Death Track: Resurrection
Review
Wish for Apocalypse
by Ingvi Snædal
reviewed on PS3
Simple and Clean Controls
The controls are quite simple and comfortable. Players should never have to fumble around the controller looking for the right button to press. R2 is the accelerator and L2 is the brake/reverse, like in most other racing games. R1 is the handbrake and is quite useful when combined with drift tires. L1 controls the Nitro boost and players will probably learn the importance of that button quite quickly as there is no weapon or tactic more important to the success of a driver in this game than it's correct use. Use it at the right time and it will send you flying past your competitors, use it at the wrong time and it'll send you crashing into a bridge support beam. Triangle, Square, Circle and X control the weaponry. X fires the basic light weapon, which can be either a machine gun, laser or plasma cannon. Circle fires the projectiles, like rockets, which are required to take down buildings. Square drops defensive armaments like spikes and mines on the track to wreak havoc on the racers already losing, and Triangle sends up an anti-rocket flare. The auto-targeting system works very well in the PS3 version of this game and its easy to see how it would have been a frustration for PC gamers, having to race the car with the keyboard and aim the weapons with the mouse.
Like Running into a Brick Wall
The difficulty curve of this game is best described as absurd. It's about the equivalent of trying to jetpack yourself out of a nuclear bunker. It's very fast and heaps of fun until you get to the door and realize that you were off by a couple of inches. The first couple of levels are fast, fun and chaotic. Cars and environmental pieces will be blowing up all around. There is a great time to be had of destroying everything that the targeting system will lock on to. Then as the story progresses and the bad guy kills off more of the competitors the combat will take a back seat for the racing, and then the player will realize that that the racing itself is no fun at all on an all but empty track. The last level in particular is just straight out ridiculous. It starts off with a short animation of the bad guy explaining that he's turned off all the player's defence mechanisms. Then he goes on to explain that all the automatic safety bots on the track have been programmed to attack the player on sight. When the race starts it looks like any other race, except there are only two racers left, the player and the bad guy. In the first big turn, there is a robot waiting with a laser weapon so players will have to get through that fast. In the second big turn, there is a laser shooting bot and a missile bot. Getting through one lap of this track without blowing up is a challenge even for a veteran gamer, but getting through two laps, while racing the lead antagonist is virtually impossible.
Disappointing to say the least
The added multiplayer and split screen capabilities are truly a welcomed addition. Without it, the game would feel way to short and have absolutely no replay value whatsoever. It does have quite a few frustrations, however, and could have been better designed. During a game of split screen, for example, the check point information is way to big and almost blinds the player for a couple of seconds every time he passes through a checkpoint. Imagine, if you were racing through a busy race track, enjoying a friendly game of drive-by shooting, and every 15 seconds or so someone spits in your eye. There are some 20 check points in the race so it is a massive annoyance. In a single player race, time will slow down and the camera angle will change when a player does a big jump or blows up a building. This feature is also in the multiplayer race, except without the slowing down of time. The end result is that when the player does a big jump, the camera will do a spastic jerk to the side and completely distract him for a few seconds.
This game is definitely a step up from its PC version, but is it a good game? My answer would have to be “no”. It's good for a short run of adrenaline pumping mayhem, but the absurd difficulty curve, the badly designed multiplayer modes and lack of variety make it yet another bargain bin title. If you are faced with the choice of renting a film for the night or buying this game, I'd say give it a try, but don't expect to be playing it for the weeks to come.
4.5
fun score
Pros
Fast cars that drive well and lots of action
Cons
Way too short, uninteresting story and bland multiplayer
