Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter

Last updated
Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter
Mace Griffin.jpg
Developer(s) Warthog Games
Publisher(s) Black Label Games
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows
Release
  • NA: 19 June 2003 [1]
  • EU: 26 September 2003 [2]
  • NA: 7 January 2004 (PC) [3]
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player

Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter is a first-person shooter video game developed by Warthog Games, published by Black Label Games and released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. A GameCube version was in development, but was cancelled.

Contents

Gameplay

One unique feature is the ability to switch between on-foot first-person shooter combat to spacecraft dogfights seamlessly, with no loading times during such moments. This is extended to being able to move away from the controls and walk around during flight as the ship continues on its course. Each weapon also has an alternative fire. For example: the four-barrel shotgun can be fired as a single shot or a burst from all barrels. The semiautomatic pistol can also be fired in a three-round burst or fully automatic.

Plot

The game's plot occurs in the science fiction futuristic Vagner System on the edge of the known universe in an alternate history. The Vagner System is a wild west that is inhabited by large corporations and pioneers looking for a fresh start or to make a quick buck. The backbone of the Vagnerian economy is the large Tannan Corporation, which has a virtual monopoly over the Vagner System. In order to maintain law and order and to protect their interests, a group of large corporations founded the Enforcer police service in the Vagner System. In addition to the Enforcers, the Guild of Bounty Hunters was established.

It develops as a series of missions Mace Griffin (voiced by Henry Rollins) is given while working for the Guild of Bounty Hunters. During these seemingly unrelated missions, Mace discovers a dark conspiracy taking place in the Vagner System involving the appearance of mysterious black wormholes while he is out for his own form of justice: revenge for being thrown into jail years earlier through an act of betrayal. He must seek out and destroy those who have wronged him.

Three different races populate the Vagner System, all settlers from their own home systems. These are humans; the Jaldari, large gorilla-like humanoids; and Valleakan, green lizard-like humanoids. All three races are at peace and mix freely together throughout the universe.

Development

The game was originally announced by publisher Crave Entertainment in April 2001 as Bounty Hunter. It was set to be released as an Xbox console exclusive for a release near the console's release window in the fall. [4] A month later on May 16, a day before E3 2001, Crave announced to enter into a publishing deal with Electronic Arts, where the latter would co-publish three Crave titles for Windows - Freedom Force , Global Ops , and Bounty Hunter, and that Electronic Arts would also solely publish the Xbox version in Europe, and Crave would solely publish the Xbox version in North America. [5]

The fall 2001 release window was missed out, and the two companies would reveal more details for the game in February 2002, set for a fall release window that year. [6]

In April 2002, IGN reported that several retailers had listed a version of the game for the GameCube, [7] which was officially confirmed by Crave on May 10 before E3 2002, in addition to a PlayStation 2 version. [8]

In August, Crave sold the publishing rights to the title to Vivendi Universal Games, who would publish it under the Black Label Games publishing label, and the game was delayed once again to a March 2003 release window to give the game a complete refresh. [9] [10] Electronic Arts was still committed to publish the PC version worldwide after Crave's sale of publishing rights but were removed as publishers in favor of VU Games by May 2003, and the PC version was delayed again until September. [11]

The game went gold on June 2, 2003, and was released for the system on June 19. [12] In August, Vivendi Universal canceled the GameCube version and the North American release of the PC version due to the game's mediocre reception, but they published the PC version in Europe. [13] In December, MumboJumbo acquired the North American publishing rights to the PC version from Vivendi Universal and the publisher released the game the following month in January. [14]

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews on all platforms according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. [15] [16] [17]

Comic

A single prequel comic was released by Image Comics in 2003, telling of the events prior to the game.

Related Research Articles

<i>Manhunt</i> (video game) 2003 stealth video game

Manhunt is a 2003 stealth game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. The first entry in the Manhunt series, it was released for the PlayStation 2 in November 2003, followed by Microsoft Windows and Xbox releases in April 2004. Set within the fictional Carcer City, the story follows James Earl Cash, a death row prisoner who is forced to participate in a series of snuff films, earning his freedom by murdering criminal gang members sent to hunt him on camera.

<i>Red Dead Revolver</i> 2004 video game

Red Dead Revolver is a 2004 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first entry in the Red Dead series, and was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in May 2004. Set in the 1880s, during the American frontier, the single-player story follows bounty hunter Red Harlow's quest for revenge after the murder of his parents. A local multiplayer mode allows up to four players to face off against each other or AI-controlled bots in free-for-all battles.

<i>Star Wars: The Clone Wars</i> (video game) 2002 video game

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a video game set in the Star Wars universe developed by Pandemic Studios and published by LucasArts for GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It consists mostly of vehicular combat using clone warships, starfighters, speeder bikes and tanks, as well as missions where players can control Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Mace Windu on foot. The game is set in the Star Wars prequel trilogy era, with the first level encompassing the Battle for Geonosis from Episode II: Attack of the Clones. The game also features multiplayer modes for up to four players in splitscreen, or online via Xbox Live for the Xbox. It holds aggregate scores of 73 out of 100, 72 out of 100 and 71 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, respectively.

