Run Like Hell (video game)
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| Run Like Hell: Hunt or Be Hunted | |
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| Developer(s) | Digital Mayhem |
| Publisher(s) | Interplay Capcom (JPN) |
| Engine | RenderWare |
| Platform(s) | Xbox, Playstation 2 |
| Release date | PlayStation 2 [1] USA September 27, 2002 PAL October 3, 2003 JPN September 2, 2004 Xbox [2] USA April 9, 2003 PAL June 18, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Third-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single Player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature (M) ELSPA: 15+ |
Run Like Hell: Hunt or Be Hunted (also known as RLH) is an action-adventure third person shooter video game set on a space station in the distant future. While frequently delayed during development, it was released for the PS2 in late 2002 and for Xbox in early 2003. It features the voice talents of Lance Henriksen, Thomas F. Wilson, Clancy Brown, Kate Mulgrew, Michael Ironside and Brad Dourif. The game also features the music of Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin, including an exclusive music video of their song Polyamorous on the PS2 copy. The later Xbox version includes one new level and several new alien creatures. Several optional player character skins and additional mini-games can also be downloaded via Xbox Live or the Xbox Exhibition 3 demo disc.
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[edit] Gameplay
The gameplay in RLH is most similar to that of the early Resident Evil series, with the player controlling a character from a fixed third-person perspective, with frequently altering camera angles as the player progresses from scene to scene.
The game also features a number of chase sequences, in which the player must flee from an invincible foe while dodging the obstacles in their path.
[edit] Plot
Mining surveyor Nicholas Conner (voiced by Lance Henriksen), returns to his space station to find it overrun by a hostile, previously unknown alien species known simply as The Race. Most of the crew members are dead, Nick's fiance is trapped on the far side of the base, and the entire outpost is slowly degenerating into an alien hive.
[edit] Forsetti Survivors
- Nick Conner: The main hero of the game, Nick Conner was an arguably betrayed war hero that, for disobeying orders, was demoted and sent to watch over the sleepy Forsetti Station. He escapes the initial horrors by being away on a geological mission, and is the first to start trying to pick up the pieces and destroy The Race.
- Samantha Reilly: Conner's fiancée, Samantha is a scientist that studies xenological lifeforms. She studies the first specimens of an alien species that were discovered on the nearby planet of Forsetti. She disappears soon in the game, but manages to get a few hurried messages to Conner while hiding out in various places of the Station.
- Amanda: Samantha's best friend from college, Amanda is a scientist in the area of geology. Also a good friend of Conner's, she escapes demise by accompanying him on his mission to a nearby comet.
- Dag'Rek: An old friend of Conner's, a Jaxn'Trep citizen of high moral caliber. Dag'Rek is the Forsetti Station's Chief of Security, and as such proves a valuable ally in the battles against The Race. He survives the initial massacres through sheer militaristic might, and his years of combat experience are soon seen.
- Niles: A Mnyanlys, "Niles" -- whose real name is never revealed -- is the best engineer on the Forsetti Station, and probably one of the best in the galaxy. Though he tosses about a Sonic Stunner, Niles's main use is his magic touch with mechanics.
- Jessie: Niles's son, and almost as good with machines. Jessie survives using his craftiness, as evidenced in their idea to hide out the original slaughter in the back rooms of the Station's theatre.
- Dr. Mek: The scientist heading up the study of the new species, Dr. Mek is a Neh'Lok. Both having come from the Neh'Lok wars, Conner and Mek have extreme difficulty coming to terms with one another -- Mek had even lost family to one of Conner's raids. Mek studies The Race whenever Conner and others manage to capture a specimen, having holed up in her biolab during the attack.
- Dr. Fred Monroe: A scientist whose first love is his work. Conner saves him early on from a Brute, but their opposing views quickly create a passionate rivalry. Doc Monroe contributes to researching the Amalgamator Dag and Conner capture, and soon becomes enamored by the fascinating Race.
- Jinx: The daughter of the President, Jinx was sent to the Forsetti Station to minimize her ability to raise hell. She quickly befriended Jessie, and the duo used their respective skills -- hers being computers -- to create some mischievous fun for themselves. Jinx was in the clink when The Race arrived, and having spent days on her own, she gladly uses her skills to aid Conner when he rescues her.
- Craig O'Feardon: A former marine, dishonorably discharged for punching out his squad leader, he found peace working in the Forsetti Station's mines. O'Feardon is a loud and surly drunk, and is quickly put in his place by Conner. O'Feardon holes up with Samantha and others in a computer lab near the pig pits. After being rescued by Conner (and just in the nick of time), O'Feardon uses his expertise to guide him through the mine shafts and around its many treacherous setbacks.
- Commander Mason: The military head of the Forsetti Station, he survives the massacre by hiding out with a few men in the bowels of the Station. Mason is offscreen for most of the game, as he is too far for Conner to save. However, he does give Conner a clue as to the condition of his wife-to-be (among others). He also patches in with occasional updates on how his rescue plan is going.
