Prime Target is a 1996 First-Person Shooter developed by WizardWorks, one of the many 90s-budget FPS made using the Marathon 2 engine.
From what little plot there is on the game, as provided by its brief opening titles (a fake news report about the then-upcoming 2004 elections and a warning of some possible terrorist attack) and whatever details from its promotional materials available online, you're a former Secret Service agent, screwed out of a job when your employer, the US Senator Cathryn Mayfield, was murdered. To keep your job, you decide to infiltrate her Washington D.C. office only to come across a secret terrorist syndicate who had taken over the whole place.
There are also ninja mooks in the game. Ninjas!
"Tomorrow, the nation has a choice..."
- Air-Vent Passageway: You cross a few of these during gameplay, and oddly enough they're unexpectedly tall without requiring you to crouch to enter.
- Body Armor as Hit Points: You can collect armor to offset damage inflicted on yourself, with two onscreen displays for your health and armor points.
- Dark Action Girl: There are some terrorist henchwomen, though in very limited quantities, to the point of being a Unique Enemy. One appears one-third into the game alongside more common enemies and a few more shows up in the final level.
- Excuse Plot: The story revolves around your attempts to investigate the murder of a US Senator, with the opening FMV detailing some backstory regarding the 2004 election and something about a terrorist plot, but after that the game goes straight into having you kick all kinds of ass and the backstory promptly forgotten. After killing the Big Bad, the game ends on a second FMV wrapping up the plot and then the game ends.
- Freeze Ray: There's a Nitrogen blaster that fires ice-cold orbs that freezes enemies on the spot, and landing a subsequent hit with another weapon on frozen enemies leads to Literally Shattered Lives. The only enemy type who uses this weapon are (seldom-seen) henchwomen mooks, and if you happen to get yourself frozen the screen from your POV turns blue-green for several seconds.
- Giant Mook: Musclebound terrorists are several times larger than regular mooks, and tanks far more damage before they die. You could try aiming for a point-blank shot to the guts using any better weapon than the pistol.
- Gratuitous Ninja: In a game where all your enemies are otherwise generic-looking western terrorists, inexplicably there are some ninja enemies serving as Elite Mooks whose shurikens deals more damage than bullets, and can Smoke Out of not killed in time.
- Hedge Maze: The Gallery courtyard has one of these, where you'll need to navigate through the hedge as you shoot enemies along the way.
- Live-Action Cutscene: The opening cutscenes are in live-action, depicting stock news footage of Washington DC and New York with news anchors reporting on the election.
- Lightning Gun: The Lightning Blaster shoots electrified orbs, and mooks hit by it will result in X-Ray Sparks.
- Newspaper Backstory: You could collect some newspaper clippings for your "investigations" over Senator Mayfield's murder, but their impact on the plot is minimal at best."Senator Mayfield Rumored Target of Judiciary Commitee"
"Missiles Used to Shoot Down Fighters Were Made in America" - One Riot, One Ranger: Your assignment is to investigate a senator's murder, which somehow leads to you single-handedly fending off an entire terrorist army without assistance from the relevant authorities. You'll likely spend the whole game wondering aloud (while killing enemies) - "where are the rest of the Secret Service people?"
- Stripped to the Bone: The effects of the experimental "acid" gun turns mooks into a skeleton in a few seconds.
- Torso with a View: Shooting enemies from close-range with the shotgun or other large-bore weapons leads to an animations resulting in a torso-hole provinding a clear view of their ribcage and internal organs. It's not exactly a see-through hole, however.
- Villain in a White Suit: The game's Big Bad is an unnamed terrorist leader clad entirely in white, and the only enemy in the game with such an attire. He hardly puts up a fight though, with health slightly higher than regular mooks but still goes down easily with a couple of grenades.
