CW gets multiplayer.

[EvoLuTioN]

1Up conducted an interview with Gordan Hall, Head developer from Rockstar Leeds.

The game's been in development for two years now, with a big team. This is by far the biggest game Rockstar Leeds has ever done.

The Graphics:

It's true 3D through and through. What we've done is place the camera pretty high up during most of the gameplay. There are many reasons for this, some visual so you get a sense of movement and scale, some regarding the technicalities of the hardware and how many polygons the DS can display -- but the main reason for this decision is one of gameplay. Right from the very start, we decided to make the game as fun as possible for the platform, even if that meant it lent more toward an arcadey experience.

Another key item on the touch screen is your e-mail system. Most of the contacts in the game will deal with you via e-mail

Outside of the PDA, you also use the touch screen to fill in those little details left out of most console games. You may find yourself in a minigame hotwiring a car or breaking into a warehouse by disabling a key-code lock. We also use the touch screen for more everyday events like buying and using [lottery] scratchcards.

The D-pad will still be used for driving though.

Big stuff ahead.

How long do you estimate this game will take to complete?

GH: I think, for an average player, we've got around 20 to 30 hours of gameplay just to complete the story missions -- that gets you through about 28 percent to 30 percent of the total game

I'd say to get to 100 percent stats complete, you'd be looking at around 70 to 80 hours of play. This still doesn't mean you've seen everything. You still have multiplayer and the entire online and Social Club content to dabble with.

There was no previous business model that showed anything other than abject failure in the adult DS space. We came away from that chat with a target to get something onscreen that would really change the perception of the DS and the games it's capable of making.

I think we've created something that feels very familiar, yet quite unique. That was certainly the goal, anyway.

The rest is a pretty damn good read too.

Source: 1up

Edited December 6, 2008 by EvoLuTioN