KINGPIN: LIFE OF CRIME

From junkyard dog to king of the urban jungle.

- John Strike

Like almost every game I played during the 1990s and early 2000s, my love of brutal FPS Kingpin: Life of Crime started with a free demo on the PC Gamer cover disk. Back then, its wall-to-wall bloodletting, prolific swearing and killer soundtrack were like flames to my inner moth.

It's hard to imagine a more exciting time for the genre than in 1999. Half-Life had basically just conquered the world the year before, and a trail of breadcrumbs and bratwurst would lead to Return to Castle Wolfenstein in 2001.

With the hum of Quake II's minigun still ringing in our ears, lesser-known developer Xatrix Entertainment had just finished its first official expansion, The Reckoning, and was about to launch Kingpin: Life of Crime using the same brilliant engine.

ULTRAVIOLENT DREAMS

“You’re aware this game is for adults?” warned the nice lady at the end of the phone, as I casually ordered the full version of Kingpin using my mum’s bank card. The combination of its graphic violence and the timing of its release, shortly after the Columbine shootings, lead to calls for its cancellation in the US Congress, and ultimately fewer retailers selling the game there.

Xatrix’s CEO, Drew Markham, stated at the time, “Kingpin was never intended for children. This is a game with mature themes made for a mature audience,” which was a sentiment that had reassuringly found its way to me when purchasing the game. Still, putting a big red button in front of 16-year-old me and saying, “Don’t press the big red button,” obviously made it all the more appealing at the time, and with legendary hip-hop group Cypress Hill leading the soundtrack, this was a game I couldn’t wait to get my hands on.