"Smuggler's fun"

Being the bad guy is a recurring theme in recent video game development. Grand Theft Auto certainly applies a liberal dose of naughtiness, while games like Fable distinctly set good and bad goals (though everyone knows the righteous path is boring). On a lesser scale (of T-rating proportions) is the crime of stealing. Smuggler's Run doesn't really encourage young children to go out and smuggle contraband, though. It's just a darn fun game.

Graphics:
Generally, the game is slick and smooth in appearance. The different maps are huge. I am very impressed that they can pack all that in without hindering the framerate. Of course, compensating for this are some rendering issues, where the terrain is noticeably drab and blurry from afar, but as you approach, the ground quickly renders itself to become more detailed. It's a slick way to do things, but for you perfectionists, it's kind of distracting. You might not like the fact that there are no pre-rendered cut-scenes, either, but rather actual video clips of actors.

Sound:
While the actors in the video clips are kind of hard to understand, it adds to the realistic feel that you're watching some top-secret footage. There is also an anonymous female voice which will tell you, in game, what's going on. She, too, is hard to understand, but she doesn't add to the experience. Whoever did the music for this game, though, should be fired. It's awful. It sounds like someone had taken a techno CD and ran over it with their car. Bad, bad, bad.

Gameplay:
Smuggler's Run is essentially a game of vehicular combat and capture-the-flag. You play a smuggler out to fetch contraband (stolen goods) and deliver it to certain outposts. Making the task a little more challenging are hordes of police and other smugglers. But this isn't a game of cat and mouse. The different vehicles each come with two weapons/functions, be it turbo boosts, cloaking, or good ol' bombs. All vehicles play differently and have their advantages over the others. The single-player experience is set up with missions, and you earn different rankings depending on how well you did. Missions range from a single contraband run to a team effort involving multiple drop-offs. A few others like destroying an enemy vehicle or following another smuggler incognito are also available. There are some lesser-stressed modes like checkpoint racing and a Joyridin' mode where you can have at the different locales, freestyle. The areas, as mentioned in the Graphics section, are huge, and offer loads of fun to go exploring, or to get lost easily.

Controls:
This feels a bit sloppy at first. While the button mapping is the best setup possible, the vehicles are somewhat over-responsive. Using the R button to help you turn can cause you to skid into a tree or simply stop altogether. It's not so bad that you will never get used to it, but it does take time.

Frustration:
Running into a tree can cost you a lot of time. Even little trees manage to bring you to a standstill, which seems kind of silly. Some of the later missions can be downright ruthless, too, especially those with tens of cop cars chasing after you. Nothing remarkably impossible, though. Oddly, the most frustrating things happen while playing with friends. If you only have two people playing, you have the option for each of you to have a supporting AI team. Your team -- and your opponent's team -- can and will get on your nerves. Also, when your vehicle takes too much damage, the engine will stall for a few seconds. In some areas where the terrain is really rough, this will happen quite often.

Lasting Appeal:
The single player missions take longer than one would think, granted you're aiming to get a Great ranking on each. The feat is definitely worth it, too, since it opens up a very fun Hoverbike vehicle. All in all, the game will last you about a week, evenly paced. Fortunately, Smuggler's Run offers one of the best multiplayer bouts available on Gamecube. Even playing with only two people is a lot of fun. Let me stress the nature of the game again: vehicular combat and capture-the-flag. How can your friends not like such a premise? I often play this one more than any other four-player game.

Overall:
As a single-player experience, Smuggler's Run has a lot going for it. But what makes the game so much fun, and what makes me recommend it, is the fact that it can pack just as much four-player goodness as Smash Bros. or Mario Kart. While there are several things I don't like about the game, there's enough to like to appease anyone who's a fan of driving recklessly and stealing bounty from fellow players. Good times are to be had.

Points:
+ Great gameplay ideas
+ Huge maps
+ 4-player support
-- Control issues
-- Horrible music
-- Some frustrating problems

Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/02/04, Updated 01/31/05