Thanks to Meridian4, Elephant Games' high-paced, top-down arcade shooter RIP 3: The Last Hero will be officially published, represented and distributed in North America.

In an official press release made recently, the company formally known as White Elephant (creators of the RIP franchise) announced their publishing agreement with Meridian4 to distribute the third title to the RIP series in U.S. and Canada.

If you didn't know, this Indie game title showed how simple shooting concepts can be mind-numbingly fun, like some games have succeeded in doing.

The title, while very light on hardware requirements and nothing close to next-gen 3D shooters, made a cult following in the Indie Games Festival (IGF) and is making quite a ruckus in the online gaming community. Plus, it even runs in Windows Vista (for version 1.5)

The new title, featuring freakishly zany graphics and extreme (LAN and hotseat) multiplayer gameplay, is an easy picking for the gamer who loves C-Dogs or even Crimsonland. CEO of Elephant Games, Pahmutov Andrey, added:

We present another part of the RIP series, RIP 3: The Last Hero, which has lots of new features and changes. We are really excited about having it published by Meridian4 and hope you will enjoy this game as well as the [predecessors].

• 100 levels of arcade shooting action
• 6 unique playable characters with varied and powerful skills to develop
• A huge arsenal of destructive weaponry, each with 2 shooting modes
• Capture and control military vehicles, including Tanks, Helicopters and Battle Turrets
• Fully destructible battlefield - all the objects can be damaged and destroyed
• Includes a space adventure mini-game, where you pilot the Vostok-23 starship
• 12 Huge, challenging bosses evoke classic arcade gameplay
• 3 difficulty level settings to increase the intensity
• Special bonuses and secrets are scattered throughout the game
• Cooperative multiplayer for two players to battle against the enemy hordes
• Multiplayer death-match for up to 6 players over LAN

Screenshots