Chrome - Official Website
Mega-corporations are competing for control of the Valkyria System and its most precious resource... Chrome. Espionage, sabotage and theft are all a part of everyday life in the new frontier, and no one knows this world better than Logan, mercenary for hire. Become Logan in this first-person tactical shooter. Wield an extensive range of weapons. Operate vehicles on land, sea, and air. Learn that one man, the right man, can make a difference.
Slip into Logan’s skin as a one-time elite soldier turned fugitive bounty hunter in the ‘New Frontier’. Betrayed and outlawed by the squad with which he once served, he now uses his talents for personal gain. Enhanced by implants, he has the ability to sneak into high security installations or to barge in with guns blazing... the choice is yours. Survive and discover the secret of Chrome.
Key Features:
- Take control of four-wheelers, armored transporters, shuttles, and even mechs, 8 types of vehicles for you to navigate the New Frontier
- Use implants to improve your abilities and become a “stealth assassin” or a “living tank”
- Over 14 single player missions and 9 exclusive multiplayer maps
- Explore a wide range of locations such as lush tropical forests, rocky deserts, snowy glaciers, futuristic complexes, military bases and orbital stations
- Over 18 kinds of weapons such as machine guns, rocket launchers and plasma rifles let you take control of your destiny
- Multiplayer mode allows up to 32 opponents to battle it out using every available weapon, vehicle and implant
- 5 multiplayer modes such as Capture The Flag, Deathmatch, Assault, Team Deathmatch, and Team Domination
- A deep and involving storyline that gets you caught up in the convoluted politics of corporate sabotage, murder, and the ultimate quest for power
Game Chronicles goes inside this exciting new game with an exclusive interview by John Carswell.
| GCM: |
Please start us off by introducing yourself and telling us about the team behind Chrome.
| | Kacper Michalski: |
Hello, my name is Kacper Michalski and I’m a designer at Techland. At first the Chrome team was quite small. It was around 10 people. At the end of the production the team included programmers, graphics artists, designers, musicians, sound engineers and of course full-time testers, together it was a little over 30 people.
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| GCM: |
Going purely off the recently released demo, it would appear that Chrome features heavy story elements. Would you please give us a brief introduction to Chrome’s story, characters and perhaps give us a feel for how much voice acting will be featured in the retail release?
| | Kacper Michalski: |
The main character of the game is Bolt Logan – formerly of the Special Forces, currently working with his friend Ron “Pointer” Hertz as a mercenary. The player starts the game when Logan and Pointer set out on a mission for the Octolab Corporation. I don’t want to give any more details, because I want the players to see the whole story for themselves. As far as the voice acting is concerned, the voices were recorded in a professional studio to give the game the feeling of a sci-fi flick. I can also mention that the voice of the main character might sound familiar to some of the players…
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| GCM: |
When setting out to develop Chrome, what gameplay elements or refinements did you want to add to the First Person Shooter genre?
| | Kacper Michalski: |
I think it was the realism of the weapons (recoil, reloading, recoil after shooting the whole clip at once, and the aiming itself) combined with interesting implants, which have great impact on gameplay.
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| GCM: |
As for gameplay, let’s start with implants. Please give us a few examples of what they do and how they can be effectively exploited in combat.
| | Kacper Michalski: |
During the beta-testing stages it became clear that implants combined with appropriate weaponry enable the players to choose their own favorite game style. Players, who like fast action and close distance can use Dermal Armor with the recoil-reducing Muscle Improver. Eye Scope and Targeting Assistance are useful for long-range combat. Reflex Booster, which accelerates physical reactions, and the Adrenaline Processor, which increases speed, comes in handy in tight indoors when fighting several opponents. I think that every player will find his favorite combination of implants and weaponry.
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| GCM: |
Secondly, how are these implants gained and, in some detail, would you please describe their negative side affects and how they manifest themselves both visually and in terms of affecting the player’s health/performance?
| | Kacper Michalski: |
The assimilation process enables Logan to use more implants as the game advances. At the beginning of the game, the player will have access to the basic implants (Targeting Assistance, Adrenaline Processor and Eye Scope), and these can be used for a short period of time. These periods of time get longer with each mission and with each mission the player gains access to more implants. If the implants are activated for too long, a neural overload might occur (the timer for implant usage is displayed on the HUD) and the player will suffer some injuries and will have experience problems with vision.
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| GCM: |
As for weapons, what will the player have in his or her arsenal?
| | Kacper Michalski: |
The player can choose from around 20 various types of weapons, ranging from pistols to assault rifles, or even rocket launchers. Of course long-range-combat fans will also find two sniper rifles, and those interested in heavy weaponry will find Gl Dragon and LeRogue launchers, ASR Nitron heavy machine gun, Xatron Mark IV hunting rifle and an unusual OCI Elektra, which produces an electromagnetic beam. The player might also use some ground or vehicle mounted cannons, grenades and of course the knife.
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| GCM: |
Please give a basic feel for the level design and atmosphere that Techland is shooting for?
| | Kacper Michalski: |
First of all we wanted to make an open game. Because of the huge possibilities of the Chrome Engine for generating open terrain, the player has a chance for tactical gameplay. Many mission targets can be approached in several ways. We wanted to get the number of directed missions lowered to the absolute minimum. That way the player starting a given mission for the tenth straight time might still be surprised by the hostile AI.
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| GCM: |
The demo featured A.I. teammates. Will the player oftentimes be accompanied by allied troops or will Chrome mainly feature missions where they will go in solo.
| | Kacper Michalski: |
In most missions Logan has only “voice” support from the ship, but there are some missions with AI teammates.
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| GCM: |
As for vehicles, please give a sense of the variety to be found in Chrome and, to tie into the last question, if your A.I. teammates will ever share the same vehicle with the player?
| | Kacper Michalski: |
In Chrome you can find 7 different vehicles ranging from a one-person speeder, four wheeled RMG, combat walkers, armored vehicle, to flying shuttles.
In some missions you can operate the jeep cannon with AI driving, or fly over the canyons of Terbon with an AI pilot in 7T7 Samson.
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| GCM: |
Please tell us about the multiplayer modes to be found in Chrome?
| | Kacper Michalski: |
We got the standard DM, Team DM, CTF, Domination mode (you have to capture and hold positions), and also the Assault mode – here you have to defend or attack objectives.
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| GCM: |
Visually speaking, Chrome is obviously a stunning game. What can you tell us about the graphics engine driving it and sort of system do you feel it takes to run Chrome respectably?
| | Kacper Michalski: |
We developed a brand new engine, which was designed specifically to handle the main features of the game. We wanted to create enormous, open locations where the game would take place. Thanks to the Chrome Engine, the player can run through a very thick forest looking at very detailed textures of the leaves and bark, and the next minute he can jump into a shuttle and fly high above the ground and watch everything turn smaller and become a distant view of a vast terrain with thousands of trees. All this was possible thanks to innovative algorithms, which are used to display vast terrain with many objects located on it. Very often the number of plants on one level exceeds one million.
The suggested configuration is P4 1.5 Ghz processor, 512MB RAM, GeForce 3 or ATI Radeon 9000 graphics card.
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| GCM: |
Thank you for you time. Please close up this Q&A with any last thoughts, comments, or impressions that you’d like to leave our readers with.
| | Kacper Michalski: |
Thank you for the interview. Have fun with Chrome!
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