Interviews

Velocity lead explains how WipEout 2097 helped shape FuturLab's new PS minis shmup

And why genre innovation is important for this particular indie dev

Velocity lead explains how WipEout 2097 helped shape FuturLab's new PS minis shmup
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FuturLab's new PS minis game Velocity went live on the PlayStation Store last week, almost two years to the day after the company's Pocket Gamer Bronze Award-winning Coconut Dodge touched down in Europe.

PG sat down with FuturLab's MD James Marsden - no relation to the actor who played Cyclops in the original X-Men trilogy, fact fans - to chat about his team's brand-new shooter for Vita and PSP.

Marsden reveals the unlikely inspirations for Velocity, how to innovate in a stagnant genre, and why he's not too keen on Cave's shmup efforts.

Pocket Gamer: For the uninitiated, what is Velocity?

James Marsden: Velocity is a game that lives up to fond memories of the shoot-'em-up classics, and goes several steps further by giving players something totally new and exciting: teleportation!

There's clearly a lot of love that's gone into the title - little secrets to find, an unusually deep story - why such attention to detail when shooters often provide the bare minimum?

There are so many answers to that question, but I guess the most important one is that we want to continue making games, and we figured the best way to ensure that is to make a great one that touches people's hearts in some way.

In order for people to feel the love at their end, we have to put it in at our end.

Modern shmups tend to be few and far between - why create a title in this dormant genre?

We saw an opportunity to innovate in a stagnant genre - one which still holds a lot of nostalgia value for today's gamers. We were also very short on budget, and had to be sure that we could deliver innovation without compromising accessibility and fun.

Doing that in a small and familiar package made a lot of sense to us. It still took us two years to finish, though, as we were working on other things to pay the rent.

Were there any particular titles that influenced Velocity's creation?

Yeah, WipEout 2097.

For me, that game takes you to the limits of what is possible in twitch control and flow-state immersion, while always being incredibly fun and accessible, regardless of your skill.

We wanted Velocity to be very easy to pick up for a newcomer, and to also give hardened shoot-'em-up players something to get excited about.

The trick here was to remove collision damage from the genre, and aim for that rail-slide glide you used to get in WipEout 2097. Studio Liverpool shouldn't have removed that in my opinion.

Cave's particular brand of shooter has been doing well on mobile platforms - were you ever tempted to go down the bullet-hell route?

No, I find bullet-hell shooters to be very one dimensional. There's more fun to be had in the genre than just dodging bullets; there are more interesting ways to make the player feel amazing.

I think we've begun to discover that with Velocity, and believe there's plenty more fun to squeeze from the humble shmup.

Velocity is currently exclusive to PlayStation Plus subscribers, is free to download, and is compatible with the PSP and PS Vita.
Peter Willington
Peter Willington
Die hard Suda 51 fan and professed Cherry Coke addict, freelancer Peter Willington was initially set for a career in showbiz, training for half a decade to walk the boards. Realising that there's no money in acting, he decided instead to make his fortune in writing about video games. Peter never learns from his mistakes.