And if youre thinking that the game looks a bit like the forthcoming Driver, youd be absolutely right, and the inclusion of a classic muscle car provides a further parallel.The idea from the start was to create a living, breathing city where you race through the streets of Chicago, avoiding pedestrians, traffic jams and lawmen.You are given the freedom of the city with back-street shortcuts a-plenty and a choice often vehicles, including police cars, Mustangs and an 18-wheeled truck.
Next month also sees the release of Driver (see preview on page 50) and Interstate 82, not to mention old favourites Carmageddon II and Grand Theft Auto. Set in the London of the Swinging 60s, GTA London hosts a complete set of new vehicles and missions, with music that suits the period. ![]() And when it comes to racing games, you might as well forget it, with most developers showing about as much ingenuity as the average boy band. Instead of pissing about inventing hover vehicles that race on the moon, or resurrecting some obscure sport, what theyve done is to take a modern-day city and fill it with authentic vehicles. No guns, no gimmicks, just accurately modelled cars and a meticulously recreated city. Clearly, some kind of artistic licence has been taken, and what we have is a slightly compressed version of the real thing, comprising all the major landmarks. Its very well done though, and effortlessly conveys the sense of being in a fully functioning, living city. Planes fly overhead, traffic stops at red lights, and the police even have their own network. Circuit races are over charted courses, with other roads blocked off; Blitz races take place against the clock; and Checkpoint races involve clearing all points before your opponents. ![]() The police obviously take a dim view of unauthorised street races, and once alerted to a felony will be all over you like a cheap suit. Having a police car slew across your path with the finish line in sight is enough to provoke a wry grin at best, and a volley of foul and abusive language at worst. Theres much fun to be had in giving them the runaround, and great satisfaction to be gleaned from glancing into the rear-view mirror to see a police car drive straight into the bollard that youve expertly negotiated. In fact, in some races you can actually plan your route in order to avoid the busies. Its a case of horses for courses, and the ten vehicles on offer have genuinely different characteristics in terms of handling, speed, durability and so forth. So whether its a VW New Beetle for weaving between the traffic, an 18-wheel truck for ploughing through the traffic, or a Ford Mustang Fastback for performing Starsky Hutcth style turns, all tastes are catered for. In fact its quite easy to crank up the tunes (see Music Sounds Better With You panel) and spend an hour simply cruising around, either legally or otherwise. Clearly, theres more fun to be had in the latter, and theres plenty of scope for it, be it jumping the odd red light or playing chicken on the freeway. And to add variety, the density of police, traffic and pedestrians can all be altered. However, if pretending to run over pretend pedestrians in a pretend car is one of your criteria for a piece of entertainment, then it might be worth taking a look at whats missing from your life. The balance of vehicles is superb, and some ingenious design has gone into the courses.
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