Activision has teamed up once again with Dreamworks Animation to develop an all-new adventure gamed based on the upcoming CGI movie, How To Train Your Dragon. The video game launches gamers into a third-person action-adventure as a Viking hero where they must embark upon an epic quest to become the ultimate dragon trainer. Lalie Fisher, producer on the How to Train Your Dragon video game was gracious enough to answer a few questions for Skewed and Reviewed.
SKNR: What is the background and setting for the game and how closely does it follow the events of the film?
LALIE: The game is set on the Island of Berk, which is home to the Vikings and Dragons of the film. The game story and action is inspired by film events and takes place after the movie experience.
SKNR: What are some of the locales and missions gamers will see in the game?
LALIE: In the game, the island of Berk is broken up into 4 distinct areas: The Village and docks, The Wild Zone, The Training Area and The Fighting Arena. In adventure mode, players will be able to build, customize and train a stable of dragons shaping them to be the best fighters and becoming the ultimate dragon trainer.
SKNR: What have been some of the biggest challenges and rewards in crafting the game?
LALIE: One of the biggest obstacles with creating this game has been working with all the different sizes of dragons. We wanted to make sure to be able to display the dragons as large as possible so the players could see the epic nature of these creatures and their battles. This became challenging when we had a monstrous nightmare on screen with Gronckle. However, we focused in and with a lot of work to the camera system we feel the dragons represent well on screen. One of the largest rewards was being able to design, from the start, a game that was made to showcase the property. DreamWorks allowed us to go in to the brand and develop a story and gameplay around what would be the most fun – customizing, training and fighting Dragons!
SKNR: What sort of enemies and heroes will players face and will there be boss battles?
LALIE: Players will have to work their way through the ranks and battle against other dragons and dragon trainers in order to achieve the title of best dragon trainer and show they are a true Viking. Notable film characters will be opponents throughout the game and players will need to defeat a new dragon species in order to be the best.
SKNR: How do non-playable characters figure in the game?
LALIE: NPC’s have a prominent role in game. They can always be found moving about in the village but all of the film favorites also compete in the competition and the player must defeat them and their dragons.
SKNR: Will any of the films stars be providing voices in the game?
LALIE: The game features a talented voice cast, starring Jay Baruchel as Hiccup and T.J. Miller as Tuffnut.
SKNR: What sort of missions will players have and is there a co-op mode?
LALIE: In adventure mode, players will be able to build, customize, train and fight their stable of dragons. They will need to care for their dragons by collecting items to keep them healthy, fed and happy. They can learn new moves by training for combat and earn cool items by showing off their skills in our mini games.
SKNR: What are some of the enemies in games and their abilities?
LALIE: How to Train Your Dragon doesn’t really feature enemies but the player needs to keep on their toes by learning the moves and abilities of their dragons and their opponents. Each species has specific traits that can work beneficially if you know how to use them. The Gronkcle’s fire ball packs a mighty punch but the Night Fury’s speed is almost unbeatable.
SKNR: How do players gain new skills and abilities in the game?
LALIE: As the player progresses through the game, winning fights and competition training, they can level up and increase their dragon’s abilities.
The game will be released on March 23 for PlayStation® 3, Xbox 360™, Wii™ and Nintendo DS™, just in time for the movie’s opening on March 26.
