Recently one of our senior editors (Scott) had the privelage of engaging in a interview with the people at Cavedog, regarding one of their upcoming titles, Amen: The Awakening. Cavedog describes the game as "Part action, part thriller, part puzzle-solver, and part cinematic epic, Amen: The Awakening takes a bold direction that sets a new standard for action-adventure gaming." Tons of information is available at the official Amen: The Awakening site, but we tried to dig a little bit deeper to find out the answers to the questions gamers everywhere are curious about, enjoy.

1.  Tell us the basic story line of AMEN: The Awakening.

[MacMartin, Greg]  The game's premise is that on Christmas Eve of 2032, at precisely the same instant, approximately  1/3rd of the entire population of Earth goes inexplicably insane and start murdering randomly.  This event causes worldwide anarchy...millions die.  A couple months after this "Awakening", a few military organizations form with the sole purpose of creating "safe-zones", where those who are not afflicted can live in peace.  The European Resistance Organization is successful in creating such a safe-zone. The North American Resistance, however, was not as successful; the afflicted appear to be systematically invading the continent in a surprisingly orderly fashion, starting from the west coast and working their way east.  So, the ERO has decided to send a team of former SAS agents across the Atlantic to help out the flailing NAR. This is where the player comes in.  You will play the part of a foolhardy SAS commando only known as "Bishop Six", who is part of this team that has been sent to North America.  The question remains: What has caused this strange affliction?  Is it some kind of bio-chemical agent that has been unleashed upon the world?  Or is this Armageddon, as predicted in Bible prophecy? The answers to these questions will slowly be revealed as Bishop embarks on the adventure.


2.  Will users be able to develop their own levels and MODS?

[MacMartin, Greg]  If we are able to release Eden, our propietary game editor when the game launches - then the answer is yes.  Regardless, fans will get the editor at some point.


3.  Tell us about the AI in AMEN.

[MacMartin, Greg]  There is a lot to tell....but I'm afraid we're not talking about that right now, sorry. :)


4.  What kind of enemies will be shown in AMEN?

[MacMartin, Greg]  All kinds... ;-)


5.  Will the game have a multiplayer mode?

[MacMartin, Greg]  Yes.


6.  What are estimated requirements for the game?

[MacMartin, Greg]  We haven't got the minimum specs nailed down yet, but they'll be reasonable.


7.  Will the environments be interactive?(can structures take damage? etc.)

[MacMartin, Greg]  Yes.


8.  Will the music and sound effects be dynamic?

[MacMartin, Greg]  If by that you mean "will the music change depending upon what the player is doing", then yes, it will be dynamic.


9.  What kind of weapons and special equipment can we expect to see in the game?

[MacMartin, Greg]  Lots of both.  :)  Jon Mavor (our lead programmer and resident tech genius) will step in to answer the next question...


10.  What kind of features can we expect in the AMEN engine? Will the engine be licensed to any other developers in the future?

[Mavor, Jonathan] 
The "Amengine" has a huge list of features, most of which we're not talking about yet.  

One of the main reasons we chose to develop our own engine is that we could tailor it specifically to the game we were making without compromises.  As a result, you can expect some very cool things in Amen.


11.  What makes AMEN unique?

[MacMartin, Greg]  Many things will make Amen unique.  I think our whole approach to making Amen is somewhat unique.  We never looked at any other game and thought "Hey, lets do a game like THAT, but add a whole bunch of cool stuff!".  Instead, we set out to make the game that we've always wanted to make...

> Thank you so much for you time and cooperation.

[MacMartin, Greg]  My pleasure!

Scott Dozier
Senior Editor
Game Over Online Magazine
www.game-over.com

On behalf of myself and Game Over Online Magazine, we'd just like to thank Greg MacMartin, Jonathan Mavor and the wonderful people at Cavedog for taking the time to answer our questions, and we wish them the best of luck with Amen: The Awakening!

Although we were unsucessful in aquiring some exclusive screenshots of the game, we have still included some screenshots from their website for your viewing pleasure.