Raze's Hell Q&A

If you've ever felt like turning the tables on all those cute characters you've had to rescue throughout your long and storied gaming career, Artech Studios' Raze's Hell may just be your game. You play as Raze, a monster whose twisted lands are being invaded by hordes of adorable characters that must be obliterated by the most violent means possible. We recently spoke to Artech producer Rick Banks about the particulars of this unusual game concept.

GameSpot: Where on Earth did the idea for the game come from?

Rick Banks: Artech spent several years working on a series of kid’s interactive products. Some of Artech’s employees were adding "test" features to the games, such as setting cute characters on fire. These features were discovered by focus groups during a play test session, and the gamers enjoyed the twisted plot. We became convinced there was a deep-seated reptilian brain-stem urge to kill and maim the commercially created cute!

GS: What came first? Story or gameplay?

RB: Story came first. Cute and flowery creatures are positioned as cold-blooded killers in the game, and players have an opportunity to maim these annoying cuties!

GS: How long has the game been in development?

RB: The game has been in development for over three years. The product was started as a test bed for an in-house engine, was picked up by a publisher that encountered financial difficulties, then laid about for a few months until saved by Majesco.

GS: Could you walk us through what the single-player game is going to offer?

RB: As a player, you kill cute things. They deserve it. They are evil, and they are trying to export their unnatural way of life. They will kill anything to get what they want. And, of course, they are disgustingly cute. Your job is simple: Kill them all.

There are things to be stolen, positions to defend, friends to be saved, convoys to stop, and ancient artifacts to activate. After all, saving a world from a ruthless race of pompous cuties takes a lot of guts.

GS: What kind of offline multiplayer modes will there be?

RB: Two-player co-op killing.

GS: What kind of online multplayer modes will there be?

RB: The online multiplayer modes provide you with a number of excuses to kill your friends and online neighbors (and eat them): deathmatch, team deathmatch, team or single king of the hill, capture the flag, and soccer. Yes, soccer, with a "kewlett-skin ball" and an assortment of very dangerous weapons (and you thought European leagues were rough...). You can play to win by holding the hill, the flag, or the ball, or you can just use these as likely spots to find your next victim. Winning isn't everything; revenge for that last sniper shot may take priority. So you can kick the ball through the goalposts in soccer, or you can just kick your friends. There are over a dozen ways to shoot, blow up, and otherwise annoy opposing players, including a humiliating weapon called, well, "the humiliator," which raises gloating rights to a new level. You'll laugh the first time you get hit by this...but not as hard as your opponent will.

GS: Will there be any downloadable content?

RB: Unfortunately not.

GS: What kind of weapons will you be using in the game?

RB: You get to kill them in a number of satisfyingly crunchy ways. You can use your knifelike forearm to slit their puffy little throats or your macelike hand to squash their skulls. If you prefer a little distance, you can ingest various natural plant proteins that you can then spit at kewletts. The plants give you sniper abilities or chaingun-like breath, explosive resources, and various other weapons. You can even puff them up like balloons and shoot them out of the sky, which is always satisfying. Or you can just roll them over, like a bunch of rolling pins, and suck their guts to restore your health. Quite tasty!

GS: Thanks for your time.