E3 2002RTX Red Rock impressions

On display at the LucasArts E3 booth was RTX Red Rock, the recently announced third-person action game that's in development at LEC's internal studios. You take on the role of an elite astronaut by the name of E.Z. Wheeler, who sports an artificial left eye and a bionic right arm.

As Wheeler, you're sent to Mars to save a human colony that's been attacked by aliens. Helping you repel the alien invasion are a variety of weapons and items, many of which are part of Wheeler's personal inventory. Wheeler is somewhat of a walking Swiss Army knife--his artificial eye, for instance, will let you see four different wavelengths of light, including infrared light, a unique wavelength that makes it possible to see electrical currents, and a wavelength that lets you spot ghosts and other alien apparitions. His bionic arm has a number of weapon options as well, including a laser blaster and a mine thrower. During the demonstration of the game, Wheeler placed these mines in front of a doorway, waited for a pair of alien soldiers to walk through, and then fired on the mines to cause a deadly chain reaction.

Using his independent removable information system (IRIS), Wheeler can access almost any computer terminal in the game, and this ability will give him access to various robots and droids, which he can maneuver into areas that would otherwise be impossible to reach.

The game is being developed using a proprietary 3D engine, and it seems to handle transitions between indoor and outdoor areas seamlessly. In the outdoor areas, Wheeler will have to don a space suit that adds even more functionality to his already impressive array of features. One such feature that the space suit grants Wheeler is the ability to jump greater distances, which is essential for clearing the many chasms and cliffs that you'll find on the Martian surface. Wheeler can also jump into a large Martian rover in order to cover ground at a faster rate.

RTX Red Rock is scheduled for release on the PlayStation 2 and GameCube in the early months of 2003. For more information on the game, take a look at our 2864411previous coverage .