Obsidian Entertainment Interview

RPG Codex had the opportunity to sit down with Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart for a lengthy Q&A about Star Wars: KotOR II, Neverwinter Nights 2, their upcoming Aliens RPG, and more.
Q: What can we expect from your take on the Aliens license? Will we see a traditional Obsidian role-playing game or are you looking at other development possibilities, such as firstperson or emergent gameplay found in titles like Deux Ex or the upcoming Bioshock by Irrational Games?

A: I wish I could talk more about it right now, but I can say that Aliens is definitely a RPG. That's not to say that it's definitely like or not like any of our other RPGs, but we are thinking about RPG players as we figure out what to put in it. What we want to get out of the game more than anything is to really make you, the player, feel like you are in the Aliens "world". So, we are looking at everything Aliens is from the standpoint of the people, places and emotions brought on by the movies, books and graphic novels.

Later on, though, he says something that scares me:
Q: When looking at the current crop of games in the market, is there any game that catches your attention? Do you look at any recent release, CRPG or otherwise, and feel that Obsidian should try doing something like it?

A: I'm really looking forward to playing STALKER I should just fire up that Direct2Drive download. I've also really enjoyed Gothic 3 and Oblivion lately. So, I think if there is a type of game that I'd like to look at doing, it would be something similar to those games.

While I enjoyed Oblivion and Gothic 3, it worries me that yet another RPG developer might decide that all of their future games "must be accessible by everyone!"