  A screenshot of the frozen lake level in 'Narnia'. |
KNUTSFORD, England -- Jon Burton could turn an average battle in the video game adaptation of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe into a crimson bloodbath that would make Grand Theft Auto's Tommy Vercetti proud, just by making a few tweaks to the game's computer code.
Of course, Disney and the estate of The Chronicles Of Narnia scribe C.S. Lewis would flip out, the game would be slapped with a 17-and-older Mature rating -- and it would probably spike review scores by an average of 10% across the board.
Burton, director of U.K.-based game development studio Traveller's Tales, shakes his head at the contradiction of a society railing at wanton violence in video games -- values he shares, as a Christian family man -- and the nose-in-the-air attitude game reviewers take toward so-called family fare.
Traveller's Tales' latest title will try to walk the fine line between intense action and teen-friendly fun, with The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, mixing puzzle-solving and exploration with copious amounts of monster slaying. The game hits stores Nov. 15, just ahead of the Disney flick's Dec. 9 release.
As a bit of a lark, the developers temporarily added computer code that instructed the game to show blood splatters with every impact of sword or arrow on monster flesh, and the screen was soon awash in red as the game's quartet of kid heroes had it out with waves of critters.
But that's not what Narnia is about, Burton said. "I don't think it glorifies violence," he said. "It's not like you're getting into a car with a prostitute, sleeping with her and killing her to get the money back."
Based in the Manchester suburb of Knutsford, Traveller's Tales have done everything from Mickey Mouse and Toy Story titles to games featuring Sonic the Hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot to cheeky LEGO-fied versions of Star Wars characters. "We've worked with probably everybody, bar Mario, in video games," Burton said.
The Narnia game likely will be the studio's highest-profile title to date, though, especially if the film spawns the expected sequels and subsequent games. With the blessing and backing of Disney (who are bankrolling the movie) and C. S. Lewis' estate, Burton says the 21-person team who worked on the game have created something on par with what a giant like Electronic Arts would do with 10 times the resources.
But it's been a labour of love for Burton and his team. He inquired about doing the game adaptation before the Narnia movie details were even finalized, feeling the books' strong Christian themes were a good fit with his own beliefs.
Interestingly, he says he turned down the Harry Potter games (which eventually went to EA) for the same reason. While he doesn't feel Harry and Hermione practising magic is going to draw kids into the occult -- he's a fan of the books and films -- Burton just wasn't completely comfortable with translating witchcraft and wizardry into an interactive medium.
"Do I want to be responsible for the game?" Burton remembers asking himself at the time. "I'm not sure."
With Disney throwing a ton of cash behind the marketing of both the Narnia movie and the game, and with the game coming out three weeks before the film, much is riding on Traveller's Tales finding success with The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. Burton, for his part, is ready.
"I will await judgment from all sides," he said.
We think he means from above, too.
