Strike Force Red Cell

The original Unreal Tournament was home to one of the most community driven mods in gaming, Strike Force. The game garnered awards, received upgrades, and managed to transition over to Unreal Tournament 2004 with even success. Vision Studios are now hard at work on the production of a next-gen version of Strike Force coming out for the PC and Xbox 360 in late 2007. With Graffiti Entertainment as the new publisher, and running on the Reality Engine, Strike Force Red Cell seems well on its way. The game will be featuring 8 single-player scenarios that can be linked in different ways, 5 distinct team roles with 3 variations each, for a total of 15 unique characters and location-based damage and dismemberment. We had a quick Q&A with the President of Vision Studios, Mike Hamlett, about next-year’s next-gen game.

VG Core: How did the team come about the idea of porting Strike Force as a standalone game, which would be appearing on a next-gen console?

Mike Hamlett: We have always been advancing and working to take Strike Force to the stand alone market. We had to keep taking the needed steps to make that happen. When Strike Force was released on Unreal Tournament and UT2K4 it won lots of different awards from the community and it was well received. However, with the previous two mods we had to halt work in the middle of development to work on other commercial projects. Now we have teamed up with a great publisher and we have the right people in place to finally make Strike Force Red Cell a reality.

VG Core: With the Xbox 360's growing library of multiplayer games, will Strike Force Red Cell generate more gameplay toward multiplayer, or single-player action?

Mike Hamlett: Right now we are aiming at making it lean more towards the multiplayer experience.

VG Core: Was the Reality Engine your first choice for designing a game for the next-gen era, or did you scout through other game engines first?

Mike Hamlett: We really wanted to work with the Unreal Technology but the price didn't fit into our budget. We managed to purchase the Reality Engine before it was bought out by Epic and we are expanding the engine’s capabilities even more to fit our needs. The engine is amazing and it will compete rather well with our up and coming AAA titles.

VG Core: Will Strike Force Red Cell aim to maximize the graphical efficiency of the Reality Engine, or will it be the sort of game that aims to utilize more of the engine's gameplay functionality?

Mike Hamlett: Strike Force has always been very detailed and we are expanding that detail with the Reality Engine. Most of our map work is done in 3D Studio Max which allows us to finely detail every aspect of the maps. We will push all areas of the game and utilize both graphic and gameplay functionality as much as we can.

VG Core: Are there any set plans for Strike Force to have downloadable content for the Xbox 360 version of the game?

Mike Hamlett: Right now we are still in the planning phase and talks about downloadable content.

VG Core: It seems most hardcore console gamers seem to stick to a niche with gaming. Do you think SFRC will mix into the hardcore crowd, or is it one of those games that is aimed to spread through the market by targeting hardcore and casual, console and PC gamers?

Mike Hamlett: Strike Force has always had a solid fan base and we aim to target the hardcore and casual gamer from both console and PC. We want to make the gaming experience so addictive that you wake up in the morning wanting more. =)

VG Core: Finally, a lot of talk has been circulating around the Unreal Engine 3. As a gamer, I honestly can't see much of a difference between shaders used in Cell Factor and shaders that's being used in Gears of War. Is there a significantly greater or sizable advantage that marketers are aware of, in which the Unreal Engine has received so much more press than the games being developed with the Reality Engine?

Mike Hamlett: The Reality Engine can compete really well with Unreal3 and we can actually pull off some things with Reality that U3 can't do. I think one reason Reality doesn't get as much coverage anymore is because Epic bought them out and nobody can purchase the engine at this point. We got a really great deal with Reality and we have unlimited development rights with the engine. Our plan is to show what we can do with Strike Force Red Cell and then continue on with more games.

Our thanks to Mike Hamlett for answering the questions. For more information on Strike Force, you can visit the homepage by clicking here. Be sure to stay tuned in with VG Core for more news, updates and information on all the latest and upcoming games.

Article By: Cyguration