Nearly a quarter century after creating Defender, one of the top arcade games of all time, Eugene Jarvis is returning to his roots, setting up his own studio and launching Target: Terror, a combat first-person action game where the player takes on terrorists on U.S. soil. At stake are San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, Denver International Airport and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, operated for the National Nuclear Security Administration. If the player fails in the final mission, terrorists will crash a 747 into a major Washington D.C. landmark with life-like realism.

Target: Terror, soon to be a hot commodity in all locations where coin-op games are available, takes players immediately into the action. Using light guns, players are confronted with hooded terrorists leaping out from doorways or from behind barriers, shooting or throwing bombs. Using the latest 3D rendering techniques, combined with motion-capture footage of more than 100 actors and actresses filmed in various movements and settings, Raw Thrills lets one or two players choose between nine fast-paced missions, selected in any order. You play as long as you stay alive.

"Coin-op games are all about having fun. Target: Terror has lots of content, hundreds of things for the player to do. Something changes every half second," Jarvis explained. "Instead of walking around for 30 minutes at the start of the game, the player has an immediate, visual and exciting experience."

In addition to fast, furious action, Target: Terror provides a bit of humor. When the terrorists move into the men’s restroom at Denver Airport, a hapless citizen is caught sitting on the toilet, death rays from outer space are used and there are whip and chainsaw-wielding terrorists throughout the game.

Raw Thrills is the first coin-op game company to take on the terrorism theme since 9/11, bringing to the forefront the topic of Homeland Security. The development team filmed background at all three locations. At the Golden Gate Bridge, a private citizen took down the license of their car and gave it to the FBI.

Raw Thrills sees no problem taking on such a contemporary subject.

"What could be more patriotic than defending America against terrorists?" Jarvis said. "I don’t see any problem here. People are drawn to contemporary themes. They like doing something that seems real."

Target: Terror is being distributed to arcade and coin-op locations by Betson Enterprises, a leading manufacturer and distributor of coin-op games.