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That masterpiece could very well come in the shape of Kingpin, a first person shooter unlike any other. And while that can be easily said of any shooter at the time of its release, the statement rings especially true for Xatrix's latest. Powered by the Quake II engine, Kingpin: Life of Crime takes place in the slums of an urban jungle. The setting is best described as a low-tech Blade Runner. It has all the dank alleyways, the shady characters and the neon lights of the not-so-distant future with the ghetto blasters, gats and O.G.s of today.
It's not the setting that defines Kingpin though. It takes much more than that. Luckily, much more is exactly what Xatrix is incorporating into the game: Much more story, much more AI, much more gameplay, much more weapons and of course, much more eye candy, a mandatory ingredient.
Kingpin has only been in development for 8 short months, but it's already shaping up nicely. The team has reached a time in the development process that everyone in the industry lives for (second only to gold mastering); the time when individual pieces start fitting together and begin to materialize into a more complete whole. For the most part, the level design is done, as are a majority of the weapons. "We only have 2 player models in place right now," says Markham, "but we're planning on adding another 3 to 4". AI, weapon and enemy placement, voiceovers and some additional level enhancements, textures, object models, special effects and physics tweaks are still necessary. "About 95% of the core groundwork for Kingpin is done," exclaims Markham. Xatrix is being optimistic about Kingpin's completion time and have pinned (no pun intended) a Spring 1999 release date on the game.
 
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