More game music

A new music track from the full game is available for download here: IGI2 MUSIC It's from the second campaign, in Libya, which is a hard, fast and exciting mission, where all of your skills are needed. You should be able to hear the regional influences on the piece.

Richard Darling Q&A

here is a selection of the questions that you people sent in over the last few weeks to Codemasters founder and Creative Director, Richard Darling.

1. From Yakult…
Did you play the first project IGI, if so, what was your favourite thing about it?

R.D. - We played a lot of IGI when we first begun looking at the sequel, it was a great game which just had a couple of problems that let it down. I really liked the combination of action and stealth; this is something we have really built upon in IGI2.

2. From The Jay…
In the multiplayer element, will their be exclusive weapons for each side or will everyone have the same choices?

R.D. - Each side has a few exclusive weapons. For instance, IGI have the MP5, G17 and PSG while the Conspiracy have the AK, Makarov and Dragunov.

3. From Steve Royer…
Since IGI2 will feature large outdoor environments, how are you balancing the weapons?

R.D. – Chris Ryan helped a lot with the initial weapon properties, giving everything a realistic slant. Since then balance issues have been brought to light through internal testing, and now that phase 2 of the beta test has started we are finding all the balance issues that are caused by playing on the internet. The weapons will be tweaked all the way through until the game goes to gold master. In the next version of the beta-test you will see new elements added to sniping that will help to make it more skilful.

4. From Daniel Gewargis…
Will a single character be limited to the physical amount of weapons that he may carry, or will this be the same as the original game?

R.D. - We have limited the weapons a player can carry as it helps to make the game more realistic. In IGI2 you can carry 1 primary weapon, like a rifle or shotgun, 1 pistol and a selection of grenades. With over 30 weapons and items in the game it becomes quite strategic selecting which weapon to take with you.

5. From Jamie Green…
Why was the beta signup released so early, we had to wait over a year?

R.D. - The beta test was something we knew that we wanted to do right from the start. While the main objective of a beta test is to test the game there is a nice side effect where we get a group of the hardcore IGI fans together. These fans have been giving a lot of input and feedback to the designers on the game and help to make IGI2 into a better product. Unfortunately, the release date for the game was moved back significantly from our original projections and this meant that the beta test had to be put back too. This is the first large scale beta test that we have had for a Codemasters product, and as such it's a learning experience for us as well.