![]() We did take some liberties with the level design and environments. But the levels are procedurally generated, which keeps things interesting in terms of navigation and gameplay. There is a clear and obvious progression, starting from underground levels, passing through office spaces and residential areas, all the way to a showdown in the penthouse. The colour scheme is more muted and the environments are a lot more detailed than in the first game. The high-rise building features a variety of environments with different looks and feel, as well as many different possible configurations of rooms within each floor, from tight corridors to open arenas. We were inspired by the likes of Die Hard and Dredd to create the sense of the odds being against the player as they fight their way up a building. ![]() RICO London, as the name suggests, takes place in London, and we wanted the style and environments to reflect that, to create a real sense of place. ![]() The first game took place in a modern US setting, with the environments inspired by Miami and more of a Bad Boys aesthetic. How does this lend itself to things such as variety in combat encounters or level design? RICO London’s premise of being set in a single high-rise building is a fascinating one. So there are no bombs to defuse this time (you’re welcome). There are some side objectives, such as saving hostages, but one of the things we wanted to do that is different from the first game is to focus more on the shooting side of gameplay, rather than give players objectives that force them to slow them down. Players can choose to crash their way through the building, going straight upwards as fast as they’d like, or explore the side rooms in various floors to maximise their score and collect tokens which they can then spend in the shops. Given the game’s setting, what can players expect from RICO London as far as optional content and side activities are concerned? We combined that with slow-motion, which adds a cinematic touch while allowing players to assess the environment and react quickly during the fights. It was important for us to encourage players to go for a score attack type of play, and the graphic novel-style lettering is great to communicate the action to the player in a way that is both stylish and instantly recognisable. We were inspired by games such as XIII and Volition’s The Punisher for the look and feel of the game. The graphic novel aesthetic was a good fit for the dynamic and punchy style we were going for, allowing us to give feedback to the player in a fast-paced way that looked cool and made sense within the world. We want players to feel like they are the protagonists in a buddy cop movie from the 90s, so everything is over the top and unrealistic, from the action, the slow motion, the characters, all the way to the story and enemies. The RICO series is heavily inspired by popular action cinema, and you can see that influence in everything from theme, visual aesthetics and gameplay. The graphic novel aesthetic was a natural development from the first RICO, which had a stylised cell-shaded look, so with RICO London we wanted to take that further. ![]() What was the process like of coming up with the graphic novel-style visual aesthetic for RICO London, and then implementing it in the game? ![]() "The graphic novel aesthetic was a natural development from the first RICO, which had a stylised cell-shaded look, so with RICO London we wanted to take that further." NOTE: This interview was conducted prior to the game’s launch. Below, you can read our conversation with designer James Parker. Ahead of the game’s recent launch, we had the chance to send across some of our questions about RICO London to its developers. Rather than delivering yet another gritty military shooter, Ground Shatter’s RICO London instead offers a flashy, explosive game inspired by buddy cop movies with a graphic novel aesthetic oozing style. It’s always refreshing to see a new release in the FPS genre that tries to do things a little differently. ![]()
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