Description:
Despite the immense amount of attention directed toward violence in media and games, computer game developers continue to push the proverbial envelope, particularly in the first-person shooter genre, where each game seems more violent than the last. The latest envelope pusher is Kingpin: Life of Crime, a "gang simulation" created by Interplay and Xatrix Entertainment, developers of the infamous Redneck Rampage action game. Players assume the role of the appropriately named Thug, a relative lowlife in the large crime world that comprises the Kingpin universe. Similar to other games in the shooter genre, the player views the world from a first-person perspective and carries a diverse arsenal of weaponry: pistols, machine guns, rocket launchers, and a visually impressive flamethrower. Game play consistently retains the player's interest, despite Kingpin's rather bland environments (yet another warehouse?) and dialogue that consists mostly of profanity. Levels include objectives that aren't always "kill everything at first sight." In fact, often you need to befriend rather than destroy; offer money (collected from corpses) to other gang members and they'll assist in combat. Pawn shops scattered around the levels offer another twist to the genre by allowing players to buy whatever weapons they want, limited only by the depth of their wallets. Once you've completed Kingpin's single-player game, you can hop online and compete against other human players in death-match and Bag Man (similar to capture the flag, but you capture the money instead) games; however, Kingpin's multiplayer network code isn't as smooth as the latest first-person action games. --Doug Radcliffe Pros: - Interesting "gang-oriented" missions not normally found in the genre
- Effective gangland atmosphere
- Diverse selection of weaponry with nice sound and visual effects
Cons: - Too much reliance on profanity
- Sluggish multiplayer without the latest patch
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