video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by th ...
. This game is the
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the sam ...
to the 2001 remake of the 1983 game '' Spy Hunter''. The player's first mission begins in Russia, right where the last level left off from leaving Petra, Jordan and the NOSTRA organization completely decimated initializing a sequel from the 2001 remake; he begins his cooperation with Agent Duvelle, traveling in various locations all around the planet including Russia, the United States, Asia, Switzerland and Antarctica. The weapons van is brought back again and equipped this time with an automatic turret / machine gun being that the player can utilize in extreme vehicular combat resolutions. The newly acquired Interceptor SpyHunter vehicle can enter off-road mode and transform itself into a jet-ski, a snow-mobile, a motor-tricycle, and a speedboat. The player can also choose from an arsenal of weapons inspired by ''
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...
007'' and ''
Mission Impossible
''Mission: Impossible'' is a multimedia franchise based on a fictional secret espionage agency known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). The 1966 TV series ran for seven seasons and was revived in 1988 for two seasons. It inspired a serie ...
''. Available weapons include Mines, Smoke Screen, Oil Slick, Machine Guns, Rockets, Missiles, Lasers and Cannons. The soundtrack features the song "Dark Carnival" recorded by
Vanessa Carlton
Vanessa Lee Carlton (born August 16, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Upon completion of her education at the School of American Ballet, Carlton chose to pursue singing instead, performing in New York City bars and clubs while ...
.
Theme song
The theme song of this game, "Dark Carnival" by Vanessa Carlton, is a reworked version of "Carnival", a track on her unreleased debut album, ''Rinse''. Carlton said the song is "kind of
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...
-esque by design", adding that she had always wanted to write about espionage. It introduced an entire new sound for Carlton that was much darker than her previous work.
MTV News
MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
described the song, which is about a mysterious femme fatale, as " nedgy and brooding
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
" that "gets even more eerie when a sparse, plinky
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
reminiscent of the ''
Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. ...
'' theme arises".
The lyrics of "Carnival" and "Dark Carnival" are different; for example, "Don't you run from the show, / 'Cause I just want you to know that I love anyway, / And I will not let you go" was altered to "When you get your bloody dose / In the still of the night / It is there you'll feel it most / In this dark carnival / Where the end is close". "Dark Carnival" was not included on Carlton's second album, ''
Harmonium
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...
'' (2004). The character Agent Vanessa Duvelle, Alec's partner, was based on her.
Plot
Alec Sects tries to deal with the remains of Nostra. First, he tries to familiarize himself with the new G-8155 Interceptor and later goes on a reconnaissance mission. Alec then learns about a defector in the Russian Nostra branch, Vladimir Polvac, who was a very influential figure, and has information about the Russian Nostra leader, "The Cossack". He needed an escort to an
embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
, a transport to an airport, and needed Alec to ensure his plane took off unharmed (As he was trying to leave the country because of his defection). An informant later on revealed large sums of money being diverted to the restoration and fortification of an old nuclear power facility. Alec and fellow agent Vanessa Duvelle investigate the plant and Alec finds unique compact energy cells. After this, The Cossack's identity is revealed as Vladimir Impalakov, who then tries to leave his estate to a warehouse complex on the
Baltic coast
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
, using a massive and heavily armed experimental
ekranoplan
A ground-effect vehicle (GEV), also called a wing-in-ground-effect (WIG), ground-effect craft, wingship, flarecraft or ekranoplan (russian: экранопла́н – "screenglider"), is a vehicle that is able to move over the surface by gainin ...
, but is killed by Alec before he could escape.
Alec then travels to
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...
and
televangelist
Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and " evangelism," meaning " ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-p ...
Noah Thurgood. However, "Mad Mojo" Carter, a regional crime lord and leader of the American Nostra faction, sends an agent in a stolen G-8155 Interceptor prototype to kill Thurgood. The agent succeeds and the rendezvous is compromised. Alec follows Thurgood's killer and attempts to take him alive to be interrogated but aborts the mission and the rogue Interceptor escapes on a
VTOL
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wi ...
. Alec is needed elsewhere because an IES steamboat is holding a meeting about the strange Russian energy cells and needs protection. Alec then learns that Mad Mojo Carter's real name is Calvin Blackwell Jr., son of deceased
industrialist
A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...
Calvin Blackwell Sr., is an
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
graduate with honors in engineering, and that he stole top secret information from Thurgood before eliminating him. Alec tracks him down to a bayou, which he was using to cover his escape route. Blackwell was using a
cargo jet
A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft usually do not incorporate passenger am ...
to escape and had many guards protecting the runway, but Alec shoots the engines to prevent immediate takeoff and destroys the jet, Blackwell, and the top secret information he stole (since Alec could not recover it).
Alec proceeds to Asia via cargo ship. He then protects it from attack and reaches an IES Safehouse. Alec, along the way, destroys contraband cargo trucks and Phoenix forces working for the Krait Fang criminal organization (Asian faction of Nostra). Alec then learns his partner, Agent Vanessa Duvelle, has been kidnapped by the head of the Krait Fang, Nguyen McGinty and is being held for execution. Alec breaks her out, and later, destroys most of his forces, allowing a planned assault by special IES forces. This allows Alec to infiltrate the Krait Fang Fortress. He then learns McGinty is attempting to escape on a heavily armed train powered by one of the strange Russian energy cells and wants to destroy a city with a dirty bomb he has on his train. Alec destroys the train and kills McGinty.
They then move to the Alps, where Alec finds a rogue Interceptor prototype, similar to the one from New Orleans. The rogue Inteceptor prototype was stolen by Leland Chevre, the leader of the La Rouge Crime Syndicate (Swiss Nostra). Alec finds Chevre and kills him for the data in his vehicle. Alec analyzes the data from Chevre's vehicle and learns that three
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...
facilities have been targeted for nuclear attack. Alec finds and destroys the Mobile Missile Platforms. Alec then heads to a castle owned by the Ararat Society with Agent Duvelle based on information from the stolen car. Alec then discovers that Thurgood is alive, and the leader.
Thurgood escapes to the Antarctic, where he has created a Mobile Research Facility that is also an "Ark" and Mobile "City" and plans to flood the world by using the unique compact energy cells to melt the Polar Ice Cap. With Impalakov, Blackwell, McGinty, and Chevre gone, he goes ahead with the plans so he and select others rule what's left. Alec destroys the ark, and he and Agent Duvelle are ordered to their next mission in Los Angeles.
Reception
The game received "mixed" reviews on both platforms according to the
review aggregation
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website
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...