Boiling Point: Road to Hell
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| Boiling Point: Road to Hell | |
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| Developer(s) | Deep Shadows |
| Publisher(s) | Atari |
| Latest version | 2.0 |
| Release date(s) | June 6, 2005 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter, Role playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature (17+) PEGI: 16+ |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
Boiling Point: Road to Hell (previously known as Xenus) is a video game developed by the Ukrainian based game studio Deep Shadows and published in 2005 by Atari. Boiling Point's gameplay is a combination of both FPS and RPG mechanics. Critical response upon its release was, with few exceptions, lukewarm. This was attributed to the many technical issues that plagued the game's release: bugs, glitches and choppy performance. Patches have been released that address many, but not all, of these deficiencies. Boiling Point may be updated to the most recent version by downloading patch 2.0, which can be found on Atari UK's website. (see: External Links) This patch is compatible with both the UK and US editions of the game.
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[edit] Critical Response
Due to the previously mentioned buggy nature of the game unpatched, reviewers who rated the game when it first came out were heavily critical of the game, with a reviewer from PC Gamer magazine saying "Unless it receives some extreme patching, don't bother with this game." At the same time, reviewers who either looked past the buggy issues, or were late to review and therefore able to patch the game to the reportedly stable 2.0 version, were largely positive, with a reviewer from games™ saying "Atari has landed itself an absolute classic here. A must-have - no questions asked." Despite that, due to the quickness of most big name reviewers, user reviews of Boiling Point are to be considered the definitive source of criticism for the game.
[edit] Overview
The Premise: Boiling Point's protagonist is one Saul Myers (whose voice and face are provided by actor Arnold Vosloo), a veteran and father living abroad in Paris. Myers' daughter, Lisa, is a globetrotting journalist. Lisa runs afoul of and is kidnapped by persons unknown while working in the troubled pseudo-South American nation of Realia. News of this is quickly relayed to Myers, who hastily departs for Realia, where he must tangle with local politics and the criminal underworld while trying to track down his missing daughter.
The Game World: The game is set in a Realian valley, an undivided 25x25km (625 sq.km) map. There are no in-game loading screens or level transitions. The geography of the valley itself is tropical jungle. There are two primary cities: Puerto Sombra in the west, which is in the hands of the local government, and Pueblo Faro in the east, which is held by communist insurgents (see: Factions). Scattered throughout the rest of the valley are various bases, plantations, villages, and estates. Due to the large size of the game world there are several modes of transportation available: cars, trucks, tanks, planes, helicopters, and boats.
Game-Mechanics: Gameplay is a hybrid of FPS and RPG mechanics. Character advancement is skill-based, with specific skills either being enhanced through practice, or atrophied via disuse. The list of skills is limited, and is constructed of weapon proficiencies and physical ability. However, killing everything in sight is not the goal of the game. Saul Myers' goal is to find his daughter, so he will need to talk to many people to gather the necessary information to unravel the mystery of her disappearance. Much of this information can only be purchased with the Realian currency, and the primary means of generating income is by completing missions for the game's various factions.
There are no predefined enemies in the game. There are many NPCs, with almost all of them being neutral at the start. There are six factions in the game: the Realian government, the communist guerrillas, the mafia, local Indian tribes, unaffiliated bandits, and an American CIA presence. Civilians are also considered a faction for the purposes of calculating Myers' "reputation", which is variable and dynamic. Completing missions for a faction's rivals will lower Myers' reputation with them, and hostile factions will shoot on sight. There are, however, methods of repairing Myer's reputation.
[edit] Factions
Government: The Realian military and police force. They control the city of Puerto Sombra, in addition to bases and outposts scattered throughout the valley. They are primarily enemies of both the Guerrillas and the Mafia, but are largely ambivalent to the Indians and Bandits.
Guerrillas: Communist insurgents. They control the city of Pueblo Faro, in addition to a maintaining a strong military presence concentrated in bases and outposts all throughout the valley. They are primarily enemies of the Government and the Mafia, but are generally on good terms with the Indians.
