Urban Reign

Urban Reign is a multiplayer Fighting\Beat 'em up game developed by Namco in the tradition of Capcom's Final Fight, River City Ransom, and Double Dragon. The game has a very strong multiplayer component. Its fighting engine was influenced by Power Stone, Tobal 2 and Ehrgeiz. The game also features two characters from the Tekken series of games, Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law, as unlockables.

Plot

The plot of Urban Reign follows the exploits "brawler-for-hire" Brad Hawk, who is hired to find a kidnapped gangmember by the scantily clad swordswoman Shun Ying Lee. Brad fights his way through the street gangs of Green Harbor,a fortified city in the U.S.. As he does so to get some answers, the true machinations of the protagonists reveal themselves and things become more complicated.

Game play

Urban Reign features a robust fighting engine for both single player and multiplayer action with both multiple AI opponents and human controlled characters on the same screen fighting at the same time. While the move sets of the characters are not nearly as rich as Namco's vs. fighting games such as Soulcalibur or Tekken, the ability of characters to freely move in the environment, pick up weapons, throw objects, give instructions to AI partners, and pull off moves on multiple opponents at once makes up for the lack of base moves.

Especially rich is the grappling system. There are low and high grapples, air grapples, counters and recounters each with its own animations for each character. The grapple system is highly reminiscent of Tobal 2.

The combo system is simplified and reduces the necessity for memorization of long combo strings specific to each character. Although characters have optimal combo strings, most combos start with three presses of the attack button, the third of which will juggle an opponent. Then the player has choices of an air grapple, special move, simply continuing the combo or even running away to pick up a weapon or reposition.

A major difference in Urban Reign from other beat 'em ups is the replacement of a block action with dodge. Neutralizing attacks by opponents is done with a single button press that must be timed to the moment of the attack. Also, if the player presses up or down on the keypad while pressing dodge at the correct time, his character will reverse an attack, if possible. Even when cornered by multiple enemies, it is possible to dodge all oncoming normal attacks.

Finally, "special arts" can be pulled off with a press of two buttons. Special arts cannot be countered, reversed or dodged except by another special move, and they can be buffered. Like Street Fighter and King of Fighters characters have a "special arts meter" that must be at a certain level for a move to be attempted. The meter is expended when a move is pulled off, and increases when characters take damage, successfully dodge attacks, or strike their opponents with attacks.

Initially, it is not possible for two players to play through the single player missions together like Double Dragon, but once unlocked, the game includes ample game modes for multiplayer action, including four-player brawls with a Playstation 2 multi-tap and extra controllers. There is a code that can be entered to play through the single-player missions with a second human player, but unfortunately the camera will only follow whichever player is using the player 1 controller. In other mutiplayer modes, the game makes use of a panning camera to keep all characters on the screen at all times. While still playable, it can be difficult to identify what is happening from some of the distances necessary to keep all characters on screen.

Difficulty

Like many beat 'em ups, the difficulty of the game is based on the fact that the player can continue a mission over and over again when they are defeated. Many of the missions will require even an experienced player to retry multiple times

Character Designs

Urban Reign takes place in a gritty, comic-book-like city populated by street gangs (none of which use guns) and revels in just about every American gang stereotype that currently exists. The cast of over 60 characters includes hooded and masked gang called the Zaps similar to the Crips and Bloods led by corn-row adorned Dwayne, a gang of muscle-bound, tattoo'ed skinhead ex con's (though of multi-ethnic origin), a Chinese gang that uses Shaolin style kung fu, a biker gang of tattooed heshers, a Yakuza gang that is run by a mysterious man and the obligatory Karate school that takes to the streets and a gang of Cuban Americans trying to make a name for themselves.

Major characters

While Urban Reign has a huge amount of minor characters, the game also has a decent amount of major characters that take part in the storyline. These characters have more extensive movesets and backgrounds compared to the minor characters. The major cast are as follows:

Brad Hawk

DoB: Unknown

Height: 185 cm

Weight: 87 kg

Fighting Style: All-Round

Voice: Steve Blum

The main protagonist of Urban Reign. Much about his past is unknown, and he isn't too talkative. Hired by a Chinese gang leader, Shun Ying Lee, to sort out the mess in Green Harbor. He is loosely based on Sonny Chiba's infamous The Street Fighter character, Terry Tsurugi

Brad's fighting style, All-Round, is heavily influenced by Boxing, Kickboxing, Wrestling and Submission Grappling.

Shun Ying Lee

DoB: 2/23 (age: 24)

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 54 kg

Fighting Style: Kung Fu/Chinese sword

Voice: Jessica Straus

The leader of Chinatown and the Chinese Triads. When her father died, he passed down command to Shun Ying Lee. Her younger brother, Lin Fong Lee, however, was not pleased with this decision. She is currently having a gang war with Dwayne and his gang, the Zaps.

