Paul Newcombe enters the glamorous world of the Stuntman (out on PS2, PS3, Xbox in August), sitting down for a good long chat with the developers at Paradigm.

First things first, what can gamers expect from the new Stuntman game?

Excitement. Challenge. Over the top stunts. Crazy car chases. Oh, and the opportunity to jump a multi-million dollar sports car off the roof of a building and smash it into an attack helicopter! Seriously, Stuntman: Ignition takes the very promising premise of the first game and combines it with bigger stunts, a scoring and reward system that provides real replay value, quick load times and a more forgiving approach that promises fun rather than frustration.

Can you give us an idea of some of the different sets and locations gamers will be plying their trade on?

Stuntman: Ignition takes you through six unique movie themes, full of intense action and exciting stunts. For example, we've included a small town natural disaster thriller in Aftershock to a retro 70's style cop thriller called Overdrive set in the streets of San Francisco. And that's only 2 of the movies.

Coming fresh to an existing franchise must give you a unique perspective on what's gone before, what did you set out to change, improve or get rid of from the original game?

There were many things the first game did well, but the common complaints involved excessive difficulty, long load times, and lack of replay value. We set out to address all of these issues in Stuntman: Ignition. Our streaming system combined with the muscle of the current platforms has allowed us to all but eliminate load times when retrying a level, something that makes the game infinitely more accessible. Replay value was created by introducing a ranked scoring system that rewards the player for better runs rather than a simple pass/fail system. In Stuntman: Ignition you can pass a scene and then return to it to try for a better score, unlocking new stunt toys, cars and other missions along the way. As for the difficulty issue, we'll address that in-depth in your next question.

The original Stuntman game was often criticised for its ball breaking difficulty, has that been improved in Ignition?

Difficulty is a thorny problem. Players crave challenge but they also don't want to be punished for every failure. Our solution was to introduce a scoring system that rewards success while giving the player a certain number of mistakes or "strikes" for each level. Strikes are only counted if a clearly marked director stunt is failed. Using this system the player can survive multiple errors and still have their score count. Essentially, this allows players to "pass" a scene more easily, but encourages them to take another run and improve their performance so that their score increases and they unlock new levels or stunt toys. This system also allows players to play the game in their own way, some folks will want to go back and replay each level again and again, trying for the high score, others will want to pass it quickly and move on to see the next movie. Additionally, timegates now provide bonus points if the player reaches them early, instead of ending the level if the player does not reach them in time.

How flexible will the stunt constructer be? Just how crazy will we be able to go?

You'll be able to place all the normal stunt toys you would expect, ramps, breakables barrels, boxes, flaming barricades, etc. But we've also included some surprises. "Special" props that include Nitro Zones to trigger a nitro boost during your run, groups of animated chickens to smash through, animated objects and remotely triggered cars that can be triggered during your run. The player can even place actual camera props that are used to create replays of his runs.

What, if any, differences will there be across the formats?

Some of that is still being worked out at this time, but each platform has the key features, Career Mode, Constructor, Backlot Battles and Stunt Tourneys. The PS2 version deserved a good amount of attention, since the original title shipped solely on the PS2. We've put a lot of effort into making the PS2 equally as fun as the next-gen big brothers.

What can you tell us about the multiplayer features?

Multiplayer will offer some exciting online competitive and team-based modes. I'd love to say more right now, but we have to save something for later.

Will gamers be able use their own user created stunts online?

Freestyle Arenas built in Constructor Mode can be uploaded through Xbox Live and shared through leaderboards. Players can download Freestyle Arenas and try them out themselves.

Any chance of additional downloadable content in the future?

Yes indeed, our plans for this are revving into high gear as the project itself finishes up, and there are tons of opportunities for downloadable content in a game like Stuntman: Ignition.Working on Stuntman: Ignition must have turned you into something of movie stunt aficionado, any particular favourites that have influenced scenes in the game?

The game is heavily influenced not only by classic stunts from older films, but also by the over-the-top spectacle of modern action films. One of our clear goals from the beginning was to amp-up the stunts and the overall environments that the player drives through. We wanted constant action, exploding cars, lava falling from the sky, rocket barrages landing around you. The aim was to create the most exciting, action packed and visually stunning stunt scenes possible, rather than to recreate any specific well-known stunts. Overall, I'd say our focus was recreating specific genres of film, rather than individual stunts or films themselves.

Thanks for your time, best of luck completing the game.

By Paul Newcombe

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