RTX Red Rock

When you hear 'made by LucasArts', what is the first thing that comes to your mind, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, or something along that vein? Like many developers they are trying to break out of the mold that they have been established in for so many years, and create a new franchise. The result of this new endeavor is called RTX Red Rock. Will this game be a game to be remembered in the history books with LucasArts’ other fine franchises, or will it be remembered as something else? Read on to find out!

The Earth is still recovering from alien attacks. The aliens are unknown species, and no one knows where they came from or why they are invading. The creatures have been given the name L.E.D. (Light-Emitting Demons), because instead of communicating with sound, they communicate with light. The battles have been brief but each side has suffered severe causalities. Since then, all of the invading forces have been killed or are in hiding. All of a sudden the radio contact with the colony at Mars have been cut off, and the cause were the aliens. With this knowledge the military have sent the man best “armed” to find out what is going on, and to see if anything can be done. The military sent Eugene Wheeler, who has been trained in ranger and reconnaissance work.

Wheeler lost his left eye and right arm on his last mission, and to compensate for this he has synthetic replacements. This eye has four different modes, which allow him to see things that ordinary people cannot see. The first is a Thermoscan (infrared) that allows him to see hidden enemies in the dark. Naviscan allows him to see maps of the surrounding area. Bioscan (ultraviolet) allows him to detect foreign life forms that are hidden from the surrounding area. His last one is Electroscan that shows electrical malfunctions in various systems.

There are different parts for his right prosthetic arm as well. The first is a wrench that is used to assemble some machines and open stuck panels. The grappling hook allows Wheeler to reach places that he normally cannot reach. The plasma cutter is a great attachment as it allows players to cut open different things. It is a joy to stun different items and power panels, and the taser attachment will let players do that. The last attachment is the catapult that allows players to launch different explosive items.

To help players out on each of their missions, they will have access to I.R.I.S. (Independent Removable Information System). This is a portable computer module with a human interface. Players will need this because at times they will not be able to get past certain missions unless they reply on I.R.I.S.’s help. There are many other items that players must use to pass each level such as pressure suits, guns, and at times even vehicles.

RTX Red Rock is rated T for Teen for blood, mild language, suggestive themes and violence. The game requires 110 KB of your memory card for saves.

Gameplay: 7.5
While the idea of having different vision modes to look at your environment was a good idea, the implementation of it was not. The worst thing about it is the map. It can be really hard to get to the map while you are being fired upon. Players literally have to cycle through the four vision modes, find the one with the map, than press L2 to view the map, during this time you cannot move. This was a poor decision, as at times, you might be running out of oxygen, while getting fired upon, players really don’t have time to stop to figure out their location. There are a lot of things to do in this game, but at times it seems really scattered, meaning that LucasArts came up with a great idea, but it feels like they didn’t fully realize their vision, and the gameplay reflects that.

Graphics: 7.3
RTX Red Rock looks pretty decent, the FMV segments have high production values, and the main character has a high polygonal count, as well as nicely textured. Each of the environments the player’s will transverse have a nice look and feel to them, but it seems a little lacking. There are a lot of things the developer could have done to flesh out the surface of Mars, such as a little more variety and more interaction. The worst thing to befall this game is the frame rate, at times it gets really horrible and distracting, while other times the game runs pretty smooth.

Sound: 7.6
RTX Red Rock supports Dolby Surround Sound Pro Logic II, and it sounds nice, if you have a system that supports it. The voices, in the cut screens and in game, sound really nice, and distinct. The music that is in this game sounds really good as well, giving it a really nice flare to many of the missions you will go to. The sound effects are the weak part of this category, and it is a shame because LucasArts has an enormous backlog of sound effects that they could have used for this game. There is just a huge lack of variety, and the effects we get sound really bland and drown out.

Difficulty: Easy
RTX Red Rock is pretty easy! The further you get into the game the harder it will become, but you will be able to beat the game in less than 10 hours. The most difficult thing is trying to look at the game map while playing or running from enemy fire.

Concept: 7.5
For some reason there are a lot of space games, but none of them really take place on the red planet that is closest to earth. If you think about it, with all of the movies about Martians, you think that this would be a perfect breading ground for some games. LucasArts tried to make a game that ties into the theme of Mars, and while the idea was good, something was left out in the execution of it.

Overall: 7.2
RTX Red Rock could have been so much more! The entire time I played this game, it felt that it was a product that got rushed close to the end of its development cycle, so a lot of things that should have been fixed were not. If LucasArts only spent a few more months on this game, improving each of its aspects, this could have been a summer blockbuster hit. Instead we are left with another mediocre game that will get thrown in with the rest that are released this summer. If nothing else, RTX Red Rock is definitely worth a weekend rental!