Rush’N Attack: Ex-Patriot Available on PSN with ‘Systema’ Combat

For those of you not old enough to remember, Rush’N Attack was originally a side-scrolling game for arcade cabinets, later adapted for home consoles. It used to look something like this:

True to its name, it was a lot of rushing. And attacking. Mostly with a knife, sometimes with a flamethrower or a machine gun, but always against hordes of faceless Russians (it was the Cold War, which meant that was totally cool that Russians were bad guys and even cooler to come up with a pun-tastic name for the game). And as we approached the 25th anniversary of Rush’N Attack, we realized it might be nice to revisit an old friend.

But bringing a game like this back into something accessible and interesting to a modern audience presented some unique challenges. After all, the primary attack mechanic from the original 1985 game was quite literally a “stab-stab-stab” motion from side to side across the screen, which you can see from some gameplay footage here:

So how did we update this? The answer we found was Systema.

Systema (“The System”) is a form of martial arts practiced by the Russian secret service (Spetznaz). It is characterized by hand-to-hand combat and knife fighting with a goal toward merciless takedowns that are brutal and brief. Incidentally, the developer for this game is Vatra, a studio based in the Czech Republic, a former Eastern Bloc country, and they just so happened to have some people in-house who were intimately acquainted with “The System.”

In the photos and screenshot above, you can see Alex Sila, Senior Producer at Vatra, and Marek Berka, one of the designers of the game, showing off a few of the moves you’ll see in Rush’N Attack: Ex-Patriot. Their instructors, Jan Sedláček and David Sýkora, are Systema masters, and functioned as consultants and motion capture performers for this game. So yes, these are actual moves.

Now for how it all fits together. In Rush’N Atttack: Ex-Patriot – now available on PSN – you’ll play as Sid Morrow, a CIA operative proficient in Systema, infiltrating a Russian prison to uncover its secrets. You can play in several ways: dash through the game and shank everything in your path, or stealthily make your way through levels, sneaking up on enemies and taking them out with one of your vicious attacks. As you progress through the game, you’ll unlock more and more combos to add to the ferocity of your take downs and the deadliness of your attacks. You’ll pick up a few classic items along the way – a flamethrower here, a machine gun there. But make no mistake: Your knife is your best friend, your most trusted servant and savior as you rush and attack your way through the game.

Just like it was in 1985. With a little something extra this time around.

Rush’N Attack: Ex-Patriot is available now for $9.99. Be sure to check out our Konami Facebook page. Hope you guys enjoy the game!