Forget about peanut butter and chocolate. Forget about peanut butter and jelly. Instead, how about real time strategy mixed with a first person shooter? In the upcoming Field Ops, it doesn't matter if you like one genre over the other or love them both equally, because with the way they merge the two so seamlessly, as long as you like fighting and guns blazing, Field Ops looks to be right up your alley. See what Field Ops' Senior Producer Majeri Mourad had to say about the game.

1. What is the storyline of Field Ops?

Field Ops is set in the immediate future – although we do not show the actual year of the events in the game, and we have created fictional terrorist organizations and special operations groups, the missions are all based in real-world locations. All of the weapons and equipment featured in game are modeled after real life weapons and vehicles.

The story starts in Cuba where the Special Operations Group goes into combat against Alerta a well-equipped army of left-wing extremists. Led by Ramiro 'Comandante' Rodríguez, one of Castro's former generals, Alerta have laid siege the capital Havana, then spread throughout the eastern countryside and made Santiago de Cuba their stronghold. Once there, after demanding an end to Castro’s reign, 'Alerta' have announced that they possess nuclear missiles, left over from the Soviets that are capable of striking the Southern United States.

2. So obviously there is a central story then. How will the story unfold? Cutscenes, mission briefings, voiceover, etc?

Throughout the single player campaign, the events are story-driven. Once a mission begins, players have to complete a number of objectives to finish the mission. Missions are played linearly, one following another - once four missions are complete the story will then move onto the next chapter. The story evolves through cut scenes and also through debriefings/briefings before and after missions.

3. What types of missions will players have throughout the game?

The missions are varied and will mix different objectives such as rescue/release of a hostage from terrorists, secure a zone or assasinate a leader of a terrorist organization.

4. What types of locales will players be visiting and will they all happen at different times of the day, such as some day missions and night missions as well, and is there any dynamic weather conditions that vary from mission to mission?

There will be 16 missions over four locations including Cuba, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and USA. Pre-selected weather conditions will affect each mission which will be played mainly during dusk, dawn or early afternoon.

5. The website says there are "more than seven classes per side" – does that mean that there will be at least two campaigns in the game, one for each side, or is that only for the multiplayer?

Players will only be able to play the campaign, by using the SOG “Special operation Group”. The terrorist side will playable only in multiplayer.

6. Speaking of the classes, what types of classes are there in the game and what are their specialties?

In total, there are seven classes: “Spec Op”, “Sniper”, “Heavy machine gunner”, “medic”, “anti tank”, “demolition expert” and “technician”.

Each character class has specific weapons and equipment that is unique to that class. For instance, the sniper specializes in lethal precision thanks to his sniper rifle, but he can also use a laser designator to call-in an air strike.

7. Do you have the ability within the game to upgrade the stats of any of your characters as they perform well in combat under given scenarios?

There is an experience system that will allow those soldiers who are still alive at the end of the mission, to be used on the next mission. The experience promotes your soldiers and heroes according to their performance during the mission. There are 6 ranks for the class and 6 ranks for heroes. Each level improves the players’ attributes and unlocks one of twelve new skills.

8. One of the things about Field Ops is that it is both a RTS and a FPS. Why did you choose to go this route over picking one or the other and how did you make this decision?

The original idea was not simply to mix the two perspectives and see if it works! The objective has been, from the beginning to bring players a completely new and realistic experience of modern day conflict. To really experience a modern war, you need to play it and live it both from the perspective of a commander, the one who designs strategies and tactics, and through the eyes of a soldier on the battlefield. Our belief is that the most appropriate mode to truly be a commander was RTS, and that the best way to be in the action on the battlefield was to play FPS. So we decided to merge RTS and FPS, and looked for a developer who could do this.

Flip On Over To Page Two To Read The Rest Of The QA