Metal Dungeon: a thrilling cocktail of Japanese anime, cyborgs and a world gone to hell in a hand-basket

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. – Sept. 19, 2002 – Xicat Interactive, Inc., the publisher of the award-winning role-player, Gothic, brings RPG action to the Xbox(TM) video game system from Microsoft, with the release of Metal Dungeon, Nov. 19. Xicat offers fans of Japanese games a post-apocalyptic world where the mixing of magic and technology has opened a Pandora’s box of trouble.

"Metal Dungeon is an exciting game with some cool twists. Players battle with cyborg monsters deep inside a futuristic dungeon, while building (enhancing) your ultimate cyborg warrior. “It’s exactly the kind of dungeon crawl/RPG that the Xbox needs," says John Linn, Creative Director at Xicat.

Aransas is a war-torn world that has been in conflict for as long as history can recall. Humans "enhance" their warriors through cyborg technology and the ancient art of magic. Deep within a vast underground weapons complex known as Force Valley, one faction of humans tries to gain the upper hand by creating super-enhanced cyborgs. Something goes terribly wrong. One of their experimental cyborgs Magin, escapes and takes over the weapons laboratory/facility creating an army of enhanced weaponic monsters, turning Force Valley into a Metal Dungeon.

Teams of enhanced humans (cyborgs) are enlisted to take back the facility. Players assemble the team to plunge into the depths and root out the monsters. Players choose from 5 character types – fencer, striker, analyzer, caster and broader, for building their teams, and may be further enhanced by finding or buying chips and implanting them into their characters. Players can add to their team by finding and re-animating the corpses of fallen warriors and transforming them into one of five unlockable character classes. Metal Dungeon can be played by a single player (who may control up to six characters) or by multiple players, each controlling their own character and their actions simultaneously.

Battles with cyborg monsters are ferocious within the Metal Dungeon, and will take all the skill, strategy and knowledge of your characters’ talents and abilities. Experience is gained in battles with monsters within the 10 cavernous dungeon levels or by means of gladiatorial games in the "trial hall." Levels are never the same twice due to Metal Dungeon succession of random dungeon layouts.

In the Metal Dungeon, enhanced humans of the future come face to face with the dark evils of the past. You never know when a pile of scrap metal, flesh and sinew might come bounding from a dark corner to feast on your robotic bones. Metal Dungeon is rated Teen for Blood and Violence.

About Xicat Interactive:

Xicat Interactive, Inc., (http://www.xicat.com/) headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., with offices in London and Zurich, is a fast-growing innovator in the world of interactive entertainment software publishing. Xicat’s other popular titles, Sniper: Path of Vengeance, ChopLifter: Search & Rescue, U.S. Special Forces: Team Factor, Jane's Attack Squadron, Top Angler, X-Plane, and Gothic can be found at Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Toys R Us, K-Mart, Best Buy and Electronic Boutique among others. Xicat publishes award-winning games for PlayStation2®, Nintendo® Gamecube® and Game Boy® Advance, Microsoft® Xbox(TM) and personal computers.