Here's a little sample of the interviews given by both parties for the Australia and UK release of the game. It would've been an interview you the chief himself but duw to personal committments Bruce was unavailable, so enjoy this brief Q & A with more to follow.......
Q. So, on an average day, how many
people ask you to say the word "groovy" for them, and have you ever hit one of
them for doing so?
A: On average?
4.1 times per day. I have never officially hit any of them, but I did
accidentally trip a fellow down the stairs. The police were very
understanding.
Q. How did
you get involved with this game, haven't you done some voice over work for other
games before?
A: My involvement was
pretty obvious, given the previous series of films. I had done about 4 other
games before this one, but it was fun to slip back into the character of
Ash.
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Q. Do you actually play video
games at all yourself? Are you aware of the Resident Evil series of games,
which Hail to the King seems to be somewhat similar to? A: I'm not much of a gamer, no. My son can kick anyone's butt, however. I'm not hip to the Resident Evil similarities - sorry, I don't get out much. I've led a very sheltered life. Q. Didn't someone pretend you
were going to be in the film of Resident Evil once? |
Q. Have you ever seen a game called
Duke Nukem 3D which was very popular a few years ago, but which ripped off all
your best lines from the Evil Dead films? Isn't there a worry that
youngsters today will think Hail to the King is ripping off Duke
Nukem?
A: Frankly, I'm not really
concerned about any of those issues. We were first. Discerning folks will know
that and appreciate our originality - and hopefully, they will support
it.
Q. What was it like
playing the character of Ash again? Did you miss the character or has this
dragged up a whole lot of unpleasant memories?
It was no big deal to jump back in the booth and spew the one-liners.
The Ash character isn't really complex. Basically, he's the average slob stuck
in a bad place. Overall, my memories of the ED flicks are very good. They were
all hard to do, but creatively very rewarding.
Q. Generally how proud are you of the films and how much
does it irritate that people only every want to remember you for that one
role?
A: That's a tad of a
generalization. I know plenty of fans who have never seen the Evil Dead films,
nor would they ever. TV has helped expand that fan base to a wider sphere.
Having said that, I am very pleased with the three films in the series because
we worked hard and had a lot of fun doing it. A lot of actors deny that they
were ever in some cheeseball horror film, but I have no problem with
that.
Q. On the action
figure of Ash that just came out from Todd McFarlane toys your right arm is
stuck in a rather odd pose. Can you confirm that in real life you do actually
have a moveable elbow?
A: Yes, I do.
I am triple jointed. Most people don't know that - you can now tell the
world.
Q. So, er, could you
say "groovy" for us?
A: Rent the
film...better yet - buy it!
Q. Is anyone else involved
in the Evil Dead game that was also involved with the films? Is Sam Raimi having
any input in it, for example?
A:
Renaissance Pictures, Raimi's company, has full approval over the game. Sam's
personal involvement has been somewhat limited due to his busy schedule, but we
received initial feedback on the design from Rob Tapert, the producer of all
three Evil Dead films, and Sam through Renaissance. In fact, it was the
filmmakers who wanted to return to the roots of Evil Dead and include the cabin
and woods as one of the primary locations. And although Bruce isn't
technically part of Renaissance, we wanted as much input from him as he would
give. Thankfully, he has been very generous by taking the time to check
out the game at various stages throughout production and offering
feedback. Our goal from the beginning has been to remain as true to the
films as possible, and what better way than to have the creators involved right
from the start.
Q. Many good
quality games (Resident Evil in particular, actually) have been spoiled by
really poor quality dialogue. Who's writing the script for Hail to the King and
generally how much dialogue is there in the game?
A: The script was written by Jeffy Branion, Kris Jackson and
me. Jeffy and Kris are two of the designers on the game and I'm the
executive producer. Our goal when writing the script was simple. Be true
to Evil Dead and the character of Ash. I think we succeeded on both
fronts. There is quite a bit of dialog in the game - about 30 minutes of
cut scenes, to be more specific.
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Q. Why is the game called Hail
to the King? Isn't that a reference to a quote only used in the US version
of Army of Darkness, and therefore completely unknown to anyone in
Europe. A: The original subtitle was Ashes 2 Ashes, but it turned out there was already a game with that name. So, we went with our second favourite subtitle, which was Hail to the King. The line might have only appeared in the US version of Army of Darkness, but it is still a good title and the Evil Dead purists out there will know of it regardless of where they live |
Q. How will the developer be
getting across the point that Ash is an idiot in the game, or are you just
leaving that up to the average gamer to simulate for themselves?
A: Ash might be somewhat of an idiot, but he's still
a hero in the end. Probably the most idiotic thing he does in the game is return
to the cabin in the woods. After all of the crap he went through the first
time, you would think he wouldn't want to go back. But then again, we feel
it is a nice way to start the game by going back to the roots of Evil
Dead.
Q. More to the point
why does the game's storyline seem to be a rehash of Evil Dead II, what with the
cabin and all? Wouldn't it have been more interesting to carry on the storyline
in the future à la the European/Director's Cut ending? It seems pretty unlikely
that Evil Dead IV will ever get made so wasn't this the perfect chance to carry
on the storyline without you having to get all beat up on set?
A: The storyline is in no way a rehash of Evil Dead
2. It continues the ongoing saga of Ash and the Necronomicon. Eight
years have passed since Army of Darkness. Ash has returned to his normal
life and even has a new girlfriend, Jenny. But lately he's been having
horrible nightmares about the Necronomicon, deadites, the woods and other
strange things. With a lot of convincing by Jenny and accompanied by her,
Ash returns to the cabin in order to confront his fears and put an end to the
nightmares. Once there, he is again faced with the challenge of battling
deadites and other evil forces that have crossed over to our world because of
the Necronomicon. Ash's evil half appears and is set on an evil mission, which
Ash must stop in order to save Jenny and ultimately the world. About
halfway through the game, Ash travels back in time through a vortex opened with
the Necronomicon and ends up in ancient Damascus at the time the book is being
written. There he meets the translator/author of the Necronomicon and uncovers
some of the secrets behind its origins as he tries to stop his evil half from
carrying out his mission. While the cabin is included as one of the
settings, there is much to the game and story than just that. It is not a
retelling of Evil Dead 2, but rather a continuation of the Evil Dead
series.
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