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Interview: Battlecry Studios’ Rich Vogel on Battlecry

At PAX AUS, Stevivor had the opportunity to have a quick chat with Battlecry Studios’ Rich Vogel about the upcoming Battlecry. Vogel, who’s also worked on games like Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies, was keen to chat about what makes Battlecry unique.

Andrew Harrison, Stevivor: First of all, why the move to a smaller team based game, having worked on such grand MMOs in the past?

Rich Vogel: Well, there are many reasons, but the main one is that there is no other game out there like Battlecry. It was fantastic to work on something that fell into that area, an unknown, something new.

Stevivor: At first glance — to me, anyway — people would say it looks like Team Fortress or Unreal Tournament. So, what makes Battlecry stand out?

Vogel: Battlecry is much more of a team game. There will be few chances where being a hero by yourself will pay off. Plus, each class has skills that help others out, making 5v5 or group battles a lot more likely.

battlecryfight1

Stevivor: Somewhat like League of Legends?

Vogel: In a way, yes, but being a third-person shooter, not really.

Stevivor: Again noting LoL will we see something in the e-sports community being a team game as it is?

Vogel: Absolutely. If that’s what comes of it, it would be great to see some professional games and teams getting into Battlecry and pushing it to that level. Maybe we can have a tournament at PAX too.

Stevivor: I noticed that the artwork is very steampunk.

Vogel: Indeed it is. Viktor Antonov is the creative director at Battlecry Studios; he worked on Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2 and — as you can recognise with the steampunk — Dishonored. As you can see he has really brought his style forward.

battlecryenvironment

Stevivor: Can you tell me a little bit about Battlecry‘s beta?Vogel: For our Australian-exclusive beta, you guys get it before the rest of the world. It’s great to see the scale of gamers here when you look at the total population of the country. It also makes it easier to manage if the beta is just in one country.

Stevivor: I see the game at the moment has three classes and two factions. Is this likely to change?

Vogel: The beta has that many but the game at release will have two more classes: the Gadgeter and the Brawler. We’ll also have a third faction, but we are keeping details about that close to the chest for now.

Stevivor: I suppose the final question I have for you is just when will the rest of the world be able to give the game a go?

Vogel: I can’t give you specifics, but I can say early 2015.

Thanks to Rich for his time.


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About the author

Andrew Harrison

EspionageMonkey, aka Harry, is a father of 3 and husband of 1. It's all about the family who all game with him, making the whole hobby better. He plays everything and enjoys almost everything. He's a massive fan of sci-fi and fantasy, and he'll read and play stuff before watching it if he has the choice. Couch co-op is the bomb!