September 12, 2007 - Recently, we had a chance to sit down with Adam Gregerson, managing director of Sirius games and the lead designer of Escape from Paradise City. He took us through a build of the first few levels of the game, where we had a chance to go hands on with the upcoming RPG strategy hybrid. Due out next month, Escape from Paradise City is the spiritual successor to Gangland, a 2004 release with lofty goals, but that just simply fell short of the target. Escape From Paradise City is a similar style of game, however it's core gameplay has changed in such a way that overcome many of the flaws that plagued Gangland.

The premise of the game is a little cliché as you are a criminal sent to work by the NSA to infiltrate a criminal organization - think of it as an easy way to avoid a ten by ten cell for the next twenty-five years to life. Throughout the sixteen chapter single player campaign you'll switch between three characters, each with their own abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. You'll start out as a practical nobody, and by taking over neighborhoods and making yourself known, you'll move up thought the criminal food chain and eventually go face-to-face with the big kahuna himself.

Every area in the city you play in contains a number of neighborhoods. As to be expected the levels are small to begin with and quickly get larger in both size and scope. Each neighborhood in the city has attributes, money, trait points, and power value. In addition you'll find that each offers a number of "services", such as henchmen, arms dealers, and skills trainers to name a few. You'll also find a handful of quest-givers in each area offering you a series of sub quests (protection, item retrieval, etc), that reward you with items that you can't get anywhere else.

Each neighborhood also has a boss who takes care of business, to capture a neighborhood you need to defeat the neighborhood boss. After he surrenders, you've then got to ensure that he moves through the area safely to inform the locals of the new kahuna in town, after which he comes to work for you. Capturing a neighborhood gives you those attributes, notably the trait points which can be used to purchase new skills, as well as any power skills associated with the neighborhood (as discussed later).

The tech tree is broken down into various categories depending on the character in which you are playing. Porter is a very hands-on character, with some leadership attributes; his tech tree emphasizes more of the marksmanship and combat roles. Boris on the other hand is the complete opposite, his tech tree is very leadership oriented and much less on combat - he relies on other people to get the job done. This is an essential part of the game, with the proper leadership training you can establish a following of gangers to help defend your neighborhoods or attack adjacent neighborhoods, and as you capture these areas you'll receive further points to put towards your tech tree. This is the direct link between the RTS and RPG genres; capture an area and allocate those points towards additional skills for your character. And while the idea of traits isn't new, how you obtain them is a somewhat unique approach.

Where Paradise City differs from traditional RPGs is after you spend the trait points to obtain the level required for a skill, you still need to purchase the skill from a skill trainer. All traits in Escape from Paradise City are passive skills. For example, recovery gives you both a defense bonus and unlocks skills which become available via a skills trainer. For simplicity, every skill trainer can teach every skill. There was discussion as to allowing only certain trainers to offer specific skills, however this simply added another level of abstraction to an already deep strategy game.

Escape from Paradise City also has the notion of Power Skills. These are god-like skills which are available at any time and are more environmental based then traditional skills. Accessible via a menu in the top left, power skills play a vital role in your success in the game. They can provide reconnaissance, backup, or a quick escape from a battle gone wrong. An example, the satellite scan allows you to scope out surrounding areas, and plan a more tactical approach to eliminating the resistance. Another power skill allows you to call a vehicle, to make a quick escape. Other skills include the ability to plant a car bomb, launch a poison attack on a part of the city, call in an assassin or a sniper, or simply use friends in high places to call in an air strike. The game offers this wide variety of power skills that will prove useful, and essential, in successfully capturing Paradise City.

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