Shun Ying's fighting style, "Kung Fu," is based on Baguazhang and resembles Tekkens Ling Xiaoyu's style. Her Chinese Sword fighting style is also quite similar to Soulcaliburs Chai Xianghua's style of fighting.

Dwayne Davis

DoB: 12/17 (age: 32)

Height: 178 cm

Weight: 75 kg

Fighting Style: Rush

The leader of the Zaps gang. After losing his family at a very young age, he values his gang members and homeboys. After having one of his closest members, KG, disappear, he suspects that Shun Ying and her Chinese gang may have taken him and begins to attack them.

Dwayne's fighting style, Rush, can be seen as a street fighting type of style. A style that utilizes Boxing and Wrestling.

Glen Kluger

DoB: 11/2 (age: 41)

Height: 194 cm

Weight: 97 kg

Fighting Style: Power

A thorough Biker gang stereotype, Glen is the leader of the Hell's Legions biker gang. Hired by Dwayne and the Zaps, he is out to fight Brad Hawk and Shun Ying Lee.

Glen's fighting style, Power, is influenced by both wrestling and street fighting.

Kadonashi Shotaro

DoB: 11/25 (age: 34)

Height: 175 cm

Weight: 78 kg

Fighting Style: Karate

The grandmaster of the Kadonashi Dojo. In pursuit of the, "American dream," he traveled to the U.S. from Japan and opened his very own Dojo. Kadonashi is not fluent in English.

The Karate style that Kadonashi uses is Kyokushinkai. A lot of his moves are also based on Tekken's Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima.

Jake Hudson

DoB: 10/3 (age: 26)

Height: 191 cm

Weight: 102 kg

Fighting Style: Wrestling

Ever since giving up Amateur Wrestling from an injury, he has now become a muscle-for-hire. Hired by Dwayne to take down Brad and Shun Ying.

Jake uses a more professional wrestling and technical fighting style than Alex Steiner. A lot of his moves are based on technique in pro wrestling.

Grimm

DoB: 4/13 (age: 27)

Height: 186 cm

Weight: 105 kg

Fighting Style: Boxing

A former world-ranked boxer who also began to practice pro wrestling as well. Not thinking of others, he uses his strength and muscle to bring others around him.

Grimm uses a street type of boxing, which would convert to both boxing and street fighting and grapples. He is similar to Tekken's Steve Fox.

Chris Bowman

DoB: 1/28 (age: 23)

Height: 178 cm

Weight: 72 kg

Fighting Style: Capoeira

A man who has grown from a middle class family background and a practitioner of Capoeira. He does not tolerate being ridiculed for his middle class background, and will lose his temper if he is.

Chris's Capoeira is quite authentic to the real life Capoeira, along with the use of Acrobatics and Gymnastics. His Capoeira resembles closely to Tekken's Eddy Gordo and Christie Monteiro.

Dae-Suk Park

DoB: 10/5 (age: 21)

Height: 178 cm

Weight: 62 kg

Fighting Style: Tae Kwon Do

A loner who enjoys wearing gothic fashion. Due to his quietness and always being and acting alone, it is impossible to read his mind.

Park uses the art of the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), and uses both Moo Duk Kwan Tae Kwon Do and olympic art of Tae Kwon Do. Park is very similar to Tekken's Hwoarang and Baek Doo San.

Tong Yoon Bulsook

DoB: 9/30 (age: 29)

Height: 177 cm

Weight: 72 kg

Fighting Style: Muay Thai

A former Muay Thai champion back in Thailand. While usually being a lone wolf, he's been recently getting involved with gang feuds, due to having fallen into hard times.

Tong Yoon uses many elements in Muay Thai, such as the brutal knees, elbows, kicks and fists in their attacks. Tong Yoon also performs a very brief Wai khru ram muay for his Charge-Up SPA (Down Circle+Triangle). He is similar to Tekken's Bruce Irvin. He is loosely based on Tony Jaa's character Kham from The Protector aka: Warrior King. Also the name of the character Tong Yoon is similar to the original Thai name of the movie Tom-Yum-Goong.

Alex Steiner

DoB: 12/6 (age: 26)

Height: 189 cm

Weight: 97 kg

Fighting Style: Wrestling

An enforcer from Green Hill. He's an athlete who built his strength through Football and Amateur Wrestling in his school years. However, he also has street fighting experience as well. (Possibly a reference to profession-wrestlers Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner)

Alex's style of Wrestling differs from Jake's style of fighting, mainly due to Alex's use of more power instead of technique and submission.

Douglas McKinzie

DoB: 7/1 (age: 37)

Height: 193 cm

Weight: 98 kg.

Fighting Style: Submission

He formed the gang known as the Shadow Platoon after he was discharged from his military service for abandoning his post. He enjoys destruction and chaos and will answer anyone from an underground network to cause mayhem.

