Review Fix Exclusive: James Lantz Talks ‘Invisible Inc’

Review Fix chats with “Invisible Inc” technical designer and programmer James Lantz, who breaks down the upcoming game and how “Mark of the Ninja” and “Don’t Starve” played an integral role in its development process. Gearing up for a Steam release, the game is also going to be available on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in the future as well.

Review Fix: What makes this game special?

James Lantz: “Invisible Inc” is a turn-based tactical stealth game, a genre that we think has tons of unexplored potential. It’s unforgiving, highly tactical and dedicated to being a true turn-based stealth game.

Review Fix: What was the development process like?

Lantz: We worked on Invisible, Inc for about two and a half years with 8 – 10 members on the core team. We iterated on the game over and over until we were happy with it and then shipped it to Early Access, where we worked with the community to help shape it into the experience it is today.

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

Lantz: We’re pretty sure anyone who’s enjoyed X-COM or is into strategy or stealth games will enjoy Invisible, Inc. But we’re also hoping it will appeal to anyone with a taste for new kinds of experiences.

Review Fix: The art style is beautiful, what inspired it?

Lantz: The style of the game was inspired both by classic cyberpunk along the lines of Neuromancer and Blade Runner and by ’50s and ’60s spy movies. We went for a sleek cyberpunk look while still having plenty of color, character and sharp edges.

Review Fix: Any thoughts at a comic book or animated feature?

Lantz: Mostly just interested in working on the game part for now, we haven’t thought about any other avenues for Invisible, Inc yet.

Review Fix: What have the other games you guys have produced done for this game?

Lantz: Both “Mark of the Ninja” and “Don’t Starve” were huge influences on this game. In Don’t Starve, we learned how to make a procedural permadeath game compelling and tense without seeming cheap. In Mark of the Ninja, we learned how to make stealth really interesting without a huge combat component to the game. I would say that our experience developing Mark of the Ninja helped us nearly every day during Invisible Inc’s development.

Review Fix: Any chance this could make it on a Next Generation console?

Lantz: Yep. We’re planning on releasing the game on PS4 sometime in 2015 or 2016.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Lantz: We’re still working on finishing up Invisible Inc and making sure it launches smoothly, including fixing bugs as they come up. As a studio, we’re working on multiple games right now so some of the team will also support Don’t Starve Together.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 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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