Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter
Developer(s)Warthog Games
Publisher(s)Black Label Games
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows
Release
  • NA: 17 June 2003
  • EU: 26 September 2003
  • NA: 7 January 2004 (Windows)
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.

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 bypublisher Crave Entertainment on April 9, 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.[1] 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.[2]

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.[3]

In April 2002, IGN reported that several retailers had listed a version of the game for the GameCube,[4] which was officially confirmed by Crave on May 10 before E3 2002, in addition to a PlayStation 2 version.[5]

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.[6][7] 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.[8]

The game went gold on June 2, 2003, and was released for the system on June 19.[9] 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 confirmed that they would still publish the PC version in Europe.[10] 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.[11]

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews on all platforms according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[33][34][35]

Comic

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

References

  1. ^ "First look: Bounty Hunter". Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  2. ^ "EA, Crave Enter Publishing Partnership". 16 May 2001. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  3. ^ "New Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter details". Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  4. ^ "Mace Griffin GCN Bound". 25 April 2002. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Mace Griffin Official". 10 May 2002. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter". 4 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Mace Griffin Developer Interview". 18 December 2002. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Solid Mace PC Details". 28 May 2003. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  9. ^ "No Longer a Distant Future". 2 June 2003. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  10. ^ "No Mace for the States". 13 August 2003. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  11. ^ "MumboJumbo to Publish Mace Griffin". 3 December 2003. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ a b Edge staff (August 2003). "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter (PS2, Xbox)". Edge. No. 126. Future plc.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ a b c Jennings, Ronan (16 October 2003). "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ a b 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.
  21. ^ Davis, Ryan (31 March 2004). "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter Review (PC)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  22. ^ a b 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.
  23. ^ 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.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ Lafferty, Michael (25 June 2003). "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter Review - Xbox". GameZone. Archived from the original on 24 May 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  27. ^ 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.
  28. ^ 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.
  29. ^ Goldstein, Hilary (19 June 2003). "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter Review (Xbox)". IGN. Archived from the original on 19 September 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  30. ^ 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.
  31. ^ "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter". Official Xbox Magazine. Future plc. August 2003. p. 82.
  32. ^ "Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter". PC Gamer UK. Future plc. December 2003.
  33. ^ a b "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter for PC". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  34. ^ a b "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  35. ^ a b "Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 5 February 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2016.

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