<i>Lego Star Wars: The Video Game</i> 2005 video game

Lego Star Wars: The Video Game is a 2005 Lego-themed action-adventure video game based on the Lego Star Wars line of construction toys, and the first installment in the Lego video game franchise developed by Traveller's Tales, which would develop all future Lego titles from that point on. It was first released on 29 March 2005, and is a video game adaptation of the Star Wars prequel trilogy: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, with a bonus level from A New Hope.

<i>Madden NFL 2002</i> 2001 video game

Madden NFL 2002 is an American football video game. It features former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper on the cover. Pat Summerall and John Madden are the commentators. The Madden NFL 2002 commercial first aired during Super Bowl XXXVI, three days after Madden NFL 2002 started selling in Japan. Notably, it does not feature the Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, who is included on later editions of the game as a roster update. It is also the first game to be developed by Budcat Creations.

<i>Battle Engine Aquila</i> 2003 video game

Battle Engine Aquila is a 2003 video game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox developed by Lost Toys and published by Infogrames Europe. In the game the player pilots the Battle Engine for the Forseti military in their wars against the Muspell to decide who will rule what's left of the world. Battle Engine Aquila received little attention from the public despite overall good reviews from critics. It was listed as #86 in the Top 100 Games for PlayStation 2 by IGN. A later Microsoft Windows port was published by Encore Software.

<i>NASCAR Thunder 2003</i> 2003 Racing simulator video game developed by EA Sports and Budcat Creations

NASCAR Thunder 2003 is the sixth edition of the EA Sports' NASCAR racing simulator series. Developed by EA Tiburon and Budcat Creations and published by EA Sports. It was released for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox on September 18, 2002, and for Microsoft Windows on October 21. The product features Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the cover. It was the first time the NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award recipient was featured on the cover, although he did not win the award for the first time until the following year. Dale Earnhardt appeared in the game as a driver as a result of entering his name as a Create-A-Car driver's name; he did not appear in the previous game due to his death. He appeared as a legend in subsequent games.

<i>SpyHunter</i> 2001 video game

SpyHunter is a vehicular combat game. It is a remake and sequel of the 1983 arcade game of the same name first released for PlayStation 2 in 2001. It has since been ported to GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Tapwave Zodiac. In the game, the player drives the G-6155 Interceptor, an advanced, weaponized spy vehicle. Unlike the original's top-down view, the remake is played with a chase camera, similar to a racing game.

<i>Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown</i> 2003 video game

Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Cinemaware and published by Capcom. It is loosely based on the legend of Robin Hood and remake of Cinemaware's previous game Defender of the Crown, released for PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox, and mobile phones.

<i>Star Wars: Starfighter</i> 2001 action video game

Star Wars: Starfighter is a 2001 action video game, developed and published by LucasArts, that takes place right before the Battle of Naboo. The player unites alongside three starfighter pilots and is allowed to take control of several different spacecraft to help stop the invasion that threatens Naboo.

<i>Stacked with Daniel Negreanu</i> 2006 video game

Stacked with Daniel Negreanu, known as simply Stacked, is a poker video game by American studio 5000 ft, released in 2006, featuring the titular professional championship player, Daniel Negreanu. Other pros also make an appearance, including Evelyn Ng, Juan Carlos Mortensen, and Erick Lindgren. The game's style of poker is Texas hold'em.

<i>NHL 2002</i> 2001 video game

NHL 2002 is a video game released by EA Sports in 2001. It is the predecessor to NHL 2003. The game's cover man is Pittsburgh Penguins superstar and owner Mario Lemieux, who had just made a comeback after being retired for three and a half years. It was the first installment of the NHL series to be released on Xbox.

<i>High Heat Major League Baseball 2003</i> 2002 video game

High Heat Major League Baseball 2003 was the second-to-last of a series of baseball computer games, released on PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows; a different game of the same name was released for the Game Boy Advance. The game, featuring the official licensed team and player names from all 30 MLB teams, was created by The 3DO Company, who later filed for bankruptcy in May 2003.

<i>The Great Escape</i> (2003 video game) 2003 video game

The Great Escape is an action-adventure stealth video game based on the 1963 film of the same name. It was developed by UK-based developer Pivotal Games. The game was released on Xbox, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 2.

<i>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</i> (2003 video game) 2003 video game

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a beat 'em up video game developed and published in 2003 by Konami, based on the 2003 TV series.

<i>TD Overdrive: The Brotherhood of Speed</i> 2002 video game

TD Overdrive: The Brotherhood of Speed is a racing video game developed by Pitbull Syndicate and published by Infogrames for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows.

