"A fun game for a rental or two"

I recently rented this at Blockbuster and actually was pretty impressed. Rockstar obviously didn't put their utmost effort into this, but it is a really solid game. It features a nice variety of vehicles, although for some odd reason, a dune buggy is featured on the cover, and there is no dune buggy to be driven in the game. The multiplayer, while not too deep, is incredibly fun. The single player is incredibly easy, and no one should have to play any single mission over 5 times before beating it.

Story: 7/10
The story revolves around a group of American smugglers who are working for ''the colonel'' in the Eastern Hemisphere. The fact that Rockstar included a story in the first place is amazing. However, I haven't been able to find out if Warzones is simply a beefed up Smuggler's Run 2, or if they made it specifically for the GCN.

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics in the main game are great. They are by no means top of the line, but you can't really blame the developers because you are basically driving around the middle of nowhere. The textures are pretty, except for a few hills that look like quilts with a repeating pattern. The vehicle sprites are nice and it is great to see parts fly off when you hit things.
Where this category really loses points are the FMVs. It would seem easy to blame this on the GCN's compression technology, but games like Resident Evil have shown that it really just reflects the developers effort. The vidoes are grainy, but it isn't nearly as terrible as Spy Hunter.

Sound: 6/10

The Sound Effects are pretty good, but they aren't anything special. The music is pretty average, considering no one every notices in-game music unless it is really great or really bad. Some of the tracks though are really bad, like the ''You will succumb to Me'' song.

Gameplay: 10/10

This is the games redeeming quality. The gameplay revolves around finding checkpoints in incredibly huge environments, and then unloading contraband (not drugs, but explosives and medical supplies, etc.) at more checkpoints. This may seem lame, but throw in huge environments with some of the roughest terrain you have ever seen, and tons of cops, rival gangs, and soldiers ready to thrash your vehicle into oblivion, and you have an exciting game.
The single player is average. Every mission has a time limit. Most missions are variations of the basic, find contraband #1, drop it off, rinse, wash and repeat. In some, you must tail vehicles, hunt and destroy other vehicles, or race against rival gangs to recover the most contraband. These are the most fun, because you can steal the loot from an opponent by ramming them. You also have partners to help you in these levels. A handful of other missions include special tasks, like knocking down radar towers with your vehicle.
Every vehicle is different, and specialized for certain things. You start with a Speed Buggy, and gradually gain different types of vehicles, such as a 4-wheeler, and a Half-track. Each vehicle has 2 types of defensive weapons like speed boosts, oil slicks, smokescreens, and very unrealistic vertical boosters (think Speed Racer).
The multiplayer modes are variations of the gang wars scenarios from 1-player. These are a blast with a bunch of friends, and are pretty fun when you are alone.

Buy or Rent: Rent
Although this is a fun multiplayer game, it loses its appeal a lot faster than Super Smash Bros. Melee. The one player game probably wouldn't be too fun to play through more than 2 times, and there aren't a lot of secrets to be found.

However, it is definitely worth at least one rent, and would be great for a party, along with Super Smash Bros. Melee of course.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/25/02, Updated 08/25/02