[edit] Aliens
- Cutters: The most common alien, cutters are fast and insect-like creatures resembling the xenomorphs from the Alien series or the Zerg from the Starcraft series. Their two arms end in scythe-like blades, which they attack with.
- Brutes: Large and heavily muscled, Brutes are nearly invincible and extremely strong, resistant to gunfire and capable of splattering a human being with a single hit. Instead of normal fights, most Brute encounters are chase scenes in which the player must flee from the Brute and is killed immediately if they are caught.
- Scouts: These aliens are quick and agile, resembling large scorpions without pincers. Although the scouts were held back on the first day of the alien attack they quickly make their presence known.
- Scout Sprites: Often emerging from dead Scouts, but sometimes on their own, Scout Sprites are small spider-like aliens that seek out humans and explode, hoping to take down the intended victim as well. They are the weakest of the enemies.
- Amalgamators: These tall, thin alien "surgeons" have an amazing ability to manipulate organic matter. They are seen severing human appendages and attaching them to other members of The Race, or breaking down human bodies and incorporating the remains into the biomass growth that covers the base.
- Elites: The leaders of The Race, Elites resemble human bodies, only without any heads (their eyes appear to be in their chest). Elites have the unusual ability to assimilate a human head by sticking it on top of their body, gaining the knowledge of their victim and even allowing them to impersonate their victim in video communications (as long as only the head is displayed).
- The Biomass: Arguably the most dangerous of the aliens, this organic tissue assimilates an intended place of refuse and slowly turns it into a colony for The Race. The Biomass can be almost anything, from a mass of tentacles to a door, or even a portal through which Cutters and the like can attack.
[edit] Survivors' Fates
- Nick Conner: As to be expected, the hero lives. However, he does have a close call after setting the nuclear reactor to self-destruct, and he isn't exactly emotionally unscathed.
- Samantha Reilly: Captured just before Conner arrives -- forcing him to save only O'Feardon -- Samantha is tossed into a pile of Biomass gelatin and is, apparently, assimilated by an Elite. Depressingly enough, it turns out that all of her messages after the near-miss were The Race's mindgames. After the wormhole escape, it is revealed that she has lived.
- Amanda: Amanda doesn't live long. Almost right after Conner lands in the Station after their expedition, she is dispatched via a Brute's favorite method -- decapitation by use of mandibles.
- Dag'Rek: While helping Conner on one of their many exploits together, Dag'Rek is ambushed by a venom-spitting Scout. Wounded to the point of near immobility, Dag urges his old buddy on and, when Conner has gotten sufficient distance, takes out many of The Race -- and himself -- with a formidable Jaxn'Trep explosive.
- Niles: Niles is another key player in the resistance, seeing little combat but many missions. Near the end, when Mason and Samantha reveal themselves, Conner is knocked out by a Brute, while the Elities gorge themselves on Niles's Mnyanlys meat. He is revealed to have been assimilated by a rather large Elite during Conner's final mission -- after a brief battle, Conner manages to disable the Niles-Elite and use his retinal authorization for a core overload. As a revenge for his friend, Conner executes the Niles-Elite.
- Jessie: After one quick close-call, Jessie saves Conner from a larger member of the Race and escapes with him and others.
- Dr. Mek: Rarely suiting up in her battle armor, Mek escapes with Conner and others.
- Dr. Fred Monroe: His fascination with the Amalgamator leads him to the foolish idea of releasing it. The Amalgamator repays him by dismembering all of his limbs and tossing him into its old holding tank. Doc Monroe shows up during Conner's journey to the core, assimilated by a Scout, and is executed by him with little remorse.
- Jinx: Though the final boss's ambush would suggest otherwise, Jinx and the others survived in Hangar Beta. She escapes in the ship with Conner, Dr. Mek, Jessie, and O'Feardon.
- Craig O'Feardon: Though he seems to have been a goner, having been asked by Conner to hold the fort by himself at one of the mining outposts, O'Feardon's expertise seems to prove a valuable enough tool for self-preservation. Sometime just after rigging the reactor to blow, Conner picks him up and they escape with the others.
- Commander Mason: In the final revelations, it is revealed that he was quite quickly assimilated by an Elite (along with Sam). Though this was completely offscreen, there was a significant pause between his second message to Conner and his third. Though he is not seen in Samantha's final, ominous message, it is presumable that he survived alongside her, but equally likely that only she escaped into the wormhole.
[edit] Production
According to Brian Freyermuth the lead designer of Run Like Hell[1], the production did not go smoothly. During its five year run, the team went through 2 executive producers, 3 producers, 3 Lead Programmers, and 2 Lead Artists. They started out with the idea of a Resident Evil in space but this was changed abruptly by upper management from survival horror to an action game. The aliens were weakened and made more numerous.
In the end the programming was scrapped by management again 10 months before the release date. Thus, the game's actual programming was done in the space of 10 months even though the game was in development for 5 years. This is one of the reasons that the story and characters seem fleshed out whereas the game play seems rushed and incomplete[2].
The game was also meant to be a trilogy as is obvious by the cliff-hanger ending.
