Run Like Hell

Run Like Hell: Hunt or Be Hunted (also known as RLH) is an action-adventure third-person shooter video game set on a space station in the distant future. While frequently delayed during development, it was released for the PS2 in late 2002 and for Xbox in early 2003. It features the voice talents of Lance Henriksen, Thomas F. Wilson, Clancy Brown, Kate Mulgrew, Michael Ironside and Brad Dourif. The game also features the music of Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin, including an exclusive music video of their song Polyamorous on the PS2 copy. The later Xbox version includes one new level and several new alien creatures. Several optional player character skins and additional mini-games can also be downloaded via Xbox Live or the Xbox Exhibition 3 demo disc.

Gameplay
The gameplay in RLH is most similar to that of the later titles in the Resident Evil series, with the player controlling a character from a third-person perspective. Enemies can be locked onto when firing and while reloading your guns is still required, most of the weapons have infinite ammo. You can turn left and right (depending on control scheme you can turn using the shoulder buttons or the right analog stick) but the game does not support using the analog stick to look up or down.

The game also features a number of chase sequences, in which the player must flee from an invincible foe while dodging the obstacles in their path both with the analog stick and the face buttons. In these sections the player must use the analog stick to move around obstructions like crates and boxes and through narrow pathways. If a gap or low clearance is ahead, the game will prompt the player to push a specific face button to jump or duck. If the player takes too long to navigate the sequence, the enemy will catch the player and they'll have to replay the sequence.

Plot
Mining surveyor and former war hero Nicholas Conner (voiced by Lance Henriksen), returns to his space station known as the Forsetti Station to find it overrun by a hostile, previously unknown alien species known simply as The Race. Most of the crew members are dead, Nick's fiancee is trapped on the far side of the base, and he soon discovers that the entire station is slowly degenerating into an alien hive. Using his war experience and a large arsenal of weapons, Nick must fight through a group of hostile enemies to locate survivors on the station who can help him find Samantha.

Forsetti Survivors

 * Nicholas Conner: The main hero of the game, Nick was an arguably betrayed war hero that, for disobeying orders, was demoted and sent to watch over the sleepy Forsetti Station. He escapes the initial horrors by being away on a geological mission, and is the first to start trying to pick up the pieces and destroy The Race.
 * Samantha Reilly: Nick's fiancee, Samantha is a scientist that studies xenological lifeforms. She studies the first specimens of an alien species that were discovered on the nearby planet of Forsetti. She disappears soon in the game, but manages to get a few hurried messages to Nick while hiding out in various places of the station.
 * Amanda Bethune: Samantha's best friend from college, Amanda is a scientist in the area of geology. Also a good friend of Nick's, she accompanies Nick on his survey mission to a nearby asteroid.
 * Dag'Rek: An old friend of Nick's, a Jaxn'Trep citizen of high moral caliber. Dag is the Forsetti Station's Chief of Security, and as such proves a valuable ally in the battles against The Race. He survives the initial massacres through sheer militaristic might, and his years of combat experience are soon seen. He also keeps a cache of illegal weapons on the station just in case.
 * Niles: A Mnyanlys, Niles (whose real name was never revealed) is the best engineer on the Forsetti Station, and probably one of the best in the galaxy. Though he tosses about with his Sonic Stunner, Niles's main use is his magic touch with machines. He can fix practically anything, which comes in handy since the station is always breaking down.
 * Jessie: Niles's son, a computer hacker, and almost as good with machines as his dad. Jessie survives using his craftiness, as evidenced in their idea to hide out from the original slaughter in the back rooms of the Forsetti Station's theatre.
 * Dr. Mek: The scientist heading up the study of the new species, Dr. Mek is a Neh'Lok. Both having come from the Neh'Lok wars, Nick and Dr. Mek have extreme difficulty coming to terms with one another. Dr. Mek had even lost a family to one of Nick's raids. Dr. Mek studies The Race whenever Nick and the others manage to capture a specimen, having holed up in her medical lab during the attack.
 * Dr. Fred Monroe: A scientist whose first love is his work. Nick saves him early on from a Brute, but their opposing views quickly turns into a passionate rivalry. Dr. Monroe contributes to researching the Amalgamator Dag and Nick captured, and soon becomes enamored by the fascinating Race.
 * Jinx: The daughter of the President, Jinx was sent to the Forsetti Station to minimize her ability to raise hell. She quickly befriended Jessie, and the duo used their respective skills (hers being computers) to create some mischievous fun for themselves. Jinx was in the detention center for hacking when The Race arrived, and having spent days on her own, she gladly uses her skills to aid Nick when he rescues her.
 * Craig O'Feardon: A former marine, dishonorably discharged for punching out his squad leader, he found peace working in the Forsetti Station's mines. Craig is a loud and surly drunk, and is quickly put in his place by Nick. Craig holes up with Samantha and the others in a computer lab near the pig pits. After being rescued by Nick (and just in the nick of time), Craig uses his expertise to guide him through the mine shafts and around its many treacherous setbacks.
 * Commander Mason: The military head of the Forsetti Station, he survives the massacre by hiding out with a few men in the bowels of the station. Mason is offscreen for most of the game, as he is too far for Nick to save. However, he does give Nick a clue as to the condition of his fiancee (among others). He also patches in with occasional updates on how his rescue plan is going.

