Hi, I'm George Fidler, General Manager of Creative Assembly Australia. Established the Brisbane studio for Creative Assembly three years ago. We co-developed Rome: Total War with our UK studio and are currently working on the as yet unannounced sequel which will be entirely developed here.

I'm Sophie Blakemore, a game designer on Spartan, so I'm involved in ....er...the design work (levels, UI, V/O, script, etc). Having said that, most of the team is involved in game design for Spartan: Total Warrior in some form or another, so everyone's contributed.

GF: Australia has a proven history of nurturing creative talent, as demonstrated in the film and music industries. Consequently there is a strong pool of creative talent here, the majority of whom have had to move overseas to get experience in the interactive entertainment business. However with a number of first party publishers now owning studios in Australia graduates have more opportunity to get a start locally.

For many years Melbourne was the center of the local industry, but over the past five years that center has moved to Brisbane. The primary drivers for this have been the lower cost base and higher standards of living offered in Queensland. We have had no difficulty encouraging experienced developers to move to Brisbane to seed our local studio.

GF: In short, the way we make games has not been directly affected by the SEGA acquisition. We continue to approach the development process in fundamentally the same way. Our ability to create highly innovative games was the reason SEGA was interested in us in the first place. Having said that clearly there are a number of significant benefits associated with becoming part of the SEGA family. SEGA are experienced publishers and developers and are extremely well capitalised. Consequently they can provide us with the support and infrastructure required to help us realise our potential.

GF: We were responsible for all the audio production including music sound effects and speech under the direction of Jeff van Dyck (Audio Director based in Brisbane). Additionally we were responsible for some of the character artwork.

SB: They shouldn't expect an RTS, because Total Warrior is an action adventure game; we like to call it Epic Combat. They also shouldn't expect to be able to control allies, as this is about one man's battle, standing shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of allied soldiers. However, they can expect epic, cinematic battles with hundreds of fighters on either side; an intuitive control system; a range of powers and special moves; and dozens of different troop types to defeat.

SB: It was decided early on that for the best gameplay experience it was important to hand-pick the best parts of history and legend, add a little fantasy, and combine it all with modern pyrotechnics and special effects. We wanted something that would captivate the player; a game that has its roots in Greco-Roman history and mythology with contemporary twists meant we could get some really interesting gameplay mechanics and combinations of characters and places. It also meant we could pit one of history's greatest forces; the Romans, against the greatest warrior nation; the Spartans.

SB: It will appeal to action/adventure gamers, as well as those who like beat ‘em ups and big battles and fantasy games. It's hard to fit Spartan: Total Warrior into one genre, so we kind of invented a new genre: Epic Combat.

SB: The decision to make it multi-platform meant we had to have a separate coding team for each SKU (rather than simply port it or add to development time). Having specialised programmers meant we could use the systems to their individual strengths, ensuring that each version of the game is the optimum for its platform. For instance, in the Xbox version we managed to get Depth of Field Perspective running perfectly, as well as “bling” (high dynamic lighting range) effects. Although the data remains the same between the versions; each console really does have the best possible and most suitable code for it.

SB: Yes, and on really shiny floors there are real time reflections!

SB: This was never considered; primarily because this is not a strategy game at all. It is purely about one man's battle; the Spartan, who shapes the outcome of the war. The player is the Spartan; and as such he is simply a warrior in a gigantic war effort. Tactics come from knowing where to be and when, what weapon to use, which attacks will be most deadly against diverse opponents, sticking with or removing yourself from your allies' efforts. Even a simple order system can really put off non-RTS fans; we wanted this game to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.

SB: He's based on our knowledge of all the Spartans, probably the greatest warrior race known to history. He's a testament to their veracity, bloodthirstiness, and skilled warriors. Although the lead character is not modelled on one Spartan in particular, there are plenty of NPCs in the game based on real historical figures. King Leonidas, the heroic king of the Spartans who held up thousands of Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae, leads you into battle on several occasions. The usurped Emperor of Rome, Tiberius, makes his video game debut as a tyrannical, orgy-tastic leader of the Romans.

SB: Castor is the Spartan's brave and ever present sidekick. Courageous and strong, Castor has been the Spartan's closest friend since their first days in training. Though less reckless and more reliable than his twin brother Pollux; he still relishes combat as much as any Spartan. Destined to lead (hint: he will help you progress in the game), Castor is a true Spartan - faithful to his King and his people, he will fight to the death to uphold the Spartan way.

Electra is an Amazonian warrior princess. She comes from an all-female tribe of fiercely independent warriors, trained from birth to equal or better any male soldier. She can hold her own on the battlefield, and despises help from men almost as much as she detests the Roman Empire, invaders of her clan's homeland. She will prove to be a welcome addition to the journey as her fearlessness knows no bounds, and her skills at fighting certain enemies are renowned.

Pollux is the comic relief - the born optimist and skilful warrior. Pollux doesn't take danger too seriously, confident in his own ability to conquer any obstacle and certain of Sparta's invincibility. Never happier than fighting alongside his brother and fellow Spartans, Pollux is the type who will take on any challenge; the bigger the better. What he lacks in brute strength he more than makes up in skill. Like any Spartan he knows no fear, and is one of Sparta's finest swordsmen. He also helps keep spirits raised (and Electra annoyed!) throughout the game.

SB: The progression from Warrior to Hero to Legend happens at the end of each act; this occurs automatically and enhances the Spartan's armour and looks; including breast plate, greaves, and helmet. He also gets decidedly weathered during the game - as you would expect for someone who slays thousands of Romans, Barbarians, Gladiators and zombies.

There is a mini RPG system at the end of each level, where points awarded can be converted into heightened Defence, Attack or Power (magic). This is where the player can take charge of how the Spartan takes shape; if you find yourself using loads of Power of the Gods attacks, you should add points to the Power category.

SB: There are no multiplayer options - the focus is very much on the individual - the Total Warrior. In addition to the Story Mode that features 14 levels, there is the Arena Mode. This is a quick but brutal skirmish into the combat of Spartan Total Warrior. You get one health bar, and have to survive as long as you can against hordes of enemies. It's a cool way to improve your tactics and discover which attacks work best against which enemies. Secrets that you discover in the Story Mode will open up cool pick ups and power ups in Arena Mode - burning braziers, exploding kegs, fire arrows, and much more! Open every chest and smash every crate in the game; you never know what might be within!

SB: None, in this version.

SB: The discovery of new items to use in Arena mode is a must - we've hidden a lot of secrets in crazy places. You really have to explore every inch of the scenery to discover everything. There's also hidden Concept Artwork to be unlocked.

The biggest incentive, for me, is to get through the game on Hard Mode ("Veteran"). It's bloody tough.

SB: No, it's a completely new franchise with completely new data, assets and code.

SB: We're keeping quite tight-lipped about the specifics of the next game for obvious reasons, but there definitely will be more Total Warrior games in the future. We have a few thousand years of history to look at and pick the best warriors for our purposes.