Does the game utilize the DS's online capabilities in any way?

We’ve put all our energy into the key elements of the game like having it run at 60 frames per second with no loading times in the gigantic City…and this was not compatible with online features. Instead of having online capabilities for a limited game, we’ve preferred to focus on the game itself at the sacrifice of online functionality.

Given the recent disappointing sales of GTA: Chinatown Wars and the inevitable comparisons between C.O.P. The Recruit and Chinatown Wars, does Chinatown Wars' sales numbers give you cause for concern?

From one point of view, we are in the business of designing games, so we try to focus on the quality of our game and avoid thinking too much about the sales of our competitors for instance. On the other hand, it’s true that we’ve thought about it. We believe that our fantastic technical achievement that gives us the possibility to propose a near ‘home-console’ experience on a DS and the fact that our game is targeted to a larger audience (with its Teen rating) should make it appealing to a lot of gamers.

Does the game utilize the hardware features of the DSi at all?

We’ve preferred to focus on features for the vast majority of DS owners, so we’ve decided not to have DSi specific features. However th DSi is also a great machine itself, and nothing should stop you from playing C.O.P. The Recruit on it.

Does the behavior of the city change as the day turns into night?

Yes, depending on the time of day, the traffic changes for instance. We also have maps with rain and snow, and needless to say, driving gets a bit more tricky!

Can you describe the mission structure of the game? Obviously the story plays a huge part as Dan works to take down the Bomb Zombies but are there side missions or side activities to take part in? If so, does the player earn anything by completing them?

The feeling of the game is very open because most of the time you have a number of missions you can complete in the order you want, so you are free to create your own agenda. You also have “random” police missions that get dispatched and that you are free to do or not. On top of that, the city is full of collectables (or destroyables if you prefer) and the game features achievements that you can unlock if you optimize your success with the missions.

Finally, if I've played Chinatown Wars on the DS, or are looking at picking it up on the PSP, what does C.O.P. The Recruit offer to entice me to visit New York City?

Our game adds a lot more elements to the typical open-world driving and shooting game: leading a S.W.A.T. team, controlling the city through blockades, spying with CCTV… things that are fun, specific to the DS and not just simple mini-games because they are always linked to the main gameplay and storyline. Compared to GTA Chinatown Wars, we wanted to tell a story primarily from the other side of the law, from the good guy’s perspective. Our story is more than just playing the role of the bad guy, which can be fun, but has been done before. If you’ve played the other games and killed everyone in sight, play C.O.P., it can actually be fun to save them too.

Thanks to Nouredine Abboud for taking the time to answer our questions. C.O.P. The Recruit drops for the Nintendo DS on November 3rd.