Moscow Rush is a unique driving game being released for the PC by our good chums over at Buka Entertainment. Recently, I had a chance to sit down with the team from Buka and ask them some of the questions about the game that I was dying to know. They did their best to answer questions on the game, and even though it’s still early in development, I’m quite assured that the men and women at Buka are going to deliver an excellent title.

Thunderbolt: “Moscow Rush” sounds like quite an ambitious undertaking. Did you all just sit down one day and come up with the idea for this game, or was it a long, slow process?

Buka: We have had the desire to create an automotive simulator of a city for a long time. Gradually the idea began to take shape of a game, and the first concepts emerged. We didn’t immediately begin restricting ourselves with the system requirements and other technological stuff. Instead, we focused ourselves on formulating and implementing an integral game world, essentially a real game universe. So in reality, it took more than half a year of research before the actual game script was formed. It took us a year more to finish the key engine elements and ultimately prove to ourselves, that we are fully capable of undertaking such a project.

Thunderbolt: You’re promising a photo-realistic rendition of Moscow. While I’ve personally never been there, I imagine that it’s quite a vast city, and I imagine that you’re going to have to spend quite a bit of time getting all of it done. Are you going to have the complete city, or are you just going to have the highlights?

Buka: The realistic Moscow is the game’s key feature. We contribute all our efforts to it, and this is a vital gameplay element. Of course, modeling the whole Moscow is beyond our possibilities, but at least the central district will be topographically precise. And this is tens of times larger than the areas featured by today’s games. Such a huge scope demanded a special technology to be developed, including a special world editor, a special graphics engine and a whole bunch of other features.

Thunderbolt: The game so far sounds similar to hit games like “The Getaway” and “Grand Theft Auto.” What are you hoping that gamers will find in your title that will get them to purchase your game over the next renditions of those two popular franchises?

Buka: To begin with, we believe that the final word in this genre won’t be spoken soon, just like in the First Person Shooter genre. Next, our main focus is to reproduce the feelings of a driver in a modern metropolis: multi-lane roads with intense traffic, traffic jams, daredevils and dummies… Finally, making parallels with the cinema world, our game resembles mainly a car-featuring comedy, light-hearted and funny. Such as the “Taxi” movie, for instance. But the term “light-hearted” must not be applied to the game complexity. The lack of ability to leave the car is compensated by introducing the car upgrade system and by participating in the regular and high-stakes races, where you will have to squeeze everything out of those upgrades.

Thunderbolt: The racing elements in the game sound particularly interesting to me. One thing I am curious about is that you mention in your press release that you can “get in touch with criminal gangs to become their leader.” Could you elaborate a little more on how this will work?

Buka: We have decided to abandon the criminal part. Yes, you still can be naughty in the game, but it’s now more about pranks, than serious crime. The thing you can do in our world, though, is become a leader of one of the street racer clans.

Thunderbolt: In days when games are getting shorter and shorter it seems, Moscow Rush promises a good deal of length with 20 missions and the free ride mode. How much time are you hoping gamers will get out of the title before they’ll want Moscow Rush 2?

Buka: It’s hard to tell. Indeed, the time flows ever faster. If the gamers appreciate our world, it’s possible we will just expand it and fill it with greater detail. Given our technology, it’s a rather quick thing to do.

Thunderbolt: You’ve also announced a LAN-multiplayer mode. Do you have any plans to enable Internet-based multiplayer, and regardless of that, will the multiplayer mode be just direct racing against other opponents or are you hoping to have some sort of story elements infused in it?

Buka: Currently we plan to implement only racing in the network mode. But who knows, maybe Moscow Rush 2 will appear to be an automotive MMORPG

Thunderbolt: You guys seem to be hard at work trying to make the most realistic game possible. The physics engine sounds promising, but are we going to be driving licensed vehicles? Or are we going to be driving cars created by Buka?

Buka: The game features 30 vehicles of different classes – cars, buses, tractors and even one tarmac layer. There are also unique cars, but I won’t reveal the details for now – these are per-mission super cars. We have paid much attention to such aspects as vehicle tuning and altering its exterior. Car names and exteriors aren’t licensed, but they reflect the peculiarities of the locale.

Thunderbolt: Your graphics engine seems very nice too. Judging from these early screenshots, you guys are working on implementing some fantastic features, such as the shadows and reflections. Do you expect the graphics to improve more than they already have, or are you pretty certain that this is how the game will look upon release?

Buka: The graphics engine is being designed specifically for the cutting-edge hardware. Rest assured, when the game is released, it will implement all the latest features, such as dynamic lighting and shadows and the real-time day-night cycle.

Thunderbolt: You guys seem to be working real hard, but you’d better not be killing yourselves. What else are you doing to relieve the stresses of your day-to-day toils to make this fine game?

Buka: Playing Project1 (a Quake 1 mod), and what did you expect?..

Thunderbolt: Thank you very much for indulging us in an interview over this intriguing title. We can’t wait to see the end results of your hard work and dedication.

Buka: There are many interesting things yet to be revealed, but we would like to do it after the demo is published. Thank you for your interest in our project, we hope to talk to you again soon!

Keep your eyes open for more on this exciting, promising title in the future.