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MI6 chatted to Glen Schofield, Executive Producer
on "From Russia With Love", about going
retro with James Bond... |
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Glen Schofield Interview (1)
15th October 2005
Fans have been pining for a Connery game for many years. Why
do you think it has taken so long to finally make a game like
this? Do you feel technology 10 years ago could have done this
game and movie justice?
I think everything was in alignment for this year’s
game. You need to have MGM, Danjaq and Connery all sign up for
it and I’m not quite certain that they would have agreed
to do it 10 years ago. Definitely today’s technology has
helped bring this to life.
| Some fans are concerned that the game
will diverge too far from the story in the movie. How have
you been faithful to the movie and how much freedom have
you been given by the powers to mould the story into something
that plays well as a game?
We tried very hard to remain true to the story. We’ve
added a few new bits here and there—the jetpack, the
DB5, a couple levels and a surprise ending, but they all
work within the story.
The major plot points, cinematic moments, even the famous
dialogue are all there. We picked this movie because of
its great story. We surely wanted to remain true to it.
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Above: Behind the with scenes with Natasha
Bedingfield on FRWL |
Sir Sean Connery himself is directly involved with the project.
Can we expect him to provide new voice over for the game? Initially,
did he have any reserves or concerns with the project?
Sean Connery did all the lines for Bond in this game-every
single one. He didn’t have any reservations, but he wanted
to make sure this was a quality product. He helped out with dialogue
and changed some things, for the better. He was absolutely amazing
to work with, a true professional.
Above: Maria
Menounos poses as Eva for her role in EA's director's
cut of "From Russia With Love" |
How have you chosen to tell the story in-between playable
sections? Can we expect in-game cut scenes, pre-rendered cinematics
or perhaps actual footage from the movie??
We didn’t do actual footage except in the front end
screens and some of the user interface screens. We do, however,
have almost 50 cinematics and in-game cut scenes to tell the story.
We are extremely proud of the way the movies and story was told
in the game.
Above:: Maria Menounos poses as Eva
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What was the main choice behind developing
this game for the current generation of consoles? How have
you been able to overcome the limitations of current technology
with this game?
The story, exotic locations, great villains were a big
part of our decision to make this our first Classic Bond
game. When Connery told us it was also his favorite Bond
movie, well, that just sealed the deal.
The limitations of the current technology didn’t
bother us at all. For us this was about our sixth generation
of games on this platform so we know it quite well. We’ve
made some big advances in lighting techniques as well as
motion capture and facial capture and that’s all evident
in this game.
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The Need For Speed team are not crafting the vehicular missions
this time around. What have been the advantages, for both the
developers and players, in developing an engine where the two
types of gameplay co-exist? Do you feel pressure to live up the
great expectations of the NFS team's previous work?
The advantages of us doing our own driving are huge to the
consumers in my opinion. First, we now have levels that are fully
integrated, meaning Bond can drive a car, get out and run around,
jump back into the car and maybe later use a jetpack-all in the
same level. Additionally we made our driving different. It is
more action oriented, tons of explosions, cars driving you off
the road, a tire punch. We call it controlled chaos. It feels
different and that’s what we wanted.
Above: Sean Connery as James Bond
with the Aston Martin DB5 |
How have you gone about recreating the authentic 60s look
and feel in the game? How closely have you matched the layout
of popular locations from the movie?
We have studied that period—1963—quite extensively.
From the streetlights, to computer terminals, telephones, furniture,
hair styles, vehicles, fashion, music, audio, you name it we’ve
looked at it and put that into the game. That was our biggest
art direction challenge, trying to match the early sixties. It’s
all about the details.
We absolutely tried to match the layout of the movie wherever
we could in the game levels. You can see it in the Hedgemaze,
Gypsy Camp, Russian Consulate, all over. This was very important
to us.
