Be
notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice
weekly.
Enter
E-Mail Address Below:
RTX Red Rock
It's good see an
original game coming from LucasArts again. I'll be the first to
defend Star Wars games, but after a while even that universe can grow
stale. Give me originality every time! Anyway, on with the
official stuff:
100 years in
the future Red Rock, mankind's first colony on Mars, is besieged by a
brutal alien force and military leaders on faraway Earth are stymied so
they call on Radical Tactics Expert (RTX) Eugene Zeno "E.Z."
Wheeler as their best hope in RTX Red Rock from LucasArts Entertainment
Company LLC. RTX Red Rock is an epic third-person action-adventure
expected to release Spring 2003 on PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube.
Radical Tactics Experts, who evolved out of the military's special
forces, are the smartest and toughest members of the armed services,
uniquely known for their strategic thinking, adaptability, and pure
military muscle. Individuals from this elite unit are trained for
insertion into undefined combat situations where even a small team is
too large and unwieldy. In RTX Red Rock players immerse themselves into
the role of Wheeler, who engages in fierce tactical combat, investigates
mysterious, foreboding environments, and solves challenging puzzles to
reclaim the Red Rock colony on Mars.
The game begins when Wheeler embarks on a reconnaissance mission to
Mars' inner moon, Phobos, to monitor the movements of the L.E.D.s, a
ruthlessly hostile alien species who have ransacked the colony. The
expectation is that everyone is dead. Upon arrival, Wheeler picks up a
distress call from Cimmeria Rajan, Red Rock's young and beautiful Chief
Colony Officer. Contrary to the military's worst fears, she and a
handful of others survived the alien invasion. Wheeler quickly descends
to the planet's surface for a sustained rescue operation that challenges
him to swim through underground waterways, cross Mars' frozen deserts,
penetrate the colony ruins, and sneak into alien ships, battling L.E.D.s
at every turn.
"RTX Red Rock follows in the tradition of classic award-winning
original games from LucasArts such as Grim Fandango, The Dig, and Full
Throttle," says Tom Byron, director of product marketing for
LucasArts. "We know players will quickly welcome E.Z. Wheeler into
the LucasArts family of heroes, as this game perfectly blends them with
a rich, compelling story and gripping game play."
Action in RTX Red Rock is distinguished by Wheeler's unique mechanized
abilities, granted to him through a series of medical operations to mend
previous combat injuries. Wheeler's synthetic right arm is both tool and
weapon, upgradeable to grappling hook, taser, grenade launcher, and
more. Likewise, his synthetic left eye is sensitive to special
wavelengths and can be used to locate and target hidden aliens, identify
traps, and uncover power-ups throughout the game's 10 levels.
State-of-the-art computer techniques allow LucasArts to blend realism
and fantasy, bringing players to the planet Mars in a way never before
possible.
Joining Wheeler in this treacherous adventure is his faithful digital
sidekick IRIS (Independent Removable Information System). IRIS is a
portable computer module with an impudent female personality. When
inserted into standard ports on various robots and control panels she
comes to chattering life and, guided by the player, helps Wheeler solve
his problems. Utilizing control of IRIS for portions of the game,
players directly command robots, Martian rovers, and other highly
maneuverable alien craft. RTX Red Rock also will feature a two-player
split-screen multiplayer mode for head-to-head battles, capture the flag
tournaments, and exhilarating races in some of the game's many vehicles.
LucasArts games
have always been about character and, more specifically, good character
names. Eugene Zeno "E.Z." Wheeler. Has a good ring
to it. Even if the game totally bombs, the world will at least
have "E.Z."
Put aside the
obvious nods to Halo (XB) -- the digital IRIS sidekick and one-man army
ethos -- and even more recent games like Metroid Prime (GC) this seems
to have more to do with the traditional "Save the Princess"
quests of yesteryear. This time on Mars. With a cool
cybernetic arm, a synthetic eye for all those necessary environmental
scans, and a uniform that is equal parts traffic pylon and 22rd Century
pizza delivery guy.
To say he looks
on the quirky side is almost an understatement.
My biggest
concerns lie with 1) a possibly annoying sidekick with IRIS and 2) an
attempt to include too much. There's mention of vehicles and a
focus on exploring vastly different environments. With this
inclusion there's always a danger of losing focus, which in turn can
bring down the rest of the game. And gaming has an over-abundance
of annoying and/or useless sidekicks. LucasArts has to walk the
line between useful and keeping the sidekick in the background (where
sidekicks belong). Also, the voice has to be right.
LucasArts has always been pretty good about getting good voice actors so
I'm not too concerned on that score.
Whatever the
outcome, RTX Red Rock should be hitting GameCube and Playstation 2
Spring 2003.
