Atari’s big hopes for the Xbox in the first half of 2004 are Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, Dead Man’s Hand, and DRIV3R, the latter title especially so. Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last year or so, you’ll know about DRIV3R, but what of the other two? Well, they’re both first-person shooters, but set in very different times and places.

Dead Man's Hand sends the player back in time to the wild west of America. Assuming the role of El Tejon, gunslinger extraordinaire, gamers travel the dangerous American frontier as part of a ‘wild bunch’ known as The Nine. There would be no need for a videogame if there were no internal strife, and so it is revealed that you have been betrayed by your compadres early on in the game. From then on, it’s a case of 'kill the baddies, get the girl'. Powered by Epic Games' Unreal engine, Dead Man's Hand – also due on PC in 2004 – is set to deliver more graphical splendour to your TV via the Xbox in explosive style.

Shadow Ops: Red Mercury also uses Epic's Unreal engine, but this shooting match is set in a cowboy-less near future. The weapons are a little more sophisticated than pistols and shotguns, with the Red Mercury of the title being a nuclear accelerant. Gamers take charge of a crack Delta Force operative intent on stopping the potentially world-threatening catalyst and the maniac terrorist organisations bent on using it.

We cannot mention Atari and 2004 without immediately thinking of DRIV3R, however. There’s little doubt that this third instalment in the series is causing a lot of excitement. The first Driver game to come to PS2 and Xbox, we’re all hoping that when we actually get our hands on a copy of DRIV3R, that it’ll look as good as it does on the in-game screens we’ve seen so far. The storyline is promising: Tanner returns with partner Tobias to infiltrate a car theft ring, and lots of car chases and fighting ensues. We really hope that it’s not a lot more complicated than that. Less narrative, more action please!

Atari’s latest Xbox release schedule proffers that Dead Man’s Hand will release in March 2004, followed by Shadow Ops: Red Mercury in May. The date for DRIV3R is less specific; spring 2004 is all they’re telling us. We’re sure it’ll be worth the wait.