Racing

Need for Speed – Hot Pursuit 2

Description

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 is a racing game with an emphasis on evading the police and over-the-top courses featuring lengthy shortcuts. It draws primarily from the gameplay and style of one of its predecessors, Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. Two primary game modes are offered: World Racing Championship, in which the player competes against other drivers in a series of races, and Hot Pursuit Ultimate Racer, which adds police to the races. In the latter players must complete the races while also evading capture.

There are several a la carte race types in Hot Pursuit 2. Delivery is a timed point-to-point dash, with the police in pursuit. This is similar to the delivery mission in Porsche Unleashed while the police pursuit makes it more challenging. Sprint is a point to point race where competitors try to get from one end to the other before their opponent. Time Trial gives players three laps on a level with the goal being to beat the required time to get the gold, silver or bronze medal. Lap Knockout eliminates the last racer in each lap until one player remains the victor. Knockout follows a similar principle, but eliminations are made to the last racer at the end of each race. Races are usually restricted to a certain class of cars. Faster cars are used near the end of the Championship and Ultimate Racer modes.

The player also has the option to play as a police officer trying to arrest speeders. The player must disable speeders by ramming the speeding vehicle multiple times to disable it, akin to a PIT maneuver. The player must turn on their lights and sirens while in pursuit. As a police officer, the player can call for a barricade, additional units, spike strips, and request help from a helicopter to assist in chasing the target vehicle. At the end of each event, the player is awarded for the number of arrests. The PlayStation 2 version, this mode is called “You’re the Cop” mode while in the Windows, GameCube, and Xbox versions, it is called “Be the Cop”. …

Need for Speed – Hot Pursuit 2Read More »

The Simpsons – Hit & Run

Description

The Simpsons: Hit & Run has seven levels, each with missions and a sub-plot. The player can control one specific character in each level. The game’s playable characters are Homer, Bart, Lisa, Marge, and Apu, with Homer and Bart being playable twice each. When travelling on foot, the player character can walk, jump, run, and perform three types of melee attacks: a normal kick, a jumping kick, and a smashing move. To drive, the player can either hitchhike and control the driver in one of the many civilian vehicles that drive endlessly around town, or use a phone booth to select a car.Several hidden vehicles are present in each level and can also be used by the player if found. The game’s driving missions are also similar to those of Grand Theft Auto III. In both games, the player races against other characters, collects items before a timer runs out, and wrecks other cars.

The game has a sandbox-style format that emphasizes driving, and the player controls their character from a third-person view. The character can perform certain acts of violence, such as attacking pedestrians, blowing up vehicles, and destroying the environment. The Simpsons: Hit & Run has a warning meter that indicates when the police will retaliate for bad behaviour. Located in the bottom-right corner of the screen, the circular “hit and run” meter fills up when the character runs people over or destroys objects, and decreases when they cease doing so. When full, several police cars chase the character for the duration of the hit and run. In Level 7, instead of standard police cars, zombie police hearses chase the character. …

The Simpsons – Hit & RunRead More »

Bandits – Phoenix Rising

Description

As far as plot is concerned, Bandits can be summed up in three words: The Road Warrior. It’s the future, society has gone to pot, one thing leads to another, and all of a sudden you’re driving a nitrous-injected dune-buggy tank across the desert. The main vehicle is actually piloted simultaneously by two characters: Fennec, a traditional wisecracking hero type, and Rewdalf, an angry Scottish dwarf. Which, technically, leaves you in the role of the car.

The game’s 22 missions offer a nice variety of goals. There’s offensive driving from points A to B, the running defense of friendly vehicles, racing, and the occasional oddball surprise mission, such as one in which you man a stationary turret. Most of the missions start at a screen where you can choose a chassis (light, medium, or heavy) and then stock it with a variety of weapons. Every vehicle’s primary gun is a rotating turret that can fire in all directions. Steering defaults to mouse control, though you can switch on the fly to operating the turret with the mouse and steering with the keyboard, letting you drive in one direction while aiming and firing in another. This control scheme, combined with the large size of the environments, makes the combat less prone to the constant driving in tight circles that characterizes other car combat games. You can actually tear across the desert and still effectively engage a pack of cars on your tail. …

Bandits – Phoenix RisingRead More »

Scroll to Top