Author: EVula
Date: 8/9/04
Rating: 8.7
Platform(s): Xbox/PS2
Purchase on Amazon.com
Xbox
| PS2
So, I recently got an Xbox. I was curious to see what sorts of games I could begin wasting my time on, and Road Rage was one of the first I got. I rented it, just to see how it was... a few days later, I bought it; it was just too much fun.
As the more observant of you may have guessed by now, this game is based on the Simpsons. It also involves cars (surprise surprise!). You are given access to a limited number of characters, and you start off with only one location. As you play the Road Rage mode (more on that below), you earn money to unlock more drivers and locations. I've found that Professor Frink is the best, just for the record. Other characters include the entire Simpsons family, Flanders, Snake, Police Chief Wiggim, Otto, and Krusty.
The plot of the game is this: Mr. Burns has purchased Springfield's only transit system and created a radioactive bus system to provide transportation for everyone. Instead of taking the bus, a number of Springfield's residents have decided to offer themselves as makeshift cabbies, trying to make enough money to buy back the transit system.
The graphics are cell-shaded three deminsional; for simpsons fans, that means it looks like that Halloween episode where Homer accidently discovered the third dimension. It looks great (although it certainly won't be confused with Halo), and helps to maintain that cartoon feel. Almost everything in the levels is destructable, and will stay destroyed for the rest of the game. This means the lightpost you knocked over three minutes ago will still be in the road when you zip through there again.
There are four different modes of gameplay. The first is Road Rage, where you race against a timer to deliver people to their destinations. The cash you earn from this mode accumulates, allowing you access to additional drivers and locations (as I said above). It's fun as hell, and can get quite tricky sometimes. Nothing better than just barely squeezing in there with only seconds to spare...
The other fun mode is Head to Head, where you and a friend race along Springfield's streets, trying to pick up passengers before the other does. After you pick one up, you still have to get them to their destination without being hit by the other player; doing so steals the passenger, allowing you to swipe the money from your opponent. This is fun as hell to play when you have friends over, although you can only play with two people.
There is also a mission mode, in which you are a specific character and you have to do specific actions. For example, in the first mission ("Willie's Paper Shredder"), you have to destroy 12 Springfield Shopper boxes in 90 seconds. The other mode is Sunday Drive, where you can explore each location at your own pace; doing this a couple of times can really help out in the multiplayer mode or (especially) Road Rage mode, where every second counts.
The game isn't perfect, though. There are only so many audio bytes from all the characters (with the actual actors' voices!), and after a while, it'll start getting repetitive. The camera also goes through solid objects sometimes; this is especially apparent when you drive through a tree and the camera pans through the leaves. Other minor complaints include slow loading, the fact that you can't see your progress without finishing a round of Road Rage, and when you are prompted to unlock a level or a character, you can't cancel your action (as in, you can't choose Levels just to see what is left and then go back to the characters). As I said, though, these are relatively minor complaints.
Sure, Road Rage isn't the latest and greatest game out there right now, but it's fun, and that's a lot more important.