Unearth the strange and undying world of Garters & Ghouls! Control and command the newly-dead Marie Dupois as she battles the minions of The Thrum and horrors beyond description! With over 25 levels, randomized level generation and downloadable content, the action never dies!

We caught up with Namco Licensing Manager, Chris Lucero, to talk about Garters & Ghouls.

Christine Caprilozzi: The game really centers on an intricate story. How did the concept come about?

Chris Lucero: We were definitely inspired by the mash-ups, zombies and secret societies and symbols that are staples of modern popular culture. It's a great time to be a horror fan right now; zombies, vampires, werewolves are hip again and with literary and film projects like Pride, Prejudice and Zombies gaining in popularity, the Gilded Age that G&G is set in seemed like the perfect setting to tell an American story.

Christine Caprilozzi: Tell us a little bit about the development of the characters like Marie? And the Thrum?

Chris Lucero: Our characters are very well-known archetypes. Brought back from the dead against her will, Marie is definitely a reluctant hero, as are all the girls that make up the Dead-Butantes. It just so happens that once they get a taste for killing the Thrum's minions, they enjoy it! Of course, their costumes aren't exactly period accurate, but creating strong female heroes who can be "sexy" is half the fun of the genre.

Likewise, the Thrum is inspired by classic Lovecraftian mythology; a monstrous, inter-dimensional force that's out to subjugate humanity. We also incorporated demonic/satanic elements to The Thrum that comport with the western ideal of "The Devil". Like Satan, The Thurm is a malevolent being that resides in the Earth's core and works through both ordinary man and his demonic henchmen.

Christine Caprilozzi: For the graphics, I heard that the developers were given actual sketches and paintings to go off of. How did that process work?

Chris Lucero: We're quite fortunate at Namco Networks, in that we have a very strong internal creative services team. Our group of artists is very talented and were able to take our vision of Marie and the world of Garters & Ghouls and translate it to some really great pre-production art, which got passed on to the developer for the game.

Christine Caprilozzi: How would you rate the "kill" scenes, in terms of blood and gore in the game?

Chris Lucero: Blood and gore is always a delicate balance for games. While most digitally distributed content doesn't fall under the auspices of watchdog groups like the ESRB we do have to make the game as appealing to casual players as we do hard-core horror fans. As it stands, the game is pretty bloody; but it's not as gore soaked as it could've been.

Christine Caprilozzi: Garters and Ghouls was released in October of last year through iTunes. There have been some recent upgrades. Tell us a bit about them? Tell us about the upgraded weaponry?

Chris Lucero: Yes, we did an update recently, the Winter Nightmare, with an all new story and a new outfit for Marie. In fact, five new achievements were added, a new "survival mode" to kill endless waves of evil creatures, three difficulty settings, and a new compass feature for the 3GS handsets, which unlocks some secret bonus content.

With regard to the weapons, this update revamps the entire weapons system, allowing players to keep an inventory and cycle through multiple weapons, rather than only using the most recent weapon found in the game.

Christine Caprilozzi: Also, tell us a bit about the new cinematic intro?

Chris Lucero: The introductory cinematic is meant to immediately bring players into the world of Garters & Ghouls without relegating all of the exposition to the in-game dialog. This way a player is already familiar with the universe and the dialog can be used to enhance the overall experience.

Christine Caprilozzi: Some reviewers have called the game "addictive", what do you think gives it that quality?

Chris Lucero: Garters & Ghouls was created to feel a bit like the great arcade games of the past. As a kid, I lost a ton of quarters, addicted to games like Smash TV, with lots of mindless action, and that's something I wanted to see out of G & G. Also, I think the near-endless slaughter that the game provides is just the kind of visceral release that well all need and love. At the end of the day, who doesn't want to take their frustrations out on a horde of flesh-eating creatures?

Christine Caprilozzi: Where can our readers get more information about the game?

Chris Lucero: We've got some really exciting things going on with G&G; in addition to our recent update with all new content and own mini-site, http://www.gartersandghouls.com/ and our full suite of games at www.namcogames.com, we also have a Garters & Ghouls comic book with IDW Publishing that can be found on the Apple App Store at http://itunes.com/apps/idwpublishing/gartersandghouls1. The comic really captures both the game's action elements and its off-kilter sense of humor, while telling the story of a new Dead-Butante, Iris and how she came to be.

Christine Caprilozzi: In closing, what would you like to say about Garters & Ghouls?

Chris Lucero: Garters & Ghouls has been great fun for me and the team here at Namco Networks, as it has given us the chance to create a wholly original franchise, separate and apart from the more traditional arcade classics that Namco Networks is known for. Between the iPhone game, our comic book with IDW and a PC downloadable version coming soon, there are a number of opportunities to bring fans the further adventures of Marie and Dead-Butantes, if they want them.

Christine Caprilozzi: Thank you for your time! Best of luck with Garters & Ghouls!

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