GameSlice:  It seems like a lot of people view Rune as very similar in style to Heretic 2 – which most would consider a good thing.  Do you think the comparison is warranted?  What separates the game from what some of your team did while working at Raven?

Tim:  Actually, you are the first member of the press to state that, and no one who has seen the game has stated that.  The only things in common between Rune and Heretic 2 are the facts that they are both fantasy and they both feature a third person camera.  Heretic 2 is a great game, and we all played it through when it came out and occasionally still deathmatch, but it really is very different than Rune.  Heretic 2 concentrates on magic and features a game mechanic that updates the original Heretic and Hexen in the collection of magic artifacts and devices.  The game play is steeped in high fantasy and features a combat system that makes the game a true third person shooter with several different styles of magical shooting devices and a simple hand-to-hand element based around one weapon that upgrades as you play. 

Rune is an action adventure game that concentrates on hand-to-hand combat from the get go.  It's a third person free action fighting game with a combat system that concentrates on getting in close with a variety of weapons.  The game features a very detailed combat system that allows novice players to understand it and enjoy the game, but with enough complexity and advanced features that expert players will find it worthwhile to learn the deeper combat modes and become an expert swordsman, axe wielder or mace bearer. 

In essence Rune is an epic comic book in the grand tradition of Conan the Barbarian and Kull the Conqueror and the heroic figures in Frank Frazetta's fantastic paintings.  The game design is steeped heavily in Norse mythology, so we have a very wide amount of background material to draw from. 

The level design is also tuned more toward simple logic puzzles and how you can use your immediate resources to overcome a problem.  Need to get past three really tough opponents?  You can either tough it out relying on your skills with your current weapon or you can attempt to use elements of your environment.  Are they standing beneath something you can cut down?  Is there something you can push over on them?  Is there something bigger and badder than you that you can sick on them?  We also tried to keep our sense of humor with the game and not take things too seriously, which is why we added elements like hunting for your food and drinking to heal and other elements we haven't revealed yet.

Now to your original question, if you are asking if there is room in the market for more than one third person fantasy game, I would have to say yes.  Going back to the logic of your original statement, it could be stated that Unreal Tournament is very similar in style and substance to Quake 3 though it is easily evident to anyone who plays them that they feel very different and feature very different styles of play in practice.  Yet they are both first person shooters in a pseudo goth-tech universe.  Both have devoted followers and sell quite well.  Rune has much less in common with Heretic 2 than Unreal Tournament has in common with Quake 3, so I think there is considerable room for fans of both games to enjoy.