Kingpin: Life of Crime

About Kingpin: Life of Crime

Kingpin: Life of Crime (1999) is Xatrix Entertainment's violent, foul-mouthed gangster shooter set in an art deco city that never was, with hireable gang members, weapon mods and a Cypress Hill soundtrack.

Kingpin: Life of Crime in Depth

In a quasi-retro world mixing 1930s art deco with modern technology, from helicopters to monorails, a past the manual says never happened, the player is beaten and dumped in Skidrow by thugs working for Nikki Blanco, one of the Kingpin's lieutenants. Picking up a length of lead pipe, he sets out for revenge, rising through chemical plants, steel mills and train yards to Radio City, the Kingpin's headquarters. The game borrows heavily from Pulp Fiction and The Big Lebowski: the Kingpin is inspired by Marsellus Wallace, a boss called "The Jesus" shares John Turturro's character's name and personality, and much of the dialogue is lifted from both films.

It was noted for profanity-laden dialogue and graphic violence. Damage is area-specific, so headshots hurt more than leg wounds, characters' skins show where and how badly they are injured, and wounded enemies leave blood trails. Armour is split between helmet, body armour and leggings, and weapons can be upgraded with mods for firepower or rate of fire. Players talk to characters with positive or negative responses, which can reveal information, recruit gang members or provoke attacks, and characters react differently depending on whether the player's gun is holstered. Cash taken from bodies buys weapons at the Pawn-O-Matic or hires gang members, some needed for their skills.

Making Kingpin: Life of Crime

Xatrix developed Kingpin on the Quake II engine and Interplay published it in 1999. Released shortly after the Columbine High School massacre, as the first high-profile shooter since, it drew controversy: congressmen called for its cancellation, it was debated in the US Senate, and Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us refused to stock it. Xatrix added a password-protected low-violence mode with bleeped swearing, and CEO Drew Markham included a message stressing that it "was never intended for children"; team member Greg Goodrich later said that without Electronics Boutique it "might have never seen the light of day in North America". It ranked 19th in PC Data's US chart for July 1999. Reviews were positive: GameSpot's Erik Wolpaw admired its "beautifully depicted metropolitan nightmare", PC Gamer UK called it "an incredible achievement in terms of graphics, AI and level design and a nasty, bloody swear-fest", and Computer and Video Games gave five stars, though PC Gamer US gave it 53%, finding it shallow and buggy. It was also ported to Linux.