View to a thrill

Swordship began life as a driving game in which the player was being pursued by enemies. “We spoke about movies, and we were thinking Star Wars when Han Solo avoids asteroids or James Bond when someone chases him,” designer Basile Perrenoud tells us. Other inspirations included Mad Max: Fury Road and the Burnout series, with Swordship’s slowmotion cutaways a nod to Criterion’s games. At first the viewpoint was set behind the ship, then it was switched to a top-down camera, but the team settled on a frontal view. “We realised that actually in those movies, when they want to show you the enemies and some action, they reverse the camera so you can see both cars,” Perrenoud says.