Taito's Type X board at long last has something to show that isn't a 2D overhead shooter or a laughably dated racing game. Half-Life 2 Survivor made its playable debut in the Taito booth at AOU, and with its unique new cabinet, managed to draw impressively long lines.

The cabinet Taito has prepared for the game will likely draw attention in arcades everywhere. Housing a 32-inch 1360x768 wide screen LCD monitor and a six speaker 5.1 channel surround system, the cabinet has all the stuff required of a true next generation arcade game. It also looks cool, with an orange, pink and blue "cyber-punk" motif and a seat whose back lights up while the unit is in use. Sit down, and you've got some hefty controls at your disposal, including individual joysticks for movement and aiming and pedals for jumping and crouching.

<center><font+size=-2>The+Half-Life+2+Survivor+cabinet</font></center> This arcade adaptation has three modes of play: battle, mission and story. Battle Mode puts two teams of four on a single map and has them attempt to annihilate one another. At the end of a time limit, the team with the most points wins. Taito has made use of its NESYS Online system for nation-wide Online play.

<center><font+size=-2>Half-Life+2+Survivor+drew+long+lines+at+AOU</font></center> Mission Mode can be played single player or as a two to four player group consisting of players within the same arcade. This cooperative mode has players work to clear assigned missions. Taito's NESYS Card System is used to save high scores, take part in a ranking mode, and open up new levels.

Story mode is a pure single player mode that offers an arranged version of the Half Life 2 story. Players take control of Gordon Freeman and work through a storyline starting with a tutorial mode.