Riedler: We looked at the story that happened in the second game, as well as a spinoff game that was called Helldorado. GamesBeat: Why did you decide to do a prequel? It’s by the same developer that’s doing Desperados III. It was very critically acclaimed and did very well. There’s really only been one game in this genre recently, which was called Shadow Tactics. There hasn’t been a Commandos game for quite a while. Riedler: Commandos and the first Desperados were very similar. Is it comparable to that kind of gameplay? Over the course of the game we’ll have episodes where we show more of the background. You get some backstory about what happened on his learning trips with his father. He’s the main character of the first game, and also this third game.
Riedler: The kid you play is John Cooper. GamesBeat: Is the kid somebody special in the first game? It tells the story of how the characters in the first game met. But the first one was always the best-loved game, and that’s where we’re orienting this one. After a couple of years, there was Desperados II, which took a different approach with some special feature like first-person mode as an option.
Commandos was a popular series around the same time. It was the golden age of a real-time tactics games. Riedler: The original Desperados is almost 17 years old now. GamesBeat: I’m not familiar with the series’ history. It’s been two years, or a little bit longer. Munich and Vienna aren’t so far apart, so I can go back and forth by train. Riedler: I’m the producer on the THQ side, and the studio is based in Munich. GamesBeat: How long have you been working on Desperados III? Jonathan Riedler: I’m the producer on the THQ side, and the studio is based in Munich.