<i>High Heat Major League Baseball 2004</i> 2003 sports video game

High Heat Major League Baseball 2004, also known as High Heat Baseball 2004 or High Heat 2004, is a video game released in 2003, and is the sixth and final game in the High Heat Major League Baseball video game series published by The 3DO Company, before it filed for bankruptcy in May 2003. The game was released on PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows. Versions of the game were also intended to launch on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance and GameCube consoles but were scrapped following 3DO's 2003 bankruptcy. Then-Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Curt Schilling is featured on the cover.

<i>EA Sports F1 2001</i> 2001 video game

F1 2001 is a racing video game developed by Image Space Incorporated for the Microsoft Windows version and EA UK for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox version and published by EA Sports for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It is based on the 2001 Formula One season. A port for GameCube was planned, but cancelled for unknown reasons, and eventually released with minor changes as F1 2002. A Game Boy Color version was also cancelled during development.

<i>Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray</i> 2003 video game

Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray is an extreme sports video game developed by Shaba Games, Small Rockets and Beenox, and published by Activision under the Activision O2 label and Aspyr for Game Boy Advance, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox and mobile phones in 2003. It features wakeboarder Shaun Murray.

<i>Triple Play 2002</i> 2002 video game

Triple Play 2002 is a baseball sports game released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2002. On the cover is Arizona Diamondbacks player Luis Gonzalez. It is the only game in the Triple Play series to be released on Xbox, and the last game in the series to date.

References

  1. ↑ "Mace Griffin is Golden". IGN . June 2, 2003. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  2. ↑ Taylor, Martin (August 20, 2003). "Mace Griffin gets a date". Eurogamer . Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter". IGN . Archived from the original on June 4, 2004. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  4. ↑ "First look: Bounty Hunter". Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  5. ↑ "EA, Crave Enter Publishing Partnership". 16 May 2001. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  6. ↑ "New Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter details". Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  7. ↑ "Mace Griffin GCN Bound". 25 April 2002. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  8. ↑ "Mace Griffin Official". 10 May 2002. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  9. ↑ "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter". 4 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "Mace Griffin Developer Interview". 18 December 2002. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  11. ↑ "Solid Mace PC Details". 28 May 2003. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "No Longer a Distant Future". 2 June 2003. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "No Mace for the States". 13 August 2003. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  14. ↑ "MumboJumbo to Publish Mace Griffin". 3 December 2003. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  15. 1 2 "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter for PC". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  16. 1 2 "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  17. 1 2 "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 5 February 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  18. ↑ Marriott, Scott Alan. "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter (Xbox) - Review". AllGame . All Media Network. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  19. 1 2 Edge staff (August 2003). "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter (PS2, Xbox)". Edge . No. 126. Future plc.
  20. ↑ EGM staff (August 2003). "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter (Xbox)". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 169. Ziff Davis. p. 122. Archived from the original on 18 February 2004. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 Jennings, Ronan (16 October 2003). "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter". Eurogamer . Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  22. ↑ Reiner, Andrew (August 2003). "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter (PS2)". Game Informer . No. 124. GameStop. p. 92. Archived from the original on 23 February 2005. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  23. ↑ Kato, Matthew (July 2003). "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter (Xbox)". Game Informer. No. 123. GameStop. p. 114. Archived from the original on 16 December 2005. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  24. ↑ Four-Eyed Dragon (3 July 2003). "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro . IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 12 February 2005. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  25. ↑ Air Hendrix (3 July 2003). "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter Review for Xbox on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 8 February 2005. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  26. 1 2 Silverman, Ben (June 2003). "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter Review (PS2, Xbox)". Game Revolution . CraveOnline. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  27. ↑ Davis, Ryan (31 March 2004). "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter Review (PC)". GameSpot . CBS Interactive . Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  28. 1 2 Davis, Ryan (25 June 2003). "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter Review (PS2, Xbox)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  29. ↑ Meston, Zach (25 June 2003). "GameSpy: Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter (PS2)". GameSpy . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 29 June 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  30. ↑ Meston, Zach (25 June 2003). "GameSpy: Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter (Xbox)". GameSpy. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 1 December 2005. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  31. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (25 June 2003). "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter Review - PlayStation 2". GameZone. Archived from the original on 30 December 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  32. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (25 June 2003). "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter Review - Xbox". GameZone. Archived from the original on 24 May 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  33. ↑ Goldstein, Hilary (17 March 2004). "Mace Griffin [Bounty Hunter] Review (PC)". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  34. ↑ Goldstein, Hilary (17 June 2003). "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter (PS2)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  35. ↑ Goldstein, Hilary (19 June 2003). "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter Review (Xbox)". IGN. Archived from the original on 19 September 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  36. ↑ Rybicki, Joe (August 2003). "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine . Ziff Davis. p. 101. Archived from the original on 19 June 2004. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  37. ↑ "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter". Official Xbox Magazine . Future plc. August 2003. p. 82.
  38. ↑ "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter". PC Gamer UK . Future plc. December 2003.
    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.