Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - developer interview

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Could this be the best outing yet for the TMNT heroes? We find out more from Ubisoft Montreal...

After the first shots and details of the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie tie-in were released earlier this week, we shelled out some questions to Ubisoft's acclaimed Montreal Studio (the people behind such top titles as Prince of Persia and Splinter Cell ) toget some more details about what we can expect from its spin on the crime-repelling reptiles.

Nick Harper, TMNT 's creative director, steps up from the sewers to give us some answers...

Will players be able to choose which turtle they play as, and can you reveal a bit more about each of their unique individual abilities?
There is a progression in this game that follows the themes of brotherhood and working together as a family.Therefore, there are some levels in the game where the player plays as one turtle only - this is to make the player understand what the constraints and limitations are when taking on the enemies as an individual turtle.

When a fellow brother is available for combat, the player can swap from one turtle to another.Each turtle has a special individual move based on their personality and philosophy. Raphael, who is the more aggressive turtle, uses his Sais to climb walls (he punches holes in the walls in an angry manner). Michelangelo, who is the funnier, younger character, uses his nunchaku while spinning on his shell (sort of a break-dancing technique). The player will also be faced with making quick decisions on choosing the appropriate turtle to handle the situation.

Is there going to be any squad-based gameplay?
It's not so much squad-based - it's more of a tag-team gameplay. Once the other turtles are introduced into the gameplay, the player must learn how to fully take advantage of the powerful tag-team moves and acrobatics. Using this tag-team system at strategic times in the game will eliminate enemies quicker and provide extra ninja points to the player to unlock cool stuff like artwork and TMNT movie clips.

Will the four turtles always be on-screen together?
No, however there will be two turtles working together during the tag-team combat and acrobatic moves.

Matt Cundy
Matt Cundy
I don't have the energy to really hate anything properly. Most things I think are OK or inoffensively average. I do love quite a lot of stuff as well, though.