Loose Cannon

Privateer on Earth

As it was first described to us, Loose Cannon is a combination vehicle combat and first person shooter. Now where have we heard this one before? Let's see …. Uh oh… it was Accolade's ill fated Redline from last year. Wait - don't write off Loose Cannon yet! Where Redline featured clichéd lasers and fantasy weapons and cars, Loose Cannon will have realistic guns, grenades, rifles, 4 wheel drives, and sports cars. Where Redline was linear and cramped in the environment, Loose Cannon features open ended worlds, with nine large and well detailed cities to explore. In other words, Loose Cannon isn't the same game, not by a long shot.

Nice park

High angle shot

Open Ended

If there's an existing game that most closely resembles Loose Cannon, it's probably Privateer. The player takes the role of a bounty hunter in a world overridden with crime. The police are overwhelmed, so bounty hunters can make a pretty penny by listening in on the police scanner and taking on missions to support the cops. Should you help apprehend the bank robbers 4 blocks away? Or leave town and try to find missing nuclear rockets in the countryside? That's where the open ended mission structure comes in - you choose which missions you want, you choose how to accomplish the mission (bust in the front guns blazing? Or sneak in the back with silencers?), you choose how to spend your money. More small arms, or upgrade your car with better car mounted guns? Which of 15 vehicles to buy? Sports cars are better for street chases, but hummers and SUVs would be better suited to the out of city off road action.

I want that car

Such a detailed city

The world

The large environments of Loose Cannon were another high point of the game. Each of the nine cities in the game are all connected to one another via countryside highways. The countryside is even more dangerous than the cities - the law's reach doesn't quite stretch outside city limits, you see. So step outside and you might end up being targeted by other bounty hunters or criminals. The cities themselves are well detailed, making us think of Midtown Madness with guns thrown in for kicks.

A shootout?

Senset through smog

There is an ultimate goal and a binding storyline in Loose Cannon, but its open ended nature and explorable web of cities (based on real US cities like LA, NY, SF) should attract fans of the old Privateer games.

Every little detail	From the other side
Los Angeles	Again, in game
Bust through THAT	A working highway
A cloverleaf	The countryside

Jail maybe?

Expected Release: Q4 2000