Weapon of Choice has been in the top 10 XNA Community Games played since the list started being published; so it brings me great pleasure to bring you this interview with Nathan Fouts, President of Mommy's Best Games, Inc. the creators of Weapon of Choice.  Not only was Mr. Fouts kind enough to answer some questions for us be he also sent over some screenshots you can check out below.

Question: How did the idea for Weapon of Choice come about?

Nathan Fouts: I took one part squishy, two parts gnarly, and poured it over a blistering rock soundtrack before cooking it with a jet-engine.
Much of my childhood was spent playing 16-bit action games. I worked for over a decade at places such as Insomniac Games and Running with Scissors. After all that 3D development, I still wanted to create a game with that 2D, 16-bit thrill and bring it up to today’s standards. I wanted to make sure it was more approachable by introducing gameplay elements like Death-Brushing which lets you dramatically escape death as often as you need.
 

Question: Weapon of Choice has a very unique graphical style and sound track. How did you come to this specific style for the game? 

NF: The graphic style was born from my love of sketches and pencil work. I love the tactile nature of the paper and pencil style and I knew the Xbox 360 had the texture capacity to bring it fruition. The soundtrack was created by Hamdija Ajanovic. I provided him with 20-30 second snippets of all my favorite speed metal track and he distilled those into something new.

 
Question: There is a really classic game play feel to Weapon of Choice that reminds me a lot of Contra and Metal Slug.  How much did games like these influence Weapon of Choice?

NF: They influenced the game a quite a bit. I love the Contra series, Hard Corps being my favorite, and have great respect for the Metal Slug art and animation aesthetic. I wanted to have very large, detailed creatures that were capable of lots of animation, and close interaction with the player. For instance, many creatures in the game can be walked upon, or even climbed upon using the Spiderpack—a mechanical backpack capable of grabbing hold of just about everything.

 
Question: Why did you decide to release Weapon of Choice as an XNA Community Game verses an online flash game or on Xbox Live Arcade?

NF: I’m biased towards console games as I play more of those than online flash games.
The ability to release on a new platform, especially one with millions of potential customers is huge. As things fell into place and it was clear I could finish Weapon of Choice in time for the Community Games launch, I knew what to do.
 

Question: Was it difficult to develop and release an XNA Community Game?

NF: It was difficult to release a game as large and with the polish level that Weapon of Choice contains as one person. I had several people helping me part-time, at different points during the project, but it was a long year. Without XNA it would simply have not have been possible to make the game on the Xbox 360. C# and XNA greatly sped up the development time for the game.

Question: Weapon of Choice won third place in Microsoft's Dream Build Play 2008. Has the game changed since entering Dream Build Play?

NF: Absolutely! The core gameplay is still basically the same but since the contest, I added several new Operatives, several new levels, probably a dozen new monsters, and even several new endings!

 
Question: Looking back on Weapon of Choice what are the things that you are most proud of?

NF: I’m most proud of the gestalt feel you can have when you are hanging on to some massive alien for dear life, blasting away, while in the meantime the beautiful flora wave in the breeze around you. I’m just really happy with how the aliens came to life in their colorful world and how fun it is to shoot them to gorey bits!
 

Question: Was there anything you were hoping to get into Weapon of Choice that did not make it?

NF: Yes, I had a fun system in place to reward the player more for exploration. We were also toying with new difficulty modes and play modes. There wasn’t enough time to polish everything properly so some things had to be removed. Those may show up some time in 2009 in a version update.

Question: Now that Weapon of Choice has released are you planning another XNA game?

NF: Certainly. It will be a highly polished action game, different from Weapon of Choice, but with a similarly unique art style, filled to the brim with fun, new gameplay.

Question: Can you give us some tips, hints, or strategies for Weapon of Choice?

NF: Well, there’s lots of hints on the loading text on the bottom half of the screen.
In addition to that, the key is to rescue new Operatives. Pick a direction leading out of the first level and make sure to rescue a new person. Once you’ve carried them out of the level, you’ll have one more playable life. With the extra life, you can make it even further into the game. There are seven unique Operatives, and once you have those; you can really start busting some alien heads. And popping eyes. And exploding sacks. Good luck!

Screenshots