I agree with these points, especially about the collision. Sometimes
it looks like (I play from nose cam) that I clear something but then
BAM my car just spins out of control as it were sideswiped.
I do like the bike physics, however. It's not as easy to fall off as
in Vice City (whether that's bad or good is up to the player) but you
get a "drop knee" button to take some turns sharper which is sadly
absent from VC's bikes.
Physics are on the fun side except for the brakes. Barely tap the
brakes in a turn and you spin. Forget trailbraking. Brake in a
straight line and it feels like there's always one tire locking up
that'll send you into a spin anyway. Yet another game that requires
using the handbrake for "precise" turns.
Good variety of cars. You need to select them carefully since each car
is good in only certain areas, i.e. top speed, handling, and
acceleration. For example the 200mph 4-door sedan is a dog in city
racing, but necessary to beat the motorcycles in one of the races
where there is a long straightaway near the end. Then there's the slow
hatchback that can zigzag through the narrow Paris alleyways like it's
on rails.
The "Checkpoint hunt" type of racing does get old after a bit since
the AI just kicks your ass at the higher levels. The first city and
the first half of the second one isn't bad; the racing can get pretty
close and exciting. Eventually it all comes down to practice and
course memorization (plus a bit of luck) as opposed to pure skill in
order to win some races. Sometimes I'm lagging in 5th place only to
see the AI cars pile up somewhere and I pull off a win. There is a
sense of determination when you see a car and think "I gotta have
that, I need to win this race to unlock it!" I gave up near the end of
Paris and just enabled the "unlock everything" cheat so I can actually
have fun.
By the way this is the PS2 version I play and I must admit I did have
a blast for a while, maybe since the PS2 controller is more intuitive
for arcade twitch-steering where you need some kind of analog control
once in a while.
Ron
> It is OK. I would pay $20 for it, no more.
> The good:
> - arcade car driving model is good, some vehicles are very fun o
> control
> - city design is excelent; combo of recognizable landmarks with
> outlandish arcady jumps and shortcuts. Very well planned out, this is
> where I suspect most of their budget went
> The bad:
> - motorcycle physics disappointing; don't feel right; not fun to drive
> like the GTA Vice City ones
> - the racing itself gets tired sometimes
> - dodgy collision physics; some wierd stuf happens sometimes, leaving
> you like "how the hell did that just happen to my car"
> Joe62