'The Mark' Box Image and Further Info Unveiled

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JoWooD Productions and T7 Games unveil the box image for the forthcoming PC title The Mark. The Mark is a first person shooter game, players battle against international terrorism, and if they lose, the city of London loses. In the game you play one of the two heroes racing to save a city of ten million people from total destruction, courtesy of terrorists who have acquired a nuclear-tipped missile. It is not exactly the model they were wishing for - it has short range. And so, the terrorists have hired an expatriate Russian ruffian, Ilya Rakov, to deliver the missile to a launching site that's close to the target.

You can choose from two player characters, each with special weapons and combat abilities. But the differences between the characters go beyond that:
- U.S. Marines Captain Steve "Fletch" Fletcher is a weapons expert who is familiar with the missile acquired by the terrorists, and he knows how to abort its launch procedure. So does his sister Sandy, a fellow U.S. Marine officer. This fact makes both of them the targets - the marks - of a multimillion contract offered by the terrorists. Playing as Fletch, you'll quickly find you have a twofold objective: to locate the missle and abort its launch procedure, and to save your sis from a gruesome fate.
- Austin Hawke is, quite simply, the world's finest mercenary. He is hired to assist Fletch by Aleksandr Rakov - Ilya's Rakov father, and the founder of the family business empire. So far, the business had consisted of lucrative arms trades, running a fleet of supertankers, and bespoke meddling in international affairs when paid enough money. However, old Aleksandr thinks dropping a nuke on a city is going a little too far; too weak to confront his son, he hires Hawke to help Fletch spoil his son's plans. Playing as Hawke, you'll have to do your best to protect Fletch from harm. If he dies, the game's over.

However, you are not stuck with one character throughout the game. The Mark's missions or levels are organized into chapters of several missions each. You will be able to switch your character between chapters. Find it hard to get through one of the chapters as Fletch? You can always switch to Hawke, and try again. There is one exception: one occasion when you play through two chapters with the same character. Naturally, it comes at a difficult point in the campaign. The game's designers knew you are hot, and crave some hardcore excitement.

The Mark includes two distinct, full-sized solo campaigns for Fletch and Hawke. Some missions can be played only as Fletch or Hawke, and shared missions often feature different pathways and mission objectives for each character.

Each of the solo campaigns contains 18 levels grouped into 6 chapters. Since you can change your character between chapters, a solo campaign can be played out in 32 different ways. A chapter consists of two to four levels, and takes place in a specific game location. Different locations mean different battlefields, different opponents, and the necessity to use different combat tactics. Now you can see why a timely character change can be crucial.

Making the right character choice depends on your playing style, and your choice of tactics while playing through the levels of a given chapter. Choosing the right tactics is especially important also because the various opponents you'll encounter all have different fighting styles. You will likely find there is more than one way of winning each mission.

Special Abilities:
Fletch is capable of ultra-fast action for limited periods of time, which can be invaluable in combat situations. Hawke has special glasses that let him spot the enemies in the dark. Both heroes carry special personal weapons - classic firearms that are particularly lethal in their hands. However, ammo for those weapons is limited.

The Mark offers a full suite of multiplayer choices. It can be played both over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). You can choose from several types of multiplayer games:
- Cooperative. This includes two modes: two-player (where one player is Fletch, and the other Hawke - 6 specially designed battlefields) and massive cooperative (up to 16 players, playing as Fletch, Hawke or US Marine - 4 specially designed battlefields).
- Team deathmatch. Up to 16 players can join in a battle to the death; the team that survives wins. You can choose from 2 specially designed battlefields.
- Map control. This mode is especially rewarding for players who like to think strategically: it involves controlling multiple locations for a winning point total. You can choose from 3 specially designed battlefields.

The Mark also includes the developers' tools ? an editor in which the game is made. This is the chance for all of creative and inspired folk to create levels and missions on their own ? both single and multiplayer.

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