Zeno Clash Interview: Into the Unknown

Zeno Clash 2?

bit-tech: One thing that Zeno Clash is clearly lacking is a multiplayer mode, though the challenge mode does provide plenty of added replay value. Were you at all worried about not including one? Why did you decide not to add one in?

Andres: Not including a multiplayer mode was simply a drawback of being such a small team. To create a multiplayer mode we would have had to sacrifice many resources from the rest of the game. Reducing the quality of the main campaign to produce a small multiplayer component didn’t feel right.

Now that we’ve finished the game we can focus on releasing free DLC and new features. The Challenge mode is definitely an area where we can add more content and we have a bunch of other ideas, but nothing that we’re really ready to share just yet.

BT: What were the main lessons you think you learned from making Zeno Clash? How would you tweak or change the final release if you had the time and resources?


AB: I think the most important lesson was learning to identify the strength of our game before starting to develop it. You have to be able to focus on your key features and identify your weaknesses. We made a lot of mistakes when we built our Zenozoik prototype, and learning from those mistakes was an essential part of getting things right with Zeno Clash.

Regarding possible changes, maybe something we missed is having more time or experience to plan the levels to support the combat system. We had to work around some levels because they felt too confined. Re-editing them took a lot of valuable time. If we could have designed the levels with all the features ready we could have designed them to maximize the combat features. I think many people would have enjoyed more environment interactions like the ones in Dark Messiah.

BT: What’s the next project for ACE studios? Any plans?


AB: We have a lot of ideas, but it’s a little too early to say. We’d definitely like to make a sequel to Zeno Clash, but the viability and scope of that project will depend mostly on how well this first game does.

BT: Finally, what other games are you looking forward to this year?

The next Alice, from American McGee. I have high expectations for it, though I don’t know when it’s coming out.

I also heard there’s a Thief 4 in the works – but I’m not entirely sure, and it probably won’t come out this year anyway. I’m not too up-to-date with the release dates, but Rage and Bioshock 2 are on my radar too. Finally, I loved the new visual style of Borderlands, so I’ll be sure to check it out.

And that’s it! We’d like to thank Andres and the rest of ACE Team for sparing the time to talk with us and giving us a better insight into their creative process. If you want to know still more about Zeno Clash then you can check out our full review or visit the official Zeno Clash website for more details!