xREL.v3

1 9 1 1         <JeD>

The Thing (c) Vivendi

Date: August 21st, 2002           Game Type:  Action/Shooter
Supplier: Team Razor                       Size:  21 x 15MB
Cracker: Team Razor                 Protection:  Securom

GAME NOTES:

After the enigmatic deaths of an American scientific expedition in the
uncharted and frozen wastelands of the Antarctic, a military rescue team is
sent to investigate their deaths. Within these inhospitable surroundings the
team encounters a strange shape-shifting alien life-form that assumes the
appearance of people that it kills.
The Thing brings fear and suspense to unimaginable levels, with a compelling
plot and unique gameplay elements based upon action, evasion, trust and fear.
Forget everything you ever learned about obliterating alien species simply
with a barrage of violent ammunition - this monster is difficult to see,
hard to kill, and seemingly impossible to evade.
And when you actually see it, it's often too late...
- Taking place shortly after the events seen in the 1982 film - The Thing
takes us back to the Antarctic base and familiar locals from the film for
a terrifying, new chapter of isolation and paranoia.
- Advanced trust/fear interface adds a new dimension to the genre - How you
influence non-player characters (NPCs) psychological state determines
whether or not these characters will cooperate with you. Amazing lighting,
weather and particle effects complemented by subtle sound cues and scripted
events create a new level of suspense and terror.
- Unique combat system that allows weapons to be customized and scratch built
in many cases.
- Puzzle Solving can be accomplished by a multitude of scenarios - there is
never just one way to accomplish an objective.
- Varied pace of gameplay throughout the game, blending action, puzzles,
horror and human interaction.

RELEASE NOTES:

A few weeks ago, a small no-name group, Infinity, put out a copy of The Thing
with a stolen crack.  They stole the crack from Deviance - although Deviance
has not spread around the details we assume they managed to steal one of the
cracking tools Deviance crackers made to do the job.  Infinity was summarily
nuked for the stolen crack, as well as rumors of the game being beta (which
is not unusual when a game gets put out 3 weeks ahead of release).
We know today that the Infinity release was not a beta.  It is in fact
identical to our release, except for the crack.  We did not steal the crack,
in fact we cracked it ourselves!  A novel concept for the members of ITY, we
are sure.
There was some debate in the group over whether or not we should release our
version of The Thing.  The debate centered on the newly discovered non-beta-
ness of the ITY version.  Should we release a game again that was released 3
weeks ago and nuked?  We finally decided yes.
A stolen crack is not a matter to take lightly.  Crackers and groups work very
diligently to get the edge on the competition with the most advanced techniques
and tools to get the job done quickly and/or correctly.  Even we are not above
reproach, as occasionally our cracks are not tested as fully as they should be
and when it happens we get smacked for it - for example our recent release of
AvP2 Primal Hunt comes to mind, where we did not test the crack on Win9x plat-
forms, to the dismay of many Win9x users.  Fortunately for them, Deviance did
provide a crack later on that solved the problem.
In the case of AvP2 Primal Hunt, the Deviance fix came out very quickly, when
the game was still pretty new (about one day or so after the release).  What
would have happened if the game had been nuked, and no crack released for a
month?  How much good would just a crack do you then, with no release on sites
anymore to use it on?
The point here is that groups go to great lengths to develop sound cracking
methods.  We put ourselves at risk of being called a bunch of lamers for
having a non-working crack or two.  Crackers slave for weeks to beat a new
protection, so that their group can have a chance to win.  Why should all this
work be stolen in the space of 30 seconds by some freejack who has not put in
the work, as in the ITY release of The Thing?
Razor won't stand for stolen cracks, and nobody else should, either.  When a
game with a stolen crack gets put out, it must be eliminated and replaced
with a legitimate version.  For this reason we chose to put out the full game
for you to enjoy, with a non-stolen crack.  Have fun!

SPECIAL NOTE TO SMALL "NO-NAME" GROUPS:

We support you guys, but we can't support stealing cracks.

GROUP GREETS:

Fairlight, Deviance, Class, Myth, Divine, and all other groups who crack their
own games themselves.

Razor 1911   /__\   Since 1985

SUPPORT THE COMPANIES THAT PRODUCE QUALITY SOFTWARE!
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS PRODUCT, BUY IT!  SOFTWARE AUTHORS DESERVE SUPPORT!!