Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko

Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (titled Gex: Deep Cover Gecko in Europe and Gex 3: Deep Pocket Gecko on Game Boy Color) is a platform video game. It is the third and final installment of the Gex video game series. Danny John-Jules provided the voice for Gex in the UK and European release and comedian Dana Gould reprised the role for the American release, also starring the Playboy model Marliece Andrada as Agent Xtra, the only character that is featured in live-action. The N64 version features small amounts of live action FMV sequences featuring Agent Xtra.

Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko
North American cover art
Developer(s)Crystal Dynamics[lower-alpha 1]
David A. Palmer Productions (GBC)
Publisher(s)Eidos Interactive
Crave Entertainment (N64)
Director(s)Glen Schofield
Producer(s)Sam Player
Designer(s)Christopher Tremmel
Programmer(s)Adrian Longland
SeriesGex
Platform(s)PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color
ReleasePlayStation
  • NA: March 23, 1999
  • EU: April 10, 1999
Nintendo 64
  • NA: September 28, 1999
  • EU: July 24, 2000
Game Boy Color
  • NA: November 15, 1999
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Plot

While watching television, Gex discovers that his partner and lover, Agent Xtra, now the head of the "TV Terrorist Defense Unit", has been reported missing. Xtra herself manages to contact Gex and inform him that Rez has returned once again and kidnapped her to get to him. Through his secret lair, Gex returns to the Media Dimension and circumnavigates numerous television channels with help from his butler, Alfred, and in the process frees and befriends Rez's prisoners, Rex and Cuz. Together, they find Rez and challenge him to a final battle. In the aftermath, Rez is destroyed once and for all, and Gex saves Xtra. In the PlayStation version's ending, as Xtra tells Gex of her time in the Media Dimension, Alfred attempts to warn Gex of a world emergency, but is ignored. The game ends with Gex and Xtra making love.

Gameplay

Gameplay remains similar to the previous game, Gex: Enter the Gecko, with the addition of certain vehicles, such as a tank, a camel and a snowboard, as well as a swimming ability and a gliding ability available with certain disguises depending on the level. There are also some aspects of the game that are shared only with the first installment, such as: Gex can only collect bugs in all levels (100 per level earns a remote) and secret levels, instead of the variety of items he collected in Enter the Gecko (skulls, TNT plungers, carrots, TVs, police plates, etc.). He can spit fire and ice, as well as swim, the latter ability having not been present in previous games. Unlike Enter the Gecko, when losing a life, Gex retains only the amount of bugs collected up to the latest checkpoint; if the level has no checkpoint, Gex has to start from zero. Since there are one hundred per level, collecting bugs can get significantly more difficult than the items in Enter the Gecko. Also, similar to the first Gex game, he can collect footprint icons throughout the game which give him more energy, though unlike the first game, Gex retains the energy (eight hits total) once he collects one hundred footprints. Levels are accessed via a more expansive hub, with more areas unlocked as the player collects remotes from each of the levels. Players can unlock and control three alternate characters, Rex, Cuz and Alfred, during bonus stages, though they play the same.

Characters

Four new characters appear in this sequel. Agent Xtra, a live-action female government Spy and whom Gex must help rescue from the clutches of Rez. Gex is also joined by his faithful butler, Alfred the Tortoise, who is a slight character reference to Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth. Alfred basically helps around and maintains Gex's secret lair which is known as "Mission Control". Alfred can be found in parts of most levels and tail whipping him gives useful advice. The two last are Rex, a red Dinosaur who Gex unfroze from a block of ice in the "Holiday Broadcasting" channel, and Cuz, Gex's cousin, who Gex rescued from gangsters in the "Gangster TV" channel.

Development

Crystal Dynamics wanted Gex 3, the sequel to Gex: Enter the Gecko and the third game in the Gex series of platform video games, to raise the bar for focusing more on its story than the series' previous entries did. They also wanted to further put emphasis on the title character's personality by giving him "over-the-top animations", according to Crystal Dynamics' Product Marketing Manager, Chip Blundell. Several of the in-game mechanics used in levels were concepts that were thought of during the development of Gex 3D, but could not be included due to issues with time constraints. Lead Designer Chris Tremmel wanted the gameplay of Gex 3 to hearken back to the series' initial roots as a 2D side-scrolling platformer. To achieve this, he included side-scrolling minigames in addition to the main platforming parts, in order to make level missions less monotonous. According to Tremmel, most people who had played Gex 3D weren't entirely invested into going out of their way to locate all of the collectibles in each stage as they were with other collectathon platformers like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie; thus, the developers made three core collectibles that stay consistent throughout the entire game and significantly aid the player in completing it. The hub world used to access stages was also retooled from the previous game and changed from an empty environment with several doors leading to levels to being more like a level in itself with items and secrets hidden within it.[1]

