Delve into the world of Mega City One with Rebellion’s Kristien Wendt

By Michael Lafferty

“Dredd’s universe lent itself perfectly to a FPS setting”

Judge, jury and when it is necessary, he is the executioner.

Self-regulated legal systems have long been a bane of humanity and a nightmare from an historical perspective. From the Spanish Inquisition to McCarthyism, having few individuals deciding what is right and what is wrong, with the ability to instantly pass judgment, lays the foundations for a corrupt system.

Expand that into a futuristic setting and a group of judges, heavily armed and trained in the art of combat. They find the guilty, pronounce sentence and either arrange to have the guilty escorted to prison or, if the case warrants it, execute them.

Welcome to the world of Mega City One and the jurisdiction of Judge Dredd. Now, if ever there was a name that lent itself to an attitude, or the perception of an attitude, the name of Dredd certainly embodies it.

Judge Dredd first appeared in comic books, in the British comic 2000 A.D. back in 1977. The character himself is reputed to be one of several clones of Chief Judge Fargo, the most famous of the elite corps of judges who had the ability to instantly convict and pass sentence on anyone deemed breaking the law.

But what is so corrupt about Mega City One that requires this kind of legal system? Are there any innocent people in the city? Who is Dredd and why has someone made a videogame featuring him?

For the answer to this and other questions, GameZone.com turned to Kristien Wendt, Communications Manager at Rebellion, the developer of Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death. We talked to Kristien about Dredd Vs. Death, which is being published by Evolved Games on the GameCube, PC, PlayStation2 and Xbox platforms.

Question: Judge Dredd has had a successful run as a comic book icon. While the movie was not as big a hit, from what did you draw your primary inspiration for this title?

Kristien: Inspiration comes in many forms. We all grew up with Judge Dredd and 2000AD, so we were already predisposed to his character and storylines.

I think the inspiration came when we had the means to produce his universe in a computer game medium and do it well.

Q: When you take an established figure like Judge Dredd, what elements about the character and mood of the environment in which he lives do you have to keep in mind when creating a videogame based on him?

Kristien: First of all, we focused on what makes Judge Dredd the character he is and as a consequence, what makes him so popular. The Dredd universe is vast, with the environment of Mega City One populated with everything from the undead, robots, aliens to fatties, punks and scrawlers! So, to bring order to this morass of degenerates, Dredd has to have key strengths. The main focus therefore was to represent Judge Dredd as he appeared in the comic: uncompromising, rigid and the total embodiment of law and order.

Remember he is ‘the Law’.

Q: This is a character that is geared for the shooter format, obviously. Was there a fine line you had to tread when it came to the level of action within the game, or was it all-good in terms of allowing a free reign on action?

Kristien: Dredd’s universe lent itself perfectly to a FPS setting. The nature of his existence is to bring law to the lawless and in the case of ‘Dredd vs. Death,’ to the four Dark Judges from an alternate reality. With that in mind, the constant action, unpredictability and excitement throughout the game is definitely in keeping with the character and storyline.

Q: What elements do you consider vital to a good shooter title, and how does this title play into that?

Kristien: Realism is always key but also engagement. We strived to represent Mega City One so both the fans and ourselves could relate to it, and by utilizing our Asura AI engine, we are able to draw the player further into the game. As you never know what was going to happen, who would shoot from where etc, your character position changes, you become Dredd.

Q: Is there such a thing as an innocent person in this title, or are some just more guilty that others?

Kristien: Everyone is guilty in Mega City One! You’ll do time even if you drop a gum wrapper! That’s part of Dredd’s charm – the law applies to everything and everyone. That’s also what differentiates Dredd vs. Death from its peers.

It’s not a simple shooter game. As a Judge, your role is about law and order not systematic killing, so we incorporated the arrest mode. So whilst you continue through the storyline, you can make arrests, which are rewarded and also help to unlock further features within the game – the more severe the crime, the higher rating you get on arresting the criminal. Rather than shooting a gun-toting criminal straightaway, you could let him or her take a pot shot at you, shoot the gun out of their hand, and then arrest them for ‘Attempted murder of a Judge’!

Q: In terms of the storyline, what steps have you undertaken to work away from linear gameplay and ensure replayability?

Kristien: The Asura engine is key to this. We spent a great deal of time working on the AI so each gameplay was unique. Mega City One is the most dangerous place on Earth, so problems can arise from anywhere, and this is illustrated by the myriad of characters we have within the game. They are so attuned to the environment and action that we’ve surprised ourselves sometimes!

The game is also split into three main sections – Story, Arcade & Multiplayer:

The Story mode is what you would traditionally expect from a FPS, but with the added advantage that you can play through the entire Story co-operatively with a friend – that alone give a great deal of replay value.

The Arcade levels all concentrate on straightforward action – like being placed in the middle of a riot and having to deal some justice to the masses – and feature randomly generated bad guys. Furthermore, achieving high rankings in the Story levels opens up extra Arcade levels. Completing Arcade levels gives you access to various cheat modes, which in turn can be used in the Story mode.

Last but not least is Multiplayer, which allows up to four players to battle it out with varied innovative multiplayer game styles (such as Block War) with up to 12 bots. You can even play the Multiplayer game on your own with the bots!

Q: What graphics engine does this game employ and how did it allow you to bring this futuristic world to life? Were the environments based all on the lore of the character, or did you take some liberties in designing the game levels?

Kristien: As mentioned, we use our in-house designed Asura engine. It provides us with a breadth of capabilities to bring Dredd and Mega City One to life within the parameters of the platform without any detrimental effects to the game play.

Q: What target market do you think this game will appeal to?

Kristien: To Dredd fans and FPS fans alike. Both will get enormous pleasure from playing the game. We have so many features the Dredd fans will enjoy, but also the Dredd universe is so rich and original, FPS fans will be knocked out and wonder ‘Why didn’t I read Dredd before, something was definitely missing from my life!’

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