In the world of the Heretic Kingdoms, it seems that God is dead. The practice of religion is no longer accepted or even tolerated. The agents of the Inquisition are zealously seeking out and eliminating any remaining vestiges that might remind anyone of their faith. One of these is an artifact, a relic somehow seen as a serious threat. You have been assigned to destroy it, an undertaking that will pull you into a conflict between two warring secret societies, one a conspiratorial group of mages whose ambition is true power, the other a shadowy cult that wishes to renew its beliefs. Within this situation, you must decide your principles. Will you be an altruistic heroine, a selfish egotist or just a woman trying to get her job done? Will you work to eradicate religion forever, or become its savior?

This seeming morality tale plays out in Kult: Heretic Kingdoms, a fantasy RPG resulting from the joint efforts of developer 3D People and game design and dialogue scripting consultancy International Hobo. Initiated by the former company with the title Cult, the game underwent an extensive makeover between the time we initially spotted it in the second half of 2002 and its release in Europe last year. A few of the notable features are a vast environment made up of some 50 locations to explore, dozens of quests, scores of diverse monsters, and an uncomplicated but rewarding combat system that's said to keep the action flowing. With the title gaining more and more positive reviews, we recently had the chance to look at it from the perspective of 3D People Team Leader Peter Nagy and International Hobo Managing Director Chris Bateman.