With Gex 3, the developers tried to push the limits of the PlayStation's hardware further than they had with Gex 3D. For instance, the game's levels bigger than they were in the previous entry, having found a way to increase level sizes by one-fifth and include more enemies per stage while maintaining a high framerate. Textures also make use of environment mapping, something which Tremmel initially did not think that the PlayStation could smoothly handle; according to him, he suggested using it to the programmers as a joke, not thinking that they could legitimately pull it off with the hardware limitations of the PlayStation, but found that the programmers had already begun working on implementing it the next day. The technique was used primarily for metal surfaces, such as certain enemies and Gex's shield and metallic armor that he wears at points in the game. A particular area of focus for Crystal Dynamics was improving the game's 3D camera system, which was frequently criticized in Gex 3D for being glitchy and difficult to use at times. Rather than including a multitude of camera options, they opted simply to feature a single system which was simple and did not work against the desires of the player.[1]

Agent Xtra was played by actress Marliece Andrada, best known for starring in the TV show Baywatch.[1]

Reception

The PlayStation version of Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko received "favorable" reviews, while the Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64 versions received "mixed" reviews, according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[2][3][4] The N64 version was criticized for stuttering frame rates despite "PlayStation-esque graphics", not taking advantage of the analog stick, and failing to compare to the 3D platformer competition on the Nintendo 64 such as Super Mario 64.[21] Whether the player slightly presses the joystick forward or presses it all the way, Gex runs full speed ahead. Running on the less powerful PlayStation, Gex 3 was rated higher due to less 3D platformer competition and impressive graphics.[22]

Next Generation reviewed the PlayStation version of the game and stated that "In the end, Gex 3 is a passable game – barely. Everything about the title is cookie cutter from beginning to end."[23]

References
  1. Ported to Nintendo 64 by Gratuitous Games
  1. "Gex 3 Preview". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 2 no. 4. Ziff Davis. January 1999. pp. 74, 76–77, 80, 82.
  2. "Gex 3: Deep Pocket Gecko for Game Boy Color". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  3. "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko for Nintendo 64". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  4. "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko for PlayStation". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  5. McCall, Scott. "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (N64) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 2014-11-15. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
  6. Marriott, Scott Alan. "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (PS) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 2014-11-15. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
  7. "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (N64)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis. 1999.
  8. "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (PS)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis. 1999.
  9. Fitzloff, Jay (March 2000). "Gex 3: Deep Pocket Gecko - Game Boy Color". Game Informer. No. 83. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on 2000-10-27. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
  10. "Gex 3 (N64)". Game Informer. No. 77. FuncoLand. September 1999. Archived from the original on 2000-05-21. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
  11. "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (PS)". Game Informer. No. 73. FuncoLand. May 1999. Archived from the original on 2000-06-04. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
  12. "REVIEW for Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (PS)". GameFan. Shinno Media. April 8, 1999.
  13. Boba Fatt (October 1999). "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko". GamePro. No. 133. IDG Entertainment. p. 122. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  14. iBot (1999). "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko Review for N64 on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2005-03-22. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
  15. Dan Elektro (1999). "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko Review for PlayStation on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2005-02-15. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
  16. Amsbury, Robert (March 2000). "Gex3: Deep Cover Gecko Review (N64)". Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
  17. Trueman, Doug (2000-02-18). "Gex 3: Deep Pocket Gecko Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
  18. Garrett, Steven (1999-09-21). "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko Review (N64)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
  19. Garrett, Steven (1999-04-02). "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko Review (PS)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
  20. Harris, Craig (1999-12-17). "Gex 3: Deep Pocket Gecko". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
  21. Casamassina, Matt (1999-10-27). "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (N64)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
  22. Harris, Craig (1999-03-29). "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (PS)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
  23. "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (PS)". Next Generation. No. 54. Imagine Media. June 1999. p. 93.
  24. "Gex 3: Deep Pocket Gecko". Nintendo Power. Vol. 128. Nintendo of America. January 2000. p. 148.
  25. "Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko". Nintendo Power. Vol. 124. Nintendo of America. September 1999. p. 142. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
  26. Kujawa, Kraig (May 1999). "Gex [3]: Deep Cover Gecko". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 2 no. 8. Ziff Davis. p. 79. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
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