While McKinzie uses submission holds in his grapples, his strikes are made up of kickboxing. McKinzie is similar to Tekken's Bryan Fury. But his true strength is using combat knives to perform deadly strikes.

Napalm 99

DoB: 9/2 (age: 35)

Height: 200 cm

Weight: 110 kg.

Fighting Style: Mighty

After doing time in prison, he rounded up a bunch of convicts and created his own gang, The Outlaws. He despises all good in society and enjoys social disorder and conflict.

Mighty is a street fighting style that utilizes large amounts of strength and grappling. Very similar to wrestling.

Golem

DoB: 5/19 (age: 35)

Height: 207 cm

Weight: 158 kg

Fighting Style: Mighty

After killing an opponent during a wrestling match, Golem has since then fought in underground fights. He's devoid of all sense of pride and humanity.

Mighty is a street fighting style that utilizes large amounts of strength and grappling. Very similar to wrestling. He is physically similar to Tekken's Craig Marduk.

Lin Fong Lee

DoB: 3/25 (age: 22)

Height: 195 cm

Weight: 97 kg

Fighting Style: Kung Fu/Chinese Broadsword

Voice: Crispin Freeman

Shun Ying's younger brother and only son of the Chinese Triads leader. After Shun Ying was chosen to become the next ruler in Chinatown, Lin Fong decided to round up his own gang to fight back Shun Ying and her gang. Being very ruthless and cruel, he is quite the opposite of his older sister. It is possible that he was responsible for the murder of his father. His hand-to-hand combat style is a mix between Chinese Kenpo and Choy Lee Fut.

Lin Fong's hand-to-hand style is similar to Tekken's Feng Wei. His Broadsword fighting style is similar to Soul Edge’s Seong Han-Myeong, Soul Edge and Soulcalibur’s Hwang Seong-Gyeong and Soulcalibur II and III’s Hong Yun-Seong.

Shinkai

DoB: 9/18 (age: 65)

Height: 189 cm

Weight: 95 kg

Fighting Style: Master/Personal Katana

The leader of the Mushin-Kai Yakuza. Shinkai was hired by a mysterious person to turn Green Harbor into chaos.

Shinkai's style, Master, is a mix between Karate and street fighting. His personal katana, Shinkai Katana, is known to be the deadliest of all weapons in Urban Reign when it is in the hands of its master.

Bordin

DoB: Unknown

Height: Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Fighting Style: Amateur

Voice: Unknown

The mayor of Green Harbor.

Bordin's fighting style is influenced by street fighting and wrestling. his personal weapon is a pistol, which can be unlocked with a cheat.

Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance, developed by Cavia, inc., is a brawl-style fighting game released by Capcom in 2005.

The game bears similarities to another Capcom game released around the same time, Final Fight: Streetwise. The most obvious comparison is to the Grand Theft Auto series, although it bears mentioning that no cars that Wouldn't Be Stolen.

Characters Edit

Playable CharactersEdit

• Aaron - Aaron is just one of many illegitimate children born to the drug lord, Zanetti. Aaron was moved to Las Sombras with the intentions of all involved to take over the family business after he could prove himself to Zanetti. Aaron's loyalty to the group of 5 mobsters he's been associated with makes him appear weak in his father's eyes. Aaron is distrustful of others, and could care less what people think of him. People often misjudge him, and this usually leads to unmerited trouble.
• Gina - Gina had plans of moving to the city and becoming a big star; what she ended up being was an exotic dancer. While dancing, Eugene saw her and fell in love and the two of them were inseparable. Eugene taught her the ways of the mob, self-defense martial arts, killing, and everything else you need to know to survive in his world. She became one of the Zanetti Family's top assassins. Gina and Eugene are to be married after the next big job.
• Jason G - Jason is the son of illegal immigrants and became an orphan at a very early age. He survived by befriending other dregs on the street. He became very close to his new family of degenerates and fought to protect them as well as himself. He was hardened by this struggle of survival, but he never lost sight of what was most important...friendship. Even after getting involved with the mob, Jason remained friendly and always willing to help others in need.
• Lola - Lola was raised in war-torn South America where she grew up learning guerrilla warfare techniques from local mercenaries. When the civil war ended, this guerrilla organization developed into a mob. She became a hit woman for the mob and saved her earnings to buy passage to America through the protection of the drug lord, Zanetti. She continued her career as an assassin working for Zanetti. She is reserved and mysterious, and currently involved in some secret activities.
• Raven - Raven is a city boy raised on the streets, by the streets. Fighting is in his blood, and it is his only means of survival. While still a scrapping young lad, he was scouted and entered into illegal underground fighting competitions. He was noticed for his ability, and he wound up in the corrupt world of the Zanetti Family...the mob.

