Whilst the release of Wii exclusive Disney Epic Mickey has been met with an incredibly mixed reception, Warren Spector, Creative Director for Junction Point, has responded to feedback from critics in regards to the oft discussed camera system and also those that regard the game as a platform title.
“First, there has never been a game that I couldn’t break if you give it to me for 30 seconds,” Spector begun, discussing the criticism with MTV. “I mean, I will break a camera in any game ever made. Third person camera is way harder than I even imagined it could be. It is the hardest problem in video game development. Everybody gets it wrong. It’s just a question of how close to right do you get it.”
Spector was also particularly dismissive about those that regard Disney Epic Mickey as a platformer, to which he explained “What I try to be completely clear about is that this is not a platforming game. This is a game that takes platforming elements and adventure game elements and role-playing elements and merges them. So we couldn’t tune the camera perfectly for platforming or for action adventure. It’s a very different camera style.”
He continues, “What we did is try to find the best compromise in the moment and give the player as much manual control as we could. So we took the hardest problem in third-person gaming and made it harder by trying to accommodate two different playing styles. And I will go to my grave, imperfect as it is, proud as hell of my camera team.
“If reviewers want to give us a hard time about it because they’re misunderstanding the game we made, it’s not for me to tell them that they’re wrong, absolutely not. But I wish people would get it out of their head that we made a ‘Mario’ competitor, because we didn’t.”
Spector: Critics “misunderstood” Disney Epic Mickey
