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EuroGamer has scored a very nice interview with Human Head's Shane Gurno, about the origin of this company and how it arrived in its current state, creating the 3rd-person viking combat game Rune for Gathering of Developers. Among the more interesting tidbits is the news that Human Head was originally contracted to do the sequel to Daikatana - before the original was actually finished, and using the Unreal engine.

The interview also contains plenty of information about Rune itself, including the following excerpt which reveals the game has a sense of humor as well - a sick one:

The game will feature a system where context and movement will determine the type of attack. How you move and swing will determine the attacks, somewhat like in Soul Caliber and Tekken". Which leads to Shane's favourite part of the game - "chopping off heads"! Yes, Rune allows you to hack off your enemies' arms and heads, and even pick them up and use them as weapons!

This should make for the perfect taunt in multiplayer - slice off an enemy's arm and then beat him round the head with it. Tasteful. And as Rune is based on the Unreal Tournament engine, it will naturally have multiplayer support and plenty of tools for players wanting to modify the game themselves...

"When Rune ships we intend to release all of the tools to the mod community. Users will then be able to create all their own mods based around melee combat. We'll also be launching www.runegame.com in the near future, which will host the best mods around. As for the actual modes of play, we will have more to say just prior to release."

While Mac users are likely to still be shut out of the mod-making game, due to the fact that we don't have UnrealEdit, it is good to know that Rune will have a community as robust and dynamic as the ones supporting Unreal and Unreal Tournament.

Also, RuneNews has scored an exclusive screen shot which features everyone's favorite viking warrior going toe-to-claw with a snowbeast. This gorgeous shot shows off the stunning Unreal Tournament engine in all of its glory, as well as Rune's crisp 3D models.

Rune for the PC is currently nearing Beta, and is due this Fall. Rune for the Mac OS is already in development by Westlake Interactive, and is due soon after the PC release.

RuneNews Web Site

Human Head Talks to EuroGamer

Gathering of Developers (add to watch list)

Human Head Studios (add to watch list)

Westlake Interactive (add to watch list)

Rune (add to watch list)

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