Atari and Zombie Inc. have announced the completion of development on SHADOW OPS: RED MERCURY, the highly anticipated action game for the Xbox. In the game, players control Frank Hayden, a special forces operative hand picked to track down and destroy the stolen "Red Mercury," a secret substance that threatens the world with nuclear annihilation. The title is expected to be available in North America on June 15, 2004 and in Europe on June 18.
"SHADOW OPS: RED MERCURY is the most intense first-person action game ever made," said Jean Philippe Agati, exec producer at Atari. "With nail-biting action sequences, hard-hitting enemies, a variety of incredibly detailed environments and THX Game Certification for the best audio and visuals, SHADOW OPS: RED MERCURY will offer gamers a completely immersive experience and they'll be blown away by the cinematic feel and gripping Hollywood-style action of the game. It's a race to save the world and no threat has ever been more real."
Soundelux, the Academy Award-winning sound studio behind films such as KILL BILL, GLADIATOR and BLACK HAWK DOWN, created all the sound effects for the game. Inon Zur, a renowned composer, created an all-original score for SHADOW OPS: RED MERCURY that includes more than an hour of interactive music that reacts to the player's actions and changes for each location. All music for the game was recorded at the Seattle Symphony. As well, the game has earned the THX Game Certification.
Writers Tag Medillo and Ric Roman Waugh (IN THE SHADOWS) wrote the script for the game, including all in-game cut-scenes and cinematics. Then developer Zombie traveled the world researching locations for the game's levels, taking thousands of digital photos of the Congo, Kazakhstan, Syria, Chechnya and more. In addition, it met with military consultants, including former special forces members, to create realistic character motion and military movements in the game; special forces members also provided motion capture animation for the game's cinematics.
New York-based Atari, Inc. develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Ent. SA, the largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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