn: This game is very physics-ambitious in that the title showcases different destruction each time, which not only knocks out enemies but can also provide cover depending on the situation. It's really quite fun to see what you can do each time around and one of my favorite parts of playing the title.
Shack: Tell us about some of the enemies Alicia will be facing.
Jeremiah Cohn: All the enemies in the game are demons in some form or another; however, the way they look varies quite a bit. The game explains why they are the way they are -- each of them are creepy, I'll tell you that much.
Each demon takes on the form of the vices and fears of humans they possess, so you'll see some very interesting and freaky looking enemies. In terms of how they react, the AI is actually pretty sophisticated. For example, some squads of militaristic demons take commands from squad leaders and act as a highly intelligent unit, however, once you kill their squad leader they scatter and lose all their organization.
Shack: Are there other ways besides your ranking to earn items and upgrades?
Jeremiah Cohn: Choices the player makes in the game effects how many upgrade points they receive at the end of each stage. This provides the player incentive to help NPCs and kill every demon in sight!
Shack: Tell us about the venues players will traverse in Bullet Witch.
Jeremiah Cohn: The world is very diverse in Bullet Witch. Basically, you start out in a suburban area and your mission, eventually, will take you to an urban sprawl. There's some rural open areas in the mountains and forests mixed in along the way as well, combined with close-quarter combat in tunnels, buildings and caverns. It's a good mix and the 360's graphics really make it shine.
Shack: Any multiplayer plans? If so, what are they? If not, why not?
Jeremiah Cohn: Well, everything is always possible, but for now, it's a single player game.
Shack: Thanks for your time.
Bullet Witch will be available on the Xbox 360 during Q1 of 2007.