Aliens

 * Cutters: The most common alien, Cutters are fast, insect-like creatures resembling the xenomorphs from the Alien series or the Zerg from the StarCraft series. Their two arms end in scythe-like blades, which they attack with and can also shoot plasma balls from their mouths.
 * Brutes: Large and heavily muscular, Brutes are nearly invincible and extremely strong, resistant to gunfire and capable of splattering a human with a single hit. Instead of normal fights, most Brute encounters are chase scenes in which the player must flee from the Brute and is killed immediately if they are caught.
 * Scouts: These aliens are quick and agile, resembling large scorpions without pincers. Although the Scouts were held back on the first day of the alien attack, they quickly make their presence known. They attack by stabbing with their tails, like a scorpion sting and can also shoot acid pellets from their antennae.
 * Scout Sprites: Often emerging from dead Scouts, but sometimes on their own, Scout Sprites are small spider-like creatures that seek out humans and explode, hoping to take down the intended victim as well. They are the weakest of the enemies.
 * Cutter Spectres: Slightly larger versions of Cutters and more dangerous, these creatures are not to be approached lightly, as they fight more brutally than their original counterparts and spit acid or launch pellets at the player. They can also summon normal Cutters or Scouts from the area.
 * Scout Queens: These creatures are much larger and more dangerous than their original counterparts, as they can attack more aggressively and have stinger tails that do more damage as well. They can also attack by curling up into a wheel and spawn smaller Scouts in the area.
 * Trites: Small, crab-like creatures that often emerge from ceilings and floors, they tend to travel in large packs and attack with the same purpose as the Scout Sprites.
 * Headers: Created by the heads and limbs of their victims, these scorpion-like creatures are as dangerous as the Scouts or Trites and can attack with their spine-like tails. Dr. Fred Monroe himself was also turned into one of these creatures.
 * Snipers: Extremely dangerous at long range, these creatures have large, alien-like weapons attached to their limbs which fire plasma shots or bombs that deliver quite a punch, even in near misses. These weapons can also be used by the player once obtained.
 * Hornets: These small, insect-like creatures are one of the most dangerous and tend to be rarely seen, due to the fact that they can fly from unseen places and swoop down to attack the player with great speed. They can also be seen spawning from organic nests or hunting in large packs.
 * Maulers: Resembling large bulls with huge, mammoth-like tusks in their heads. These creatures are known to be extremely territorial and they have a devastating advantage to charge at the player with great force and can also spawn Hornets from their backs.
 * Amalgamators: These tall, thin alien "surgeons" with four arms have an amazing ability to manipulate organic matter. They are seen severing human appendages and attaching them to other members of The Race, or breaking down human bodies and incorporating the remains into the Biomass that covers the base.
 * Elites: The leaders of The Race, Elites resemble human bodies, only without any heads (their eyes appear to be in their chest). Elites have the unusual ability to assimilate a human head by sticking it on top of their body, gaining the knowledge of their victim and even allowing them to impersonate their victim in video communications (as long as only the head is displayed).
 * The Biomass: Arguably the most dangerous of the aliens, this organic tissue assimilates an intended place of refuse and slowly turns it into a colony for The Race. The Biomass can be almost anything, from a mass of tentacles to a door, or even a portal through which Cutters and the like can attack.

