Atari has shipped Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, the
highly anticipated cinematic first-person action game for the Xbox(tm) video
game system from Microsoft, to retail stores worldwide this week. Shadow
Ops: Red Mercury offers players a gripping movie-style experience through
its unprecedented Hollywood production values, intense action and
ground-breaking sound and visual effects.
"Gamers will feel like they are saving the world in the latest big-budget
blockbuster action film from the first moment their combat boots hit the
ground in Shadow Ops: Red Mercury," said Wim Stocks, Executive Vice
President, Sales and Marketing for Atari. "With industry-leading sound
effects that include THX(tm) Game Certification for the best audio and
visuals, intense action from start to finish and an amazing storyline, the
experience of playing this game is more like sitting in a top-end theater
than sitting at home. Shadow Ops: Red Mercury completely immerses gamers in
the cinematic feel and gripping Hollywood-style action of the game."
In the game, the player fills the battle-ready combat boots of Frank Hayden,
a special forces operative hand-picked to track down and destroy the stolen
'Red Mercury,' a secret substance of unspeakable power that threatens the
world with nuclear annihilation. The player will face off against
blood-thirsty terrorists, renegade military forces and highly trained enemy
special forces in a last ditch desperation mission to prevent the ultimate
terror from reaching the world's greatest cities.
Developer Zombie, Inc. partnered with AAA Hollywood talent for sound
effects, script writing and music to make Shadow Ops: Red Mercury the most
cinematic action game ever created, essentially blurring the line between
Hollywood summer blockbuster films and interactive entertainment.
The game's groundbreaking features include:
More than 25 hard-hitting single-player missions that span the globe
across heat-scorched villages in the Middle East, bombed out cities in
Chechnya, lush jungle guerrilla encampments in Congo and frozen vistas and
secret underground military installations in Kazakhstan
Hyper-intense split-screen cooperative mode through 10 unique missions
designed specifically for tag-team play
Xbox Live! and System Link competitive multiplayer modes that include
Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Escort the V.I.P. for up
to eight players
Immersive directional sound for ultra-realistic combat situations created
by Soundelux, the Academy Award-winning sound studio best known for its work
on films such as 'Kill Bill,' 'Gladiator' and 'Black Hawk Down'
An all-original score created by Inon Zur, a renowned composer of
award-winning music for film, video games and television, that includes more
than an hour of sweeping interactive music that reacts to the player's
actions and changes for each location.
All music for the game was recorded by the Northwest Symphonia, providing
for a powerful performance and a more compelling audio experience.
The game has earned the coveted THXR Game Certification, indicative of
the immersive and compelling audio experience usually heard only in
blockbuster Hollywood films.
Writers Tag Mendillo and Ric Roman Waugh, renowned for work in films and
video games, wrote the entire script for the game, including all in game
cut-scenes and cinematics
Developer Zombie, Inc. traveled the world researching locations for the
game's levels, taking thousands of digital photos to create ultra-realistic
textures for game locations like the Congo, Kazakhstan, Syria, Chechnya and
more
Zombie, Inc. 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.
More than 30 minutes of movie-like cinematics were created by Attitude
Studios; cinematics were storyboarded and shot like a Hollywood film, using
dramatic angles and sweeping shots to further immerse the player in the
interactive blockbuster experience.
Shadow Ops: Red Mercury uses Epic Games' industry-leading UnrealR Engine
to accurately recreate the realistic and gritty look of the game's many
locations; the engine's power provides for eye-popping visuals, highly
realistic textures, dramatic special effects and blistering multiplayer
action.
Shadow Ops: Red Mercury is available this week worldwide with an estimated
retail cost of $49.95 and an ESRB rating of 'T' for Teen. For more
information on Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, please visit the game's official Web
site at www.shadowopsgame.com.
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