Scrapland Explained

American McGee Presents: Scrapland
Developer:	MercurySteam
Producer:	American McGee
Programmer:	Carlos Rodríguez Darío Halle
Artist:	Rafael Jiménez
Designer:	Enrique Alvarez Luis Miguel Quijada Darío Halle Raúl Rubio-Munárriz
Composer:	Eugeni Martínez Oscar Araujo
Genre:	Action-adventure
Modes:	Single-player, multiplayer
Platforms:	Windows, Xbox

American McGee Presents: Scrapland is a game developed by MercurySteam, with American McGee as an executive producer and published by Enlight Software. A remastered version was released for Windows on December 13, 2021.^[1]

Setting

Scraplands story is set in the robot-populated world of the same name, also known by the inhabitants as Chimera, which seems like a giant asteroid vastly industrialized as a metropolis and surrounded by a world-scaled energy field and an orbital ring, both used to control entrance and exit of the planet.

Development and release

According to American McGee, the game was designed and produced by Enrique Alvarez, the studio head at MercurySteam. McGee refers to himself as a "marketing tool".^[2] Alvarez pitched the idea for Scrapland to McGee while McGee was working as an executive producer at Enlight.^[3] The game was in development for 2 years.^[4]

The game was initially released for Windows in North America on November 4, 2004.^[5] A port for Xbox shipped on March 4, 2005, and arrived on store shelves three days later on March 7.^[6] Both versions were released in Europe on March 18, 2005.^[7] The Xbox port was released in Australia on April 7, 2005.^[8]

Reception

Scrapland received "average" reviews on both platforms according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. Game Informer criticized the Xbox version's on-foot sections, "which would appear to be in the game for the sole purpose of annoying people. Scrap indeed." IGN gave the same console version a more positive review, saying "I would have liked to have seen more variety and lateral flexibility in the single-player... Overall, the game's refreshing sense of personality wins out over everything else."

The editors of Computer Gaming World nominated Scrapland for their 2004 "Action Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to .^[9]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Scrapland Remastered on Steam. 2021-12-13. store.steampowered.com. en.
2. Web site: McGee. American. Reddit AMA answer. Reddit. 21 January 2013. 21 January 2013.
3. Scrapland: Do androids dream of American McGee?. Xbox Nation. Ziff Davis. 18. September 2004. 72–73.
4. Web site: Enric Alvarez (Scrapland) Q&A. https://web.archive.org/web/20060325163912/http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/scrapland-enric-alvarez.htm. armchairempire.com. March 25, 2006. November 25, 2004. January 28, 2024.
5. Web site: November 4, 2004 . Scrapland PC Ships to Retailers Nationwide . https://web.archive.org/web/20050105024107/http://pc.gamezone.com/news/11_04_04_06_37PM.htm . January 5, 2005 . May 22, 2024 . GameZone.
6. Web site: March 4, 2005 . Scrapland Xbox Ships! . https://web.archive.org/web/20051101042335/http://xbox.gamezone.com/news/03_04_05_04_13PM.htm . November 1, 2005 . May 22, 2024 . GameZone.
7. Web site: Bramwell . Tom . March 18, 2005 . What's New? . May 22, 2024 . Eurogamer.
8. Web site: Scraplan . https://web.archive.org/web/20050624101540/http://www.gpstore.com.au/Games/1471034.html . June 24, 2005 . May 22, 2024 . . Release date: 7th April, 2005. List price: AU$69.95..
9. CGW staff. 2004 Games of the Year (Action Game of the Year). Computer Gaming World. Ziff Davis. 249. March 2005. 61. 19 October 2018.