Mafia: The criminal underworld. Their business consists primarily of the growth, manufacture, and trafficking of illegal narcotics. They control various plantations and bases throughout the valley, and they maintain a small presence in both of the two main cities. They are at war with both the Government and the Guerrillas, in addition to being generally despised by the smaller factions.
Bandits: Smalltime thugs, thieves, and hitmen. They operate on the fringes of both Puerto Sombra and Pueblo Faro. While not in open war with any other faction, they are particularly disliked by both the Indians and the Civilians.
Indians: Indigenous tribes of the valley. The Indians are concentrated in several villages, usually far from the bigger cities. The Indians are preyed upon by the Mafia, and have a great distrust for the Government. Their relationship with the Guerrillas is more amicable.
CIA: The United States' Realian presence. Their spies and operatives can be found in both the major cities and hidden amidst the jungle. They are loosely allied with the Government, and primarily target both the Guerrillas and the Mafia in their hostile operations.
Civilians: The good Realian people. They populate Puerto Sombra and Pueblo Faro, and operate the various roadside markets and gas stations. Most of the game's commerce is handled by the Civilians. In open war with nobody, they still have a particular dislike for the Bandits.
[edit] Weapons
Saul Myers, as a veteran of the French Foreign Legion, is well versed in weaponry, as demonstrated by Boiling Point's arsenal:
- Knife
- Crossbow
- Desert Eagle .50AE Magnum pistol
- Colt Anaconda .44 Magnum revolver
- PSS Silent Pistol 7.62x41mm SP-4
- Mini Uzi 9mm Parabellum submachine gun
- Remington 870 12-gauge pump-action shotgun
- AK-47 7.62x39mm assault rifle
- IMBEL MD3 5.56 x 45mm NATO assault rifle
- M16A1 5.56 x 45mm NATO assault rifle
- Steyr Aug A1 5.56 x 45mm NATO assault rifle
- FAMAS F1 5.56 x 45mm NATO assault rifle
- SVD Dragunov 7.62x54mm R
- M79 grenade launcher
- RPG-18 anti-tank rocket launcher
- Air-to-air missile
- M240D 7.62x51mm NATO machine gun (mounted on the Piranha)
[edit] Vehicles
Saul Myers can handle a multitude of land, air and sea vehicles. He can drive cars right from the start but in order to handle boats, choppers, tanks, etc... he must take lessons from Augusto at the cost of 500 pesos each. You must also have the right "Learn how to handle" theory book in your possession so that Augusto agrees to teach you.
All vehicles in Boiling Point come under fake or vague names.
A non-inclusive list is:
Cars/SUVs :
- General Motors Hummer as the "Heru"
- Jeep as the "Piranha"
- Ferrari, the "sports vehicles"
- Alfaromeo as a Taxi/Vehicle
- Nissan pickup-truck as the "Melarud"
Helicopters :
- Bell 47 chopper, featured as the "Butterfly"
- CH-146 Griffon
- Mil Mi-8
- AH-1 Cobra
[edit] Censorship/Goofs
The game, set in Realia, was apparently modeled after Colombia but this fact was censored by the game developer/publisher, evidently just before it was released. Several hints are scattered across both the in-game world and the game installation directory.
- An old man in Puerto Sombra, near their central park, tells you about how he wants to spend the rest of his days in his home town, even though his sons invited him to Bogotá (Colombia's capital). The script says the "Capital" instead!
- The navy officer in the Puerto Sombra tells you how about his other wife in Barranquilla
- The game manual mentions that the Realia government may be secretly affiliated with the AUC, Colombia's right-wing paramilitary group.
- Propaganda in the cities' walls say "Viva las FAPC" which is less than a letter difference from FARC, Colombia's revolutionary communist guerrilla group.
- The illegal in-game drug, Synthetic Adrenaline, white powdery substance, produced by the Mafia from the STK-17 plant, cultivated in large fields. STK-17 looks very similar in shape and height to the Coca plant. Data files used in Boiling Point use filenames with the patterns "coca_plantation", "cocabase", "cocafield"
- Multiple files in the game directory have names containing "Colombia" and "colombia_flag"
Vehicle and Weapon names were also censored.
