We got a chance to talk with Aliona Vasnetsova, the PR manager of Orion, to find more about their upcoming first person shooter where the player will incarnate two heroes - a soldier who leads a squad, and a mutant who has strength, speed and fortitude beyond human limits. The game will be released later this year.

GGMania: Could you introduce yourself to our readers and tell them a little bit about what you do on DUSK 12?

Aliona: My name is Aliona Vasnetsova, I'm a PR manager of Orion.

GGMania: Can you give us a little background on the development team working on DUSK 12?

Aliona:  Orion was founded in 2003 and has grown up impressively since then. Now it's a great team that consists of professionals having years of experience in game industry. Among the projects made by Orion are "Hellforces", "Borderzone", "The Stalin Subway". The standalone add-on to this game - "The Stalin Subway: Red Veil" - is on the final stage of development now, and quite soon you will be able to check it out.

GGMania: Can you give us an overview of DUSK 12, telling us what the game is all about?

Aliona:  Well, let's start from the title. Why DUSK-12? Actually it's a name of the mutagenic virus that makes people terribly aggressive and almost uncontrollable. The virus was a part of the secret experiment to create the perfect soldier. The project ran out of control, and everyone in the city was infected with this incurable disease.The main feature of the game is that you are supposed to play for two different characters during one game. The player starts the game as a Special Forces soldier who is fulfilling a secret task. With his squad he was landed into the closed city full of the mutated people and dark riddles connected with those aborted experiments... He is fighting against the mutants and trying to uncover the secrets of the damned city. But at the certain moment of the game the players becomes ...a mutant ...and switches to the absolutely different play! Now he can't use the normal combat skills and weapons that the soldier had. He can't figure on the help of his squad anymore. However, he has his special supernatural abilities and superhuman force.

Stories of these two characters are twisted on all the levels of the game, and at the very end you realize that in fact these 2 different personages are in fact one person who underwent a mutation as a result of the secret experiments. You will play the mutant's part in about one year after "being" a soldier. So, you will be exploring different periods of time, different weapons and abilities. By the way, you will visit some locations for several times - as a soldier and later, in the new body of the mutant, and see how the places have changed with the time. Varying time and locales, storyline riddles and surprises, impressive in-game movies... All this makes a very special style of passing the game. The player is discovering this odd world gradually, step by step, reconstructing it from different elements. It reminds the puzzle game: you're getting some scrappy information, but at first you don't know how to use it, you're just wandering in the mist of guesses... And only at the very end of the game the things will be cleared up.

GGMania: How does DUSK 12 go about creating the thrilling atmosphere within the game?

Aliona:  The tense atmosphere is created by means of graphics, sound and of course, the storyline. The action takes place in the isolated city of the 80s of the last century. When the virus escaped, the infected city was surrounded with the special wall which was also defended by the military forces in order to keep "DUSK-12" inside and not let it spread.
In 2025, a group of Special Forces soldiers was brought to the city. They had to get into the secret laboratory where the experiments were carried out, though they didn't even know their final task yet. It had to be unveiled only when the group would get into the laboratory. This keeps the player on tenterhooks. He doesn't even know whence the danger might come, who is a friend for him and who is his enemy. Little by little the player is solving the numerous riddles and approaching to the aim...

GGMania: What kinds of weapons and items will players be able to use in the game?

Aliona:  There will be many types of weapons that the player can use - from the simple knife to the heavy large-caliber machine-gun. In fact, the player will be able to use all present-day Russian fire-arms! Among them are the shot-gun "Saiga", the flame thrower "Shmel" and of course, how to do without our famous "Kalashnikov"? In the game you will see the latest models of submachine guns, rifles, machine-guns and grenade cup discharges - the real models of weapons used today by the Russian army forces.


GGMania: Tell us about the enemies that we will be finding in the game as well as to their AI.

Aliona: There will be several types of enemies in the game: vagrants, robbers, people infected with "DUSK-12" and mutants... The enemies' AI will be quite good. I mean not very complicated, but thoughtful fighting AI that responds properly to the player's actions. Also there will be a good system of scripts for the gameplay moments, global movements, tactics etc.

GGMania: Could you describe the combat system?

Aliona: As for a soldier, the fighting system is quite usual for the shooters. He can use different types of the fire-arms; he also has a knife and the hand grenades. Besides, on some levels there can be found the stationary machine-guns. You can use them as well.

With the mutant it's not so habitual. His hands form doesn't allow him to use the usual weapons. But his hands are his strongest weapon themselves! He can strike the fatal blows, and normally one - two blows should be enough almost for any enemy! The only problem - to use these superhuman blows he has to come very close to the enemy. Well, he has more special abilities that would help him to solve this problem. It's speeding-up and slowing down the time, and also night vision that gives him additional advantages over his rivals.

GGMania: Do you plan native support for DX10 graphics hardware?

Aliona:  No, we don't plan it.

GGMania: You claim the game will feature 'Innovative physic system'. Can you explain it? Will you eventually support the AGEIA PPU?

Aliona:  Indeed, one of the features of the game is the innovative physics that uses PhysX engine with support of the hardware accelerator. The environment will be almost fully interactive and destructible. The character will be able to take and carry various objects, for example, to make a heap from boards, boxes, barrels etc., and to use this "construction" to get to some place he needs. Or during the street fight the player can take, for example, the door of the car and use it as a shield from the enemy. Many objects can be destroyed even without some specific goal, just for fun. In some levels the player should drive a car, and usually it's necessary also to take down some obstacles and barricades on your way. Besides, thanks to PhysX you will see plenty of nice effects such as water and textile effects, realistic volumetric explosions and many other impressive things.

GGMania: How interactive is the environment? What type of interactivity can players expect?

Aliona: There are many dynamical objects that can be moved, destroyed or used in many ways. I told about them answering your previous question. Use the elements of the environment to approach your target, to protect yourself from the enemy, to overpass different obstacles. Make the parts of the game world your additional weapon or just have fun! It's up to you how you will interact with the game world! There will be also four types of drivable vehicles that will help you to reduce the time of passing the level and add some pungent feeling to your game! ;) By the way, all the weapon and techniques in the game are similar to real samples.

GGMania: What system specs will players need?

Aliona: Minimum system requirements will be the following: Intel Pentium 4 2GHz, 256 MB RAM, Video 64MB RAM, 3.5GB free HDD space

GGMania: Will the game have a multiplayer mode? If so, what will it include?

Aliona: Of course, it will have multiplayer. There will be two modes: Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. And you will have a choice for whom to play - for a soldier or for a mutant!


GGMania: Finally, what do you think gamers will enjoy in DUSK 12 over other games like it?

Aliona: First of all, it's exciting and intricate storyline. The game is not similar to all our early projects - it gives you really new feeling! DUSK-12 will bring you 25-30 ours of play full of adrenalin, pleasure and pungent sensation of the world that you see on the monitor.

GGMania: Currently, how far in development are you and when do you expect to release the game? Will it be released in the UK/North America?

Aliona: "DUSK-12" is currently on pre-alpha stage of development, and the release is planned for the end of 2007. The game will be licensed for the UK and North America. More details about the release in those territories will follow. Stay tuned!;)

GGMania: Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. Is there anything you want to add that we didn't cover?

Aliona: Thank you for interesting questions. Goodbye and good luck!