The Lost Interview

The Cult TV show finally gets its game on! We chat to Executive Producer Gadi Pollack to unravel some answers to one of the most closely guarded secrets in videogames, info on the hot new game - Lost: Via Domus.

Tiscali Games: The appeal of Lost is largely based on the twisting story, how closely did you work with the Lost writers when developing the plot for the game?
Gadi Pollack: They had a huge amount of input! It was crucial that in order to do justice to the Lost license we worked with the creators as much as possible. We would meet with the writing team every 2-3 weeks to work through the project. We also hired one of the original scriptwriters to work as a consultant on the project all the way from the start through to the end.

Tiscali Games: Is JJ Abrams (the main creative genius behind Lost) a games fan?
Gadi Pollack: He sure is! From what I understand he plays a lot of Populus, Myst and Beyond Good & Evil - all great games.

Tiscali Games: How long has the game taken to jump from the drawing board to the screen?
Gadi Pollack: In total, from pencil to polygon, we're talking 17 months

Tiscali Games: What format does the game take?
Gadi Pollack: The game is designed to run like an independent series, the action is split into seven episodes of approximately 90 mins each - totalling 10 hours of pure.....continued below

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Lost gameplay.

Tiscali Games: How does the game fit into the Lost universe?
Gadi Pollack: The story takes place from Season one until Season two. But the story runs independently to the actual plot to Lost. We wanted to give the fans their own unique experience so we created a brand new character so that players could explore the island in their own eyes. The new character called Elliot Maslow, is an investigative journalist in possession of a major scoop, but he's also got one major problem- amnesia.

Tiscali Games: You worked with the majority of the cast to put this game together, who was your favourite?
Gadi Pollack: We worked with six of the leading names in the cast, ideally we would have liked it to be more but costs do inevitably play a factor - especially with the major names. Without a doubt Mr. Echo, is a favourite of mine. His character is dead now but he was a great guy to work with.

Tiscali Games: The TV series uses flashbacks to explain the plot - how does that work in the game?
Gadi Pollack: The flashbacks play two roles, they unveil your back-story but they are also playable, I don't want to give too much away at this point but you'll need to perform certain tasks correctly during the flashback sequences in order to unlock further plot twists. You'll need to pay attention to the dialogue that takes place around you in order to understand your character's path.

Tiscali Games: Are the same bad guys in the game as are in the show?
Gadi Pollack: Sure, The Others are in the game - they play a major role in persuading your character Elliot down certain story branches. You'll also come face to face with the Smoke Monster.