Future Cop: LAPD
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| Developer(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation, Mac OS (Classic), Windows |
| Release date | August 31, 1998 (PlayStation) November 27, 1998 (Mac) December 5, 1998 (PC) |
| Genre(s) | Third-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) |
| Media | CD-ROM (1 disc) |
Future Cop: LAPD is a third-person shooter published and developed by Electronic Arts and released first for the PlayStation, then Mac OS and Windows. It is a spin-off from the popular Strike series of games, having been foreshadowed by a trailer for a Future Strike. In the game, players assume the role of a pilot for the X1-Alpha, a robot designed to fight in the "Crime War" in Los Angeles in the year 2095. The X1-Alpha is a police vehicle that can transform between a fast, hovering pursuit vehicle, and a slower, fully-fledged combat mecha.
There are two modes of play in the game, Crime War and Precinct Assault (both modes can be played either as single player or two player). Crime War is a story mode, following a day in the life of an LAPD X1-Alpha pilot. The story events range from rogue lunatics arming observatories with weapons, to a malfunctioning supercomputer. Players begin in a futuristic Griffith Park, but as they advance through the game they may unlock areas such as Venice Beach, LAX and Long Beach. Crime War also supports a second player in cooperative play. Cooperative play features the unique feature that the life bars of the two players are intertwined; if either player is destroyed, it counts as a failure for both players.
Precinct Assault is a free-combat mode in which each player starts with a single base and can capture automated Turrets or Outposts across the level. The objective is to defeat opponents by purchasing and deploying Hovertanks to invade their bases. The game ends when one player's base is breached by either a standard or super-sized "Dreadnought" Hovertank. Players may also deploy defensive Helicopters or the "Flying Fortress" Superplane to assist in securing their perimeter, shooting down enemy tanks that enter the base. Single-player mode consists of fighting a computer opponent named "Sky Captain", whose in-game avatar is a Superplane, more powerful and advanced than the X1-Alpha. Two player mode is a competitive battle between two X1-Alpha robots. There are five different precinct assault areas with 10 difficulty settings (for single player). There is also a bonus area, known as 'Bug Hunt', which is the same as the 'Proving Ground' level, except all objects have been made into insects like caterpillars and butterflies, instead of Hovertanks and Helicopters. The Flying Fortress is now a bat, and the Dreadnought is a large, ugly worm. The level features an up-beat music track in comparison to the game's normal dark military music.
The game failed to sell as expected, possibly due to a lack of marketing. The members of the production team have since split up and moved to different countries across the world.
Future Cop: LAPD supports network play for Precinct Assault. The multiplayer aspects can either be via a split screen or network.
[edit] Weapons
Weapons are divided into 3 classes: Gun, Heavy and Special. Only one of each weapon type can be equipped simultaneously. Weapon changes and ammo are found during missions and can be switched immediately.
Gun
Powered Minigun: a small Gatling gun suitable for taking out infantry and unarmored vehicles. Can be upgraded to fire armor-piercing bullets.
Flamethrower: specifically designed to eliminate infantry, it is weak against vehicles. Can be upgraded to increase range and damage.
Gatling Laser: this weapon spits out plasma-charged bullets, effective against all targets. Can be upgraded to increase range and damage.
Electric Gun: fires a small, short range electric shock, enough to kill infantry in one shot, but weak against armored units. Good for situations where precision is needed most. Can be upgraded to jump from target to target.
Anti-Riot Shield: Gives the player an almost impenetrable shield in the front. Found in the Studio City level. Can be upgraded to increase shield size.
Heavy
Hellfire Missile: a standard homing missile. It is effective against air and armored units. Can be upgraded into a MIRV; which will scatter into smaller missiles before hitting the target.
Concussion Beam: a Laser cannon that can pierce through multiple targets. Effective against all targets. Can be upgraded to increase range and damage.
Hyper-velocity Rockets: a pair of rocket pods, particularly effective against armored units. They have no homing capability, but can be fired like a Powered Minigun. Essentially close range weapons. Can be upgraded to have limited homing capability.
Fusion Torpedo: a Plasma charge that can be guided towards its target. Deadly against all types of enemies. Can be upgraded to increase range and damage.
