Review Fix Exclusive: Rikki Knight and Bunny D.A.S.T. Talk ‘Boo Bunny Plague’

Review Fix chats with Rikki Knight, Art Director at On The Level Game Studios Bunny D.A.S.T. (Danger Awesome Slash Trouble), Audio Director at On The Level Game Studios about the new musical comedy action adventure “Boo Bunny Plague,” currently available on Steam. A tattoo artist and a heavy metal guitarist, the two are the last you’d expect to collaborate on a game, but the end result is a shockingly intriguing one.

Review Fix: What inspired the creation of this game?

Rikki Knight: A long-term love affair with PC games, comics, pop culture and entertainment like classic Warner Bros. cartoons, Adult swim shows like the Venture Bros. An obsession with robots, a love for rabbits… and meeting our Audio Director, Bunny, who is the main character in every way.

Bunny: Lunacy!

Review Fix: How did you get into the video game industry?

Knight: I was involved in the modding community back in the ‘90s, Quake 2 mods and the like. I took a brief break and became a tattoo artist for several years due to a long time desire to learn to do that, as well as pay my bills. Then I got a call one day from my friend Jeff, who I’ve known for 15 years through playing Everquest together, asking if I wanted to take part in a video game company he was starting up. I, of course, said yes and here I am.

Bunny: The love of everything audio. I have been producing and engineering music professionally for 15 years now and started playing in orchestra when I was 11 or so (I’m 37 now…yikes). Music and audio has been pretty much my life so when I was asked to take my art and craft and be the audio guy for this new gaming studio On The Level Games, I dove in head first! The chance to write and produce the music, record voice actors and do cool sound effects was way too good to pass up.

Review Fix: What did you play as a kid and how did it play a role in this game?

Knight: As far as video games go, I was alive and kicking when some of the early classics came out. I used to go to the bowling alley with my dad and drool over Pac-Man, Frogger, Yie Ar Kung Fu, and too many others to name. That carried on into my teenage years and my 20s with me still going to bowling alleys and playing Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, but mostly Mortal Kombat. It all came together to fuel my desire to make video games. I may have taken some detours along the way but I’m here.

Bunny: I mostly played with sticks and rocks and second-hand action figures with broken arms and such. It gave me the imagination I have today! I know you were probably looking for a video game answer but honestly, aside from the standards (Mario Bros, Mega Man etc…) filling up my days with imaginary battles or building crazy mud castles or just riding my bike has had more influence on this game than other video games did. By the time NES came into my life I was maybe 13 or so. I had already filled my head with things that pixels on a screen could never live up to. But that’s just me.

Review Fix: The visuals in this game feel like they are straight-out-of a comic book or anime. Any thoughts on bringing it to another medium?

Knight: Actually, we worked with DC Comics on an 8-page bonus comic drawn by Jon Sommariva and written by Tim Seeley, but I do love cartoons and anime as well. We’d love to see it in more mediums someday. The more the merrier. Right now – we’re all just focused on the games.

Review Fix: How important is the music in this game?

Knight: Extremely important. I knew early on when I was prototyping the first level of the game that I wanted to make it a musical. Bunny gave me a weird look when I first told him but before I could blink an eye, he dove into it all like it there was nothing crazy about it and started to create all of the music for the game. In my household, my family loves musicals, we often break into random songs describing what we’re doing at the time… sure it’s weird, but it’s also hilarious.

Bunny: Well, this game is about a giant singing toy robot bunny…so fairly important. We used music to drive the story and set the tone for each set piece. Just like in the real world, where every person has their own style and taste – all of our bosses have their own particular taste in music … so we made songs to convey that. For instance, Heimdal—the overseer of Asguard and boss at the end of the rainbow bridge—can see everything all the time. We felt that someone who is all knowing and all seeing would really be into Opera. I got together with a great friend of mine, Scott Fix, who is in real life a singer for the Houston Opera and wrote a piece for him. Heimdal’s Opera Parts 1 and 2 ask and answer questions within 3 minutes and the style of play changes, I think 7 or 8 times within the song to reflect what he is singing about. Angry = fast, curious = piano solo, neutral = full orchestra….things like that. We did that for each and every boss fight. Thor and Tyr are metal heads, Hel is an underground rapper with a taste for punk, Pestilence likes gypsy punk, War likes rock and roll, Famine loves the ballet, Death likes experimental industrial, etc., etc. We also close the game with a big “Broadway-type” number with the entire cast as well. I think it was the perfect way to close Boo Bunny Plague.

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

Knight: You never know until you try. I didn’t eat an orange until I was 30 years old and never knew what I was missing for all those years. Try it, you might like it.

Bunny: It will entertain you. It is so many things at once; a musical, a video game, a movie, a story. And you can get the soundtrack on Steam or iTunes (soon) AND a bonus comic book which we partnered with DC Comics on, written by Tim Seeley and arted up by Jon Sommariva.

Review Fix: What’s your favorite gameplay element in the game?

Knight: The onomatopoeias!

Bunny: I love just spamming the attack button and watching Bunny go nuts-o on some baddies!

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy this game the most?

Knight: I’ve seen adults play it and laugh out loud, I’ve seen children play it with wild-eyed wonder. I think anyone who likes to laugh, sing, play – you know, be entertained will enjoy it on some level.

Review Fix: How do you want gamers to remember this title in a few years?

Knight: As the beginning of something beautiful… and yes Bunny, soon…too soon.

Bunny: As a fun time. As a time when life was simpler. As a time when we weren’t ruled by our robot masters. (That happens in a few years, right Rikki?)