Headhunter Preview

Headhunter has been in development for around three years now--originally as an exclusive Dreamcast game. Though the game has just been released in Europe, most gamers won't be playing the game on a Dreamcast. Due to the demise of the Dreamcast platform, Sega has opted to bring the project to the PlayStation 2 as well. As it stands now, the Dreamcast version will be released only in Europe. The good news is that PS2 owners will get a chance to play the game. We've had the chance to play the first sections of the game on the PS2, and it's looking quite good.

Zapping some punks.

The game is set in California in the near future, where crime is getting out of control and gangs are becoming more and more ruthless. In an attempt to fight crime, the government gives a private law-enforcement company--the Anti Crime Network (ACN)--the green light to go after criminals. The ACN tracks down wanted felons to extract "payment" from them, because when you commit a crime, you must pay the government. If criminals can't pay, then body organs are considered currency, and they will be used to enhance the lives of the rich. While the rich people can afford costly transplantations, the major part of the population has to deal with shadowy crime organizations.

Maybe I can reuse some of those organs.

You take the role of Jack Wade, a headhunter in the service of the Anti Crime Network, who's chasing criminals for their money (or organs). It's a good life until the day the head of the ACN, Christopher Stern, is murdered, and Jack wakes up tied to a table, surrounded by people in white clothing who obviously want to experiment on him. Jack manages to escape but blacks out soon after. He wakes up in a hospital with next to no memory. His former boss at the ACN, Chief Hawke, visits him at the hospital and informs him that he's been fired and that his headhunter license has been revoked, although he can't tell Jack why. The main thrust of the action will have you applying for a new license and trying to find out what happened to you and why you can't remember a single thing. Before you leave the hospital, Angela Stern, the daughter of the ACN's murdered chief, asks you to find her father's murderer. Given that you have no real choice, you agree to the deal and head to the LEILA, the agency where you can apply for a new headhunter license. LEILA stands for Law Enforcement Intelligence and License Approval unit and is an organization appointed by the government to support and regulate law-enforcement activity. It cooperates with the ACN and maintains an extensive database of criminals, records, and other information. When you enter the LEILA offices, you can apply for a C-level license and work your way up to an AAA license. To get a higher license, you need to pass a few virtual-reality training missions that also serve as a tutorial to help you get a grip on the controls. Here you'll learn how to crouch, sneak, shoot, use objects, and develop strategies for becoming the best headhunter. Your mission goals will be updated constantly via your communication device, which serves as a link to the LEILA database and as a cell phone to put you in touch with characters like Chief Hawke or Angela Stern. The first clues lead you to a guy named Grey Wolf, who is part of a gang called Wolfpack. Investigations lead to assumptions that the Wolfpack gang is part of a syndicate headed by a highly sought after mafia boss.