MMOsite.com:

We’ve had our share of growing pains. When I started, the whole company—including the GnH team, the platform team, and the STO team—numbered fewer than 20 people. Since then we’ve ballooned to more than 100 people, with most of them on the GnH team—with even more when you consider that we outsource a fair amount of our art as well.

Obviously we have a lot of very talented people, but we’ve really striven to gather a very diverse team—veterans and people new to the business, as well as people with backgrounds in a variety of different game types. This makes us feel pretty confident that when we come to a difficulty, there will be a lot of different approaches to solving it, and we can choose the best possible one.

MMOsite.com: In overview, how would you describe the setting or environment in which Gods & Heroes takes place?

Stieg Hedlund: GnH takes place in a fantastic ancient world inspired both by the history of Rome and the surrounding areas of Europe, as well as by the myths of those places. The timeframe is roughly 300 BCE, an interesting time, when Rome is a small city-state struggling for survival against rival tribes such as the Etruscans, Greeks, Gauls and Samnites. The gods and all the creatures of myth are alive and present in the world as well, some friendly to the player character and some presenting grave challenges to overcome as they are sworn to destroy him.

Our world is awesome; we’ve done a lot of work to bring this consistent and immersive world to life, from doing extensive research to a great deal of conceptualization. We have tremendous environmental art, both on interiors and exteriors, and tremendous ancient architecture, plus gorgeous natural settings and terrific special effects—we’re all particularly proud of our water and shadow effects.

MMOsite.com: How large is the game world, and is it quick or easy for players to travel around?

Stieg Hedlund: It’s a big gameworld—I could tell you in kilometers, but distances seem very different to us in the modern world, so it’s not the best way to describe it. Since it is such a big world, we’re sensitive to the fact that walking across the whole thing could get really tedious, so we definitely provide ways to get around the world more quickly.

MMOsite.com: Currently, we can only experience battle through some screenshots and videos released. Regarding combat system, can you convey an overall concept for us?

Stieg Hedlund: GnH has a highly interactive, action-oriented combat experience. The characters involved in melee combat genuinely interact; strikes make contact, when there is a parry, blades meet, and then there are moves like the Gladiator’s Lucator Throw where he can pick up and move his opponent. This system has a visceral payoff that is far beyond what other MMOs present, and is much more akin to console-based fighting games (think Soul Caliber).

Ranged combat and spell casting have equally fantastic animations and special effects that make each of those systems equally rewarding experiences. All of them are very involving—you have to pay attention to what’s going on and be ready with appropriate attacks and counters.