Atari is working closely with AMD to develop Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, the title that first appeared on the Xbox in June, for personal computer using AMD's Athlon 64 series of simultaneous 32- and 64-bit processors. The 64-bit version of the game will be included with the 32-bit version and will allow for improved textures, better image quality, faster game performance and an enhanced gameplay experience.
"Shadow Ops: Red Mercury is already known for its excellent story, frenetic action and industry-leading sound effects, but with the addition of AMD64 technology, Atari is taking these cinematic qualities to the next level with even more immersion and realism," said Wim Stocks, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Atari. "Working with AMD64 technology has allowed Atari to remain at the forefront of PC gaming technology and innovation, creating one of the most gripping and beautiful first-person-shooters ever made."
Shadow Ops will join several top PC games utilizing AMD64 technology to provide more detailed and larger texture sizes, more advanced AI, advanced physics engines, robust map sizes and next-generation features not yet seen in other PC games.
AMD and Atari have collaborated extensively to optimize a version of Shadow Ops: Red Mercury specifically for the AMD 64-bit processor to bring the cinematic elements of the game to life in a way not possible in a 32-bit computing environment, said Monica Behncke, director, Customer Centric Marketing, AMD. Gamers who use AMD64 processors and install the 64-bit version of Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, get access to the 64-bit only level of detail, with mind-blowing texture quality, enormous map sizes and amazingly enhanced artificial intelligence, creating an exceptional game play experience.
In Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, the player fills the battle-ready combat boots of Frank Hayden, a special forces operative hand-picked to track down and destroy the stolen Red Mercury, a secret substance of unspeakable power that threatens the world with nuclear annihilation. The player will face off against blood-thirsty terrorists, renegade military forces and highly trained enemy special forces in a last ditch desperation mission to prevent the ultimate terror from reaching the world's greatest cities.
Developer Zombie Studios partnered with AAA Hollywood talent for sound effects, script writing and music in order to further blur the line between Hollywood summer blockbuster films and interactive entertainment. A top Hollywood writing team, renowned for work in films and video games, wrote the entire script for the game and an original theatrical score was created by Inon Zur, a renowned composer of award-winning music for film, video games and television.
The new PC version features improved textures, gameplay and an expanded multiplayer functionality with more maps than ever before. As with the original Xbox game, Shadow Ops: Red Mercury boasts industry-leading sound engineering to fully immerse players in the combat experience. Soundelux, the Academy Award-winning studio best known for work on films such as Kill Bill, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down, created ultra-realistic directional sound effects, enhanced by the game's THX Game Certification. Gamers with powerful surround-sound speaker systems will duck as bullets ricochet, cower as grenades rumble and forge into battle as desperate orders are barked in disturbingly realistic immersive sound.
Shadow Ops: Red Mercury gamers will be able to test their combat mettle in online matches in intense multiplayer modes that include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Escort the V.I.P., which will extend the replay value of the game.
Shadow Ops: Red Mercury will be available for personal computer September 21 and is currently available worldwide on the Xbox with an estimated retail price in North America of USD 19.95 For more information on Shadow Ops: Red Mercury follow the download tab above.