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Codemasters Studio Tour - Overlord, Colin McRae DIRT & Sensible World of Soccer
Last week we and a number of other journalists were invited to Southam to take an exclusive look at Codemasters UK base of operations and also to check out three of their upcoming games, Colin McRae DIRT, Overlord and Sensible Soccer (Arcade).
Codemasters have been in the games industry for over 20 years now and with a whole host of titles under their belts expectations are pretty high for the quality of the games they develop and publish. Codemasters are currently developing/publishing for PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo and PC platforms and with 60 releases distributed around 70 countries; gamers across the globe will be familiar with a number of their titles. Codemasters hits include the highly popular Colin McRae rally series, Operation Flashpoint, TOCA Race Driver and numerous sports titles such as Brian Lara International Cricket.
Codemasters is an expanding business and what started out with few staff has grown into a massive company with offices not only in the UK but in other countries as well such as Germany, United States, France, Spain and Benelux. The UK headquarters alone is home to some 400 members of staff. David Richard and Jim Darling formed the company and with more games on the way their endeavours are set to expand and continue as Codemasters have well established themselves as a popular publisher of video games.
Whilst at Codemasters we were shown around the various departments in the complex. It was clear to see the management have catered for the needs of the staff as there seemed like a positive relaxed feel about the place amongst the hive of activity. Set in luxurious surroundings (although that day it was pretty cold considering the recent spate of warm weather we had earlier in the week) of green fields and even a pond inhabited by ducks and swans (although we were informed these were vicious beasts) it’s clear that staff working here would benefit from the stark contrast of being holed up in offices to being out in the open; which surely is great for productivity and inspiration. A games room was also being planned for staff which not only allows for R&R play but also and as it was pointed out to us, is good for them to see what other publishers/developers are doing with their products.
After a spot of Lunch we had the pleasure of checking out three of the games planned for Xbox 360 which include Colin McRae DIRT, Overlord and Sensible Soccer Arcade. DIRT looks and plays very well and for fans of the series there’s no doubt that you will be impressed. From the short play I had the controls were responsive and the recreation of rally driving was as realistic as one could imagine. The graphics definitely stole the show for us as not only are there advanced physics being used such as knocking over small trees and the bumps in the uneven surfaces on the tracks but the entire look of the game is astonishing. The game runs at a very smooth 30 frames per second and I think when gamers get their hands on the game they are going to be highly impressed.
Overlord is the new kid on the block and we knew very little about the game prior to seeing it. The premise is about being slightly evil to being incredibly evil and with your hoards of loyal followers (minions) it’s up to you to spread chaos and carnage across the kingdom and take back what rightfully belongs to you. Sadly we didn’t get to have a play but after a demonstration we certainly had a clearer understanding of how the game works. Graphically the game has a Fable feel to it but the game play is very different and highly entertaining, even to watch. It’s hard to pigeon hole the genre as there are elements of strategy, action, adventure and puzzle but it’s clear to see from the overview we were demonstrated that there are tons of packed features that should appeal to a wide audience of gamers. There’s lots of humour, plenty of customisation, online play and were told up to 50 hours of game play; being evil looks like it’s making a comeback.
Sensible Soccer was demonstrated and some of the journalist had a good old battle. The game is pretty much the same as the classic Amiga version albeit with updated visuals. Everything you loved about the original is here and with the option to switch on the fly the old and new versions means fans will no doubt be in sensible heaven. The big pull for us is the fact that the game is Xbox Live enabled and with the vast levels of customisation available to things like player names and teams there’s certainly a lot of scope for gamers to create and recreate their favourite line-ups and matches. Sensible Soccer is also planned for Windows Vista however when asked about cross format play it was something they would like to do but weren’t sure if it will be featured.
It was great to see the inner workings of Codemasters and despite the weather we gained an insight into the friendly and hard working guys who work there every day. The games we were shown are all looking very promising and I think the day was very constructive not only for our hosts but the other attendees as well.
Check out the following Codemasters Studio Tour Video bellow:
Posted By: Robert Cram
Date: 2007-05-08
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