Kingpin: Life of Crime

When it was originally released, I did not buy Kingpin, as I was convinced that due to it's insistence on Open GL capable graphics cards, my own hardware would not be up to the job. At the time, I was probably correct, but since acquiring an ATi Radeon board with Open GL support and now that the game is available for under a fiver, I decided to finally "go for it", as at this price I felt I had nothing to lose if it didn't work :)

Before I go on, here's my [ageing] PC's specification:

- Pentium III 500 mhz
- 256 meg RAM
- 32 meg ATi Radeon graphics

WHAT A GAME Kingpin is! Even though it is now rather long in the tooth, I defy anyone who cannot have fun playing this game. Ultra violent? YES. Morally dubious? Probably (you can turn OFF ALL of the swearing and gore if you insist) Pure, unadulterated fun? YES YES YES! As first person shooters go, this one has to rank up there as one of my favourites - yes, right up there with the likes of Doom, Deus Ex, System Shock and so on.

Whilst it's true that Kingpin certainly does lack in terms of conversing with others characters and picking up objects etc. (It doesn't quite "feel" right somehow) this is more the fault of the Quake 2 engine on which the game was built rather than anything else.

The pedigree of the developers (Xatrix Entertainment) is strong, with one of the most popular previous releases being "Redneck Rampage" (if you played that, then you'll know that these guys have a sense of humour, and this is still present throughout Kingpin)

I could easilly ramble on about this classic all day, but there really is no need. For 5 pounds, there is no excuse at all for not checking this game out. The graphics, sound, presentation and multi-player options are all still top-notch, and as the other reviewer mentioned, there is still an active on-line community for the game, despite it being so old now. This has to be a good sign considering it's age.

Check your GFX hardware can do Open GL and then please - buy this game. Turn off the swearing and gore if you're a sensitive type, but for the best experience leave them ON ... and get ready to ROCK!

With a Y or an N choose how you interact with the seedy gutter-dwellers of poverty land. Y being casually pleasant and X being how you'd like to be. Yeah you can curse these folks before you plug 'em.

Lots of levels, lots of guns, lots of gore, lots of swearing, great scenery, gangsters to hire and boss around... Cyprus Hill Soundtrack.

Oh God... oh God... oh...

The graphics are nice, they are rendered enough to look good on any resolution and the sparks are amazing (if you get a Rocket Launcher and use it you'll know what I mean). The soundtrack is very good, albeit a little repetitive, but hey, you can't go wrong with Cypress Hill.

Some words of warning though. This game is aimed at 18+, so if you are under that age I suggest you don't buy it unless you have parental consent. You don't want to get a rollicking because your Mom/Dad heard some pretty obscene words sprayed out of speakers all over the house.

The multiplayer scene is still going strong and is very enjoyable. It's easy to get into unlike SoF II or Counter-Strike where you need to be "1337" until you get to do anything. Try www.poisonville.net to get established, they have all the files you need and they're all very small.

BUY THIS GAME!