BossesEdit

• Wendel - A jaded jail warden with 3000 HP, he is the Chapter 1 level boss. After the player is arrested, Wendel suspects a jailbreak and comes to inflict some gratuitous violence. When his health is depleted by half, he will use a Stun Rod.
• Fatima - Armed with two katanas and 4000 HP, she is the Chapter 2 level boss. Along with a spinning roundhouse kick, she can take the player's feet out from under him/her with one of her swords. She will follow this up with a downward slicing attack. After her defeat, she is slain under orders by Ignacy for fear of her leaving the Zanetti fold.
• Ignacy - Armed with claws attached to his hands and 5000 HP, he is the Chapter 3 level boss. He has a jumping spin attack called the Corkscrew, where he stabs the player with his hands in the midsection for a 7-hit combo. Ignacy also has a great back flip kick evasive move, and he blocks mid and high attacks 80% of the time.
• Eugene - Armed with two knives and 6300 HP, he is the Chapter 4 level boss. If the player does not disarm him, Eugene will attack with a harsh knife combo. Even with no weapons, he can deal an explosive jumping knee attack that will throw the player to the floor and drain some serious HP. After defeat, he will lie dying on the floor and confess that Zanetti is the one behind everything.
• Gregorio - The one in charge of running the Drug Refinery. Armed with metal fists and 7500 HP, Gregorio is the Chapter 5 level boss. Some of his most damaging moves are his Buster Knuckle Maximum, Metal Knuckle Maximum, Javelin Kick or Hammer Kick. His grab attacks like the Canadian Destroyer or the Spine Buster could inflict major damage if the player is in close proximity. Upon his defeat, Gregorio is assumed to have perished in the ensuing explosion of the factory.
• Quincy - Zanetti's personal physician. Armed with two scalpels and 7200 HP, he is the Chapter 6 sub-boss. After defeat, he reveals Zanetti's location.
• Zanetti - The drug kingpin. Fighting in a style similar to his son Aaron. At 8500 HP, he is the Chapter 6 level boss. After defeat, he confesses that he is just a "dummy" and Wallace is really the one behind everything.
• Wallace - The Chief of Police. Armed with a shotgun and 9000 HP, Wallace is the final boss of the game.

Secret CharactersEdit

• Norma - Norma is an unlockable recruit, who must be beaten several times before she admits defeat. She is Fatima's sister, and seeks revenge for her death. Unlike her sister, she only wields a single katana.
• Chester - The player may take on the captain of the police in a secret battle, unlockable by attaining the "Godfather" status.

Story Edit

Violence and crime run rampant on the dark streets of Las Sombras. The Zanetti family is the most powerful crime organization within the city limits, and they have five of the deadliest people around taking care of their dirty work. Then one day, they get an order from the head of the Zanetti family himself to shut down a rival group's drug deal that's supposed to go down. And so they move in to carry out their assault.

However when they arrive, what they find waiting for them is actually a room strewn with the bloody corpses of rival gang drug dealers. And as they stand there, puzzled by the sight before them, the Zanetti family moves in to finish them off. They realize that they were set up to look like they were the ones that committed the murders, and now are running from the same crime family that sent them there. With the police also on their trail, they see that there is no other option but to split up and lay low.

Gameplay Edit

At the start of the game, the player picks one of five playable characters, each with their own scenarios. Reporting to the local bar known as "The Hole", the player can then meet Melvin the bartender, who wants to help. He gives the player the key to the dressing room located within the bar, where he/she removes the suits that identify them with the Zanetti crime organization.

One of the female bar locals, Tracy, will direct the player to the police station, where a blacklist can be obtained. The blacklist enables the player to meet up with other gang members, and engage in a battle. If the opponent's Pride Gauge can be lowered significantly enough, a move can be performed where the enemy is grabbed in a chokehold. It is at this point that options will come up on the screen, giving the player the chance to do any of the following things: recruit the opponent to their side, grill them for information, rob them, or continue to beat them into submission for experience points. Whatever the choice made, the fight ends.

Even though the player no longer wears their Zanetti gang suit, roaming around the city will arouse the suspicions of their former members. This is tracked by a gauge, which will creep up slowly to 100% with every encounter. If the gauge is pushed above this limit, a battle will ensue with Zanetti gang members. To lower the gauge back down to a safer level, he/she is offered the opportunity to enter one of the many shops in Las Sombras. Money can be spend on altering the appearance of the player, right down to having cosmetic surgery at the local hospital.

Notes Edit

Hazard, a mysterious character wearing a gas mask, appears only when no one else is around. He is similar in appearance to HUNK of Resident Evil fame. He can usually be found near the telephone pole across from the Clinic. The chances of him appearing are raised the more the player has to beg for his/her life in a battle. He is recruitable.

Beat Down Wallace Theme (Last Boss Theme)