K-9 Drone: Fires a Robodog that can trample and bite at enemy infantry before exploding. It is a fire-and-forget homing weapon. Can be upgraded to fire 2-3 Robodogs in one use. Can be found in the Venice Beach level.
Special
Mortar Launcher: fires a mortar shell in a vertical trajectory. It is deadly against all types of enemies. It can be upgraded as a MIRV; which will scatter into smaller shells that can hit multiple targets.
Bounce Mines: deploys mines that can be used defensively or offensively. They have a short duration before exploded indefinitely. Best used as booby traps when pursued. Can be upgraded to increase damage.
Plasma Flare Launcher: fires plasma charges in a vertical trajectory, like the mortar. Has a larger blast radius. It can be upgraded as a MIRV, which will scatter into smaller charges that can hit multiple targets.
Shockwave Generator: fires a shockwave-induced plasma charge that can destroy multiple targets that surround the player. Deadly against all kinds of targets, friend or foe. Can be upgraded to fire 3-5 shockwaves in one use.
Grenade Launcher: Almost the same as the Mortar Launcher, but this type can bounce before exploding. Has increased range. Can be upgraded to increase damage. Can be found in the Zuma Beach level.
[edit] Missions
Griffith Park: crime-lord/assassin Myles Mysterio has seized Griffith Park and has turned the observatory into a fully-functional plasma cannon. His intentions aren't clear, but he has already brought down two commercial aircraft within Los Angeles airspace. Police forces are unable to secure the area and has asked X-1 Alpha for immediate back-up. Things will not be easy, for the enemy has turned the place into a fortress ringing with gunposts, armed hovercraft and innumerable mercenaries.
Zuma Beach: X1-Alpha is tasked to bring in, dead or alive, known "King of Designer Drugs" Xerxes Xeno in Zuma Beach. His new stimulant "Xtreme Z" is killer, literally. But this will prove difficult, as scattered throughout his headquarters is a private army of drug-addicts wielding flamethrowers, armored tanks and other heavy ordnance.
La Brea Tar Pits: the local priestess known as Tiffany Kline has just kidnapped the mayor's daughter, in what appears to be as a means to have a sacrifice for a religious ritual. As X1-Alpha arrives, the entire populace is being purged of "infidels" and must first eliminate the cult's military headquarters, before proceeding to the chambers located in the hills, where the ritual is about to begin...
Venice Beach: gambling lord "Big Vic de Tuna" has turned to the LAPD for asylum so as to protect himself from other local mob bosses. But knowing him, his plans should not be trusted. As it turns out, as X1-Alpha begins to pay a visit to his neighborhood, the place is controlled with mercenaries. The player must fight his/her way through minefields and gunboats and "reel-in" the big fish in his seaside villa.
Hell's Gate Prison: the maximum security facility is under siege by a terrorist group known as Apocalpyse. They are attempting to free their leader, Veyhar Telkai, via the dropships they have deployed. The player must make contact with the prison security forces still fighting within the complex and ascertain the location of Telkai, before the terrorists get to him first.
Hollywood Keys: X1-Alpha is ordered to root-out a mutant-psychopath known as Lhoric Hollywood, who has threatened to eradicate all of Los Angeles' population via chemical missiles laced with his mutation formula. He has built his headquarters in an abandoned theme park that is connected to a sewage system, a decommissioned railway system and a nearby toxic waste dump; a perfect home for his gun-totting mutant soldiers.
LAX Spaceport: a sort-off mad scientist, Megalito Amoromenos, has captured the LAX Spaceport. He has gathered quite a following, with him is an army of mercenaries, tanks, armed jets and even a large navy complete with a battleship. LAPD SWAT team is unsuccessful and their condition is unknown. The level is split into two parts: first, X1-Alpha must rescue the missing SWAT team and help them secure LAX's runways, before navigating the cargo bay, now a death trap, to get to the space tower restaurant, where the target resides.
Long Beach Harbor: the headquarters of a computer software tycoon has been turned into a prison, when their supercomputer malfunctioned. Most of the inhabitants have been horrifically tortured and turned into armed cyborgs, who guard the place against intruders. X1-Alpha is ordered to find the CEO known as Vladimir Leech to help disable the supercomputer, before it totally takes control of the world's computer systems.
