Terminal Reality has made some pretty exciting games on the PC. Needless to say, I was really looking forward to Midway's Roadkill, which was developed by them. Of course the M Rating with the warning "Blood And Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Sexual Themes and Strong Language" would get anyone excited, so I fired it up.
The intro of the game shows someone getting run over by a car, with blood going everywhere. Cool Huh huh huh. At the start menu, you have a choice from Single Player (duh), Multiplayer (sorry, same PS2 only, no online play), Trailers (aka non playable demos), and the all important credits. Credits are fun to watch as it looks like a video – of course anything with Don't Fear The Reaper in it is pretty darn cool.
Clicking on a single player start shows the protagonist driving through a unique environment with plenty of skeletons and a "Welcome to Lava Falls" sign, except "HELL" is written in red over Lava Falls….you see, this is the apocalypse because of a plague that has hit the world…hmm this sounds like a movie. Anyhoo, as Mason Strong, you need to work your way up through the gangs that run this new world. You begin to question the leader of the gang, which of course means you're next on the hit list. You of course, have to get him before he gets you.
Starting off in the amusement park, you are given plenty of on screen prompts that tell you what is needed to complete your mission. Hitting the pause button brings up a map, a GTA3 like "stats" page, where you stand with blue prints (collecting parts of the prints help you upgrade your vehicle) and various other options.
Okay, pedal to the metal: let's ride. You're in this pretty ugly hybrid car/pick up (no actual brand name) and there's a gun in the flat bed. You're driving around, running over pretty much everything and shooting at most of it too. In the first mission you're hitting checkpoints. Gotta love checkpoints! A neat graphical feature is how when you run over someone they sometimes stay with your vehicle as you are approaching top speeds. Ah, now I see why this game got an M rating!
So I'm driving around, looking at the um, well not so great graphics but enjoying the sounds in the radio as I read the GTA 3 like map and find my objectives. Along the way I find a shop where I can upgrade various items in my car like nitro and what not. While your car can take some damage, you can find magical wrenches that repair your vehicle and make it like new.
Sounds of the game are the best part. There's a hard rock radio in your car and you can switch the stations. The radio is hilarious, including 104.9 DLUV which sounds like a graphic Loveline there's also FUOK for your listening pleasure.
Anyway, you go around many environments shooting stuff and running over things. Fun! Well, let's make it less fun – for example, let's make all the pedestrians be the same models – the bikini chick (odd that she's in the middle of an airport by the way) who yells "pay attention a$$hole", and the loco guy with a hat and a gun who starts shooting you, only to look good when his blood is splattered (literally) all over your screen.
The AI in this game is not so good. It seems to use a strategy of only shooting you when you are shot at, and when they start shooting you they'll follow you everywhere to get a piece of you.
Some of the powerups are mini games, like "kill spree" where you have to kill a certain number of people in a limited amount of time. You also have to kill them a certain way – for one mission I had to 'impale' 10 people in 90 seconds. If you fail the mission not much happens, but hey, it passes the time.
Now you are brought to the GTA part of the show where you must complete missions. Of course usually these missions involve checkpoints and shooting stuff. You'll be able to kill people of course and many of your missions involve that. In addition you'll need to kill more people and blow more stuff up. It will involve parking garages which are always fun to drive around is. Someone borrowed the mad driving skills of Wreckless as you'll often fall off things, only do have to drive back up them. Not much fun if you ask me.
Another issue I have is how everything is destructible except for buildings. Everyone seems to have bulletproof glass in businesses, however with cars crap goes flying wherever and whenever you start shooting.
Speaking of shooting, you have plenty of weapons. A machine gun is standard but you can find parts to other weapons or purchase other add ons as well.
You die in this game when your vehicle takes too much damage. You cannot leave your vehicle or hijack another. You're married to it – that's why you have to find those magical wrenches.
There are 36 different vehicles to choose from as you go through the game and multiplayer deathmatch is fun, although here's a game that just screams for an online mode.
There are a few minigames and extra touches that add to the fun, however the game doesn't feel all that polished – I'm reminded of car physics from the old UbiSoft game on the Dreamcast. Your first vehicle just doesn't do it. The graphics are nothing to write home about, but the sound is pretty fantastic – especially if you like comedy and the song "Don't Fear The Reaper" as you'll be in heaven (guitar solo included). It is also odd (well, not to Twisted Metal Black fans) that you're shooting right at a guy with this very powerful gun and it takes quite a few hits to knock someone over. Uh, ok…then again, no one every expected realism out of it.
The game doesn't really add to the genre but the humor is worth checking out. Definitely a rental at first to make sure this type of game is right for you. You'll get plenty of action and fun with RoadKill, but the squeamish definitely need not apply.
-Dan
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