Long before Grand Theft Auto III made M rated crime action games cool, another first person action title struck a few cords as well with its blend of gameplay and adult content. The Quake II engine game Kingpin was highly anticipated before its eventual release in mid 1999 but a series of event happened that kept the title from being all it could have been. Still, the finished product received some good reviews and is still played and fondly remembered today.

The creators of Kingpin were Xatrix Entertainment who before Kingpin were best known for the Redneck Rampage series of Build engine first person shooters for publisher Interplay. However, the company was also branching out with work on an official Quake II expansion pack for id Software and Activision called The Reckoning. Once that was done, Xatrix decided to use the experience in creating The Reckoning for a full stand alone title. “Once we were up to speed with the new engine and the tools, we developed a demo to illustrate where we wanted to go next with their technology,” said founder and former Xatrix team member Greg Goodrich. “As a matter of fact, at that time we created two separate demos. One was for Kingpin and the other was for a new version of Wolfenstein. Id wasn't ready to hand over Wolfenstein just yet, so we decided to kick off Kingpin instead.”

According to Goodrich, Xatrix co-founder and president Drew Markham’s first idea for the game was to set it as a historical game in 1930’s Chicago. However, that idea changed and Kingpin became a crime action game set in an unnamed city with a mix of historical and modern art styles. “There were probably more than a few reasons for the gradual shift, but most of it had to do with our contentious relationship with Interplay post Redneck Rampage, watching Pulp Fiction way too many times, and listening to "Black Sunday" by Cypress Hill,” said Goodrich. “By the time we hit full stride on the project, we found that we had a pretty good mix of contemporary urban themes set in the decade of depression. I guess you could say it was the perfect project at that time for our state of mind.”

One thing that everyone remembers about Kingpin was the way Xatrix extended the graphical look of the Quake II engine, with 32 bit lighting, higher polygon characters, detailed weapons models, solid AI and excellent level and art texture design. “It was a perfect fit for the type of game we wanted to make and the artists at Xatrix were able to take the engine to the absolute limit,” said Goodrich. “As a matter of fact, I just recently reinstalled the game on my PC and it holds up really well.”
The content of the game was pretty racy for its time as a gangster declares war on the crime syndicate running the city. The game included a few interesting features such as collecting money to buy new and better weapons as well as recruiting others NPC to help you in the game.

One of the game’s selling points was the recruitment of rap stars Cypress Hill to contribute to the game’s soundtrack. “I'll never forget the day Drew and I were sitting in "Ameraycan Studios" with Cypress Hill as they played us what would later become their fourth album,” said Goodrich. “Just a few weeks earlier, we were on our way to Matteo's, for our daily lunch ritual, when Drew slipped "Black Sunday" into his CD player and suggested that Cypress Hill would be a perfect fit for the game. Everyone agreed. We went out on a limb and edited together some game footage to a song called "Ain't Goin' Out Like That" and sent it directly to the group. Needless to say, we were shocked just a short time later when they invited us out to their studio to listen to their new album. By the time the game was finished we not only had their music but their voices in the game as well.”

Another interesting part of Kingpin that went mostly overlooked at the time was the product placements for Diesel clothes in the game. “This was suggested by Interplay.,” said Goodrich. “We were told that if we placed a giant red letter "D" on the backs of a few enemies and on a few billboards, Diesel would support the game at retail and actually sell it in their stores. I have no idea if it actually ever happened or not, but it sounded like a good idea at the time.” The idea of product placement in games continues today with both McDonalds and Intel doing the same thing for the upcoming Sims Online massively multiplayer game.

Kingpin generated a lot of interest from gamers before its release, thanks in part to a demo of the first chapter of the game that got a lot of attention in early 1999 that showed off what the game was capable of. Unfortunately, events outside of Xatrix’s control forced the developer to speed up the development of the game.” Actually, you could probably say it was abandoned”, said Goodrich. “It definitely needed another 3 to 4 months of development time to make it truly shine. And we all knew it. Unfortunately, Interplay needed the game for their fiscal quarter and they were not open to discussion.”

Another big influence was the Columbine high school shootings in April 1999 and the links that certain “experts” and the media tried to make with video game violence at the time. “Towards the end of development, things definitely started to go downhill pretty fast,” said Goodrich. “We received two letters from U.S. Congressman, one from the state of Colorado and the other from Georgia, asking us to cancel the game. I guess the crowning moment was when they argued the fate of the game on the floor of the United States Senate (I actually have a tape of the debate from C-Span). By the time it was all said and done, Interplay took their logo off the front of the box and Best Buy, Wal Mart and Toys "R" Us refused to take the product. If it wasn't for Electronics Boutique, the game might have never seen the light of day in North America.”

Even though Kingpin had restrictions in the marketplace, the final product actually sold decently and garnered some solid reviews from the gaming press. “It did especially well in Europe and Asia, but I guess it was considered a disappointment to most because of what it could have been,” said Goodrich. “My feelings about the game are mixed. Am I proud of the game? Absolutely. Could it have been better? Without a doubt. Did we push the limits a little too far in certain areas? Probably. But then again, I'm the dead guy lying in a pool of blood on the cover of the box, so I'm slightly biased.”

The game was popular as an online multiplayer deathmatch game and Xatrix also put in a new multiplayer teamplay mode called Bagman that was well-received. Even today you can find mods and new levels for the game as well as players participating in online deathmatches. “It's always nice to see people appreciate something that you've helped create. The community did some really impressive things with the game,” said Goodrich. “The "Crash" mod was exceptionally well done and the majority of the fan sites were much more informative than the official web site.”

After Kingpin was completed, Xatrix Entertainment changed its name and turned into Gray Matter Studios, with the developer landing a big coup with the development of the Quake III engine powered game Return to Castle Wolfenstein for id and Activision. “Without Activision we were done. Fortunately with their support we were able to keep the core team that created Kingpin together to develop Wolfenstein,” said Goodrich. “Many of the original Kingpin fans also followed us and seeded a new community the day Wolfenstein was announced. A website called Wolfensteinx.com went live about the same time as the game and was fueled by individuals who lived and breathed Kingpin on a daily basis. For the first few months there wasn't much to talk about, so they chatted about Kingpin instead. It was very cool.” Activision bought a large stake in the developer and then finally bought the company outright in early 2002 after the release of Wolfenstein in late 2001. Goodrich then left the company and then became a vice president at Fox Interactive.

With the release of games like Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and other “M” rated games with crime themes, would Kingpin have had a better chance of success in 2002? “Possibly. The social climate is certainly different,” said Goodrich. “It's unfortunate that Interplay didn't repackage the game a year later and sell it as a value product like they've done with everything else in their library. Like I said, the game still holds up and I think new gamers would find it if it were still available.”

And what about a sequel to Kingpin? Don’t hold your breath, according to Goodrich. “I doubt you will ever see a sequel to Kingpin, certainly not from Interplay. The game definitely broke new ground and did a thing or two to open the door (or should I say, kick open the door) for other projects with similar themes. If a sequel is ever made, I will certainly be first in line to buy it.”

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