Survivors' Fates

 * Nicholas Conner: As to be expected, the hero lives. However, he does have a close call after setting the Forsetti Station's reactor to self-destruct, and he isn't exactly emotionally unscathed.
 * Samantha Reilly: Captured just before Nick arrives, forcing him to save only Craig. After the abduction, Samantha is tossed into the Biomass and is, apparently, assimilated by an Elite. Depressingly enough, it turns out that all of her messages after the near-miss were The Race's mind-games. It is revealed that the Elite attached to her lived when Nick viewed the video message it left for him after he escaped the Forsetti Station.
 * Amanda Bethune: Amanda doesn't live long. Almost right after she and Nick return to the Forsetti Station after their expedition, she is savagely killed by a Brute.
 * Dag'Rek: While helping Nick on one of their many exploits together, Dag is ambushed by a group of Scouts. Wounded to the point of near immobility, Dag urges his old buddy to continue without him and, when Nick has gotten sufficient distance, takes out many of The Race (and himself) with a formidable Jaxn'Trep explosive.
 * Niles: Niles is another key player in the resistance, seeing little combat but many missions. Near the end, when Mason and Samantha reveal themselves, Nick is knocked out by a Brute, while the Elites gorge themselves on Niles's Mnyanlys meat. He is revealed to have been assimilated by a rather large Elite during Nick's final mission. after a brief battle, Nick manages to disable the Niles-Elite and use his retinal authorization for the Forsetti Station's reactor overload. As revenge for his friend, Nick executes the Niles-Elite.
 * Jessie: After one quick close-call, Jessie saves Nick from the Amalgamator and escapes with him and others in the ship.
 * Dr. Mek: Rarely suiting up in her battle armor, Mek escapes with Nick and the others in a ship.
 * Dr. Fred Monroe: His fascination with the Amalgamator leads him to the foolish idea of releasing it. The Amalgamator repays him by dismembering all of his limbs and tossing him into its old stasis tank. Dr. Monroe shows up during Nick's journey to the Forsetti Station's reactor, assimilated by a Scout, and Nick executed him with little remorse.
 * Jinx: Though the final boss's ambush would suggest otherwise, Jinx and the others survived in Hangar Beta. She escapes in a ship with Nick, Dr. Mek, Jessie, and Craig.
 * Craig O'Feardon: Though he seems to have been a goner, having been asked by Nick to hold the fort by himself at one of the mining outposts, Craig's expertise seems to prove a valuable enough tool for self-preservation. Sometime just after rigging the Forsetti Station's reactor to blow, Nick picks him up and they escape with the others in a ship.
 * Commander Mason: In the final revelations, it is revealed that he was quickly assimilated by an Elite (along with Samantha) shortly after the attack on Central Command. Though this was completely offscreen, there was a significant pause between his second message to Nick and his third. Though he is not seen in Samantha's final, ominous message, it is presumable that the Elite controlling his remains survived alongside her, but equally likely that only she escaped into the wormhole since he was seen still on the Forsetti Station seconds before it blew up whereas Samantha wasn't.

Production
According to Brian Freyermuth, the lead designer of Run Like Hell, the production did not go smoothly. During its five year run, the team went through 2 executive producers, 3 producers, 3 Lead Programmers, and 2 Lead Artists. They started out with the idea of a Resident Evil in space but this was changed abruptly by upper management from survival horror to an action game. The aliens were weakened and made more numerous.

In the end the programming was scrapped by management again 10 months before the release date. Thus, the game's actual programming was done in the space of 10 months even though the game was in development for 5 years. This is one of the reasons that the story and characters seem fleshed out whereas the game play seems rushed and incomplete.

The game was also meant to be a trilogy as is obvious by the cliff-hanger ending.

Reception
Run Like Hell received mixed reviews, scoring 58% on the review aggregator Metacritic.