Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘Heroes of Loot 2’

Review Fix chats with “Heroes of Loot 2” developer Pascal Bestebroer, who discusses the frenetic Legend of Zelda/Gauntlet-styled dungeon crawler on PC, AndroidTV and iOS.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this game?

Pascal Bestebroer: The original inspiration, for Heroes of Loot 1, was Gauntlet. And arcade game from the early 1980s. It pitched these four heroes against a hundred of dungeons full of monsters and with a lot of loot. Killing the monsters, finding keys to open the gates, and trying to reach level 100.

For “Heroes of Loot 2,” I combined that feeling with inspiration from Zelda, mostly the quests in those dungeons, and various gameplay elements and idea’s from AAA titles like “God of War” and “Darksiders.”

A strange mix, but I think it works.

Review Fix: What inspired the game’s look?

Bestebroer: All my games have this specific pixel-art look to it, but I enjoy adding special effects of modern day games. So even tho everything is done in vibrant pixel-art, there is a nice layer of multi colored lighting, reflections on the floors, and other such visual effects.

For the main heroes and all the creatures I went for a sort of cute and cartoony look, which is a nice contrast with the dark dungeon setting.

Review Fix: What has development been like?

Bestebroer: A lot of fun. It was a pretty smooth ride, probably because I had very clear goals on what the game should be, and a lot of experience from the first “Heroes of Loot.”

Review Fix: What games did you play as a kid? How did they influence this one?

Bestebroer: I played all the games as a kid, which was back in the ’80s. These days I mostly play what I like to call “story” games, that have a clear beginning and ending. Not so much a fan of the sandbox games or multiplayer games as my gaming-time is pretty much limited (and I work with games all day, which doesn’t help either).

So my influence is really a mix of ’80s arcade games and the biggest AAA Blockbuster games of today – as mentioned “God of War” and “Darksiders” were influencing decisions on this game and I still haven’t completed “Darksiders.”

Review Fix: What do you think is the coolest feature in the game?

Bestebroer: I really like the fact you can play coop at least on PC or AndroidTV devices. Which is a lot of fun since you can obviously help each other but also grab some loot and usable items before your “friend” grabs them.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why should someone play this?

Bestebroer: Who doesn’t like going on adventure? roaming dungeons, and grabbing a lot of loot? If you like any of the games I mentioned above, then you really need to try this game on either PC, Android or iOS.

Review Fix: This game is incredibly deep. How much time and effort went into polishing the game’s gameplay and options?

Bestebroer: A lot, especially balancing the game has taken a few weeks of many small changes and testing. In the end I’m very happy with the end result, and it seems the players agree.

Review Fix: What are your goals for the game?

Bestebroer: I still plan to add four new characters that you can unlock, and some special area’s that are hidden and unlockable during gameplay. So there’s a few more things coming.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Bestebroer: I have a few idea’s brewing, but nothing decided on yet. But that’s part of the fun, trying out some new ideas and see which one is the most fun!  I’ll most likely post teasers and do some development streaming on social media, so just follow me on twitter @orangepascal for more information.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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