Interview: Understanding Iron Meat's Art and Atmosphere with our Art Director!

This week, we're chatting with Xander Arnot, Art Director at Retroware! Check out his insights into how the visuals of Iron Meat convey its unspoken story...

Please introduce yourself and describe your involvement in Iron Meat's development.

Xander: Hey, I’m Xander Arnot! I work as an art director at Retroware. At the start of my involvement with Iron Meat several years ago, I was tasked with creating storefront assets, early trailers, and promotional materials for the game. As time passed and the game’s characters and story began to evolve, I couldn’t help but jump in, and draw what I thought Ivan’s in-game sprites would look like beyond their pixel form. That’s where my involvement with the game’s art really began!

In hindsight, I got to do a lot for the game, including: storyboarding for in-game cutscenes, concept art for a majority of the game’s unlockable skins and UI, and designs for characters like Sasha! But I give the most credit to Ivan, and the pixel artists for their excellent final implementation of these concepts.

What do you think sets Iron Meat's aesthetics apart from other titles in its genre? How do you think taking inspiration from Contra and other classic titles helps the game establish a unique art style of its own?

Xander: Gameplay aside, a large part of Iron Meat’s genius is how quickly you understand exactly what you’re getting into before you even pick up the controller. Even players unfamiliar with games like Contra, can immediately recognize the great amount of influence from other sci-fi properties and how well they’re re-contextualized here. The visuals (in tandem with the great soundtrack) feel familiar but new at the same time. The cool tones of the metal, and the bloody masses of meat monsters really pop! And come on, who doesn’t want to fight against a never-ending horde of meat monsters in the dystopian future?

From its early days in development to now, what were your thoughts as you saw Iron Meat's art style evolving over time to what it is now?

Xander: Every time we’d get a new build from Ivan, it was a blast to see just how “meaty” everything became over time. You probably could have played a game trying to predict which metal death machine would be even more infected the next time you played.

At some point, the flesh and teeth became a crucial design language that beyond just looking cool communicates a very simple, easy-to-understand message to the player: If it’s covered in Meat, shoot it! There were undoubtedly a few times we sent a note or two to “meat-ify” something!

Do you have a favorite level based on its art style alone? How about a favorite boss design?

Xander: Each level of the game has something cool going on in context, but the Forest really jumps out as my favorite level design. It’s Iron Meat firing on all cylinders, throwing you right into the action. It’s like level 1-1 in Super Mario to me at this point. I know every jump, upgrade, and enemy placement. Every strategy! To the point that I kinda feel like a badass! (Well, on normal mode at least…lol)

We understand you did concept art work behind a bunch of the in-game skins. Which skin(s) do you like the most?

Xander: I’m proud of a lot of these designs! And interesting challenge to decide when and how to break the rules of the Iron Meat design language. On aesthetic alone, I think the Cthulhu and Flaming Skull Head Guy might be my favorites! But, the buff shark in jorts that runs on its tailfins, might sweep the list! I’d love to design more skins in the future.

Lastly, as an artist, what are your thoughts on Iron Meat's use of visual storytelling to convey the dire in-game invasion situation to players without needing any spoken character dialogue?

Xander: I think it’s appropriate for a game like this to keep a level of narrative detail to a minimum. The final version of the game does that very well. It keeps its focus on the gameplay you came for, and makes you want to stay with the events that unfold around you as you progress. It’s nice we’ve been able to “flesh out” the narrative in greater detail on the Retroware YouTube channel.

That's all we got for this round of updates! Check back here for even more!

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