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The Xbox 360 has been a bottomless source
of inspiration. You can directly trace some
of the ideas of Dying Light 2 back to Fable,
especially Fable III [1] and how it married choices
with actual gameplay consequences. Another
is The Saboteur [2]. It had a lot of very interesting
design ideas, like the ‘outfits’ approach to stealth
and how the final ‘boss’ encounter reacted to your
indecisiveness. But what inspired me most was
how it made you feel powerful when you could
visually change the world around you through your
actions. I love all the Halo instalments, but I think I
learned most from the spin-offs. I loved the varying
narrative perspectives of ODST, but the one Halo I
love the most is Halo: Reach [3] with its scale and
clever story ideas: the setup and idea for the ‘Lone
Wolf’ mission is pure brilliance. Forza combines the
needs of hardcore and casual car enthusiasts in the
best way possible, and Forza Horizon 4 [4] delivers
on the formula created by Playground Games
to the fullest. My final choice is Dead Island [5],
because it’s the game that made me cross the
line from being a games journalist to being a
games developer. When it released I wrote a highly
appraising and analytical review of it in a Polish
game magazine. The creative director, Adrian
Ciszewski, liked the depth of my observations and
Techland invited me to see if I’d consider changing
my workplace. It was a leap of faith on my side, but
I couldn’t be more happy for it.Tymon Smektała
Lead game designer
at Techland
With a varied career
history, Smektała had
a stint as a rapper
releasing several
albums before
moving into games
journalism, which
led him to game
development. He’s
currently working on
action role-playing
game Dying Light 2.[1][2][4][5]114 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE
OXM OUT
the disc slot
They make the games we love, but what do they play
for fun? We ask developers to pick their faves
from Xbox history. This month: Tymon Smektała
[3]