Vigilante 8

"Howdy Ho!!!"

The Twisted Metal series is just begging to be dethroned. Its engine has not aged well, the play mechanics have become dull and uninteresting, and its theme, in retrospect, is boring and two-dimensional. But wait! Fans of Twisted Metal 2 have no reason to be up in arms right now. You see, I too enjoyed that top selling series at its peak, because I am a long time fan of the genre and it was the only game of its ilk available for the Play Station console for a long time. Well, all that has changed now. Developers Luxoflux and Activision have prepared an excellent challenger to the Twisted Metal series, and they have also done a welcome addition to the Vehicular Car Combat genre overall. Vigilante 8 is a superior product with an incredibly robust graphics engine chock-full of pretty effects and frenetic action game play marred by a few faults.

To begin with, Vigilante 8 offers an impressive, polished presentation throughout. The CG intro is crisp and high quality, options screens are in blinky-bright high-res, and all menus and side bars are designed with the appealing Vigilante 8 theme in mind. The option features are extremely easy to navigate through, configuring such items as sound and music (via a cool 3D mixing board), difficulty settings, and control configurations. There is also a useful Status option where you can check on your position in the Quest Mode, by a tree-type diagram. As you conquer the game with each character, the tree-type diagram is updated to mark your progress. Once all of the slots are filled on the tree-type diagram (a long night’s task, at the most), you will be rewarded with new tracks and some other treats.

The Quest Mode will more than likely be your first dedicated foray into Vigilante 8. Here you will get to grips with the controls, learn essential survival techniques by suffering under the bastard CPU’s cruel attacks, and generally experience the depth of each level’s design, physics, and secrets. I especially enjoy the planned set-ups in each level as well. In Casino City for example, the vast majority of valuable power-ups are located high atop the roofs of the buildings. To get at them, you must destroy gas stations nearby, creating a “ramp” out off fallen overhangs. You will then line up with the ramp, floor it, and trigger a turbo boost (enabled by pressing up-up-up and fire when you have homers- your missile gets stuck in the launcher!) to soar through the skies, roof bound. Vigilante 8 has loads of set-ups like the one I just thoroughly mentioned and described, although Casino City, it must be said, requires slightly more skill than most!

Now let’s talk about balance, something these types of games live or die by. Vigilante 8 succeeds in almost all areas. The control, once understood, is spot on. All of the vehicles in this game feature unique handling characteristics, some slower, some faster, and some with better traction and/or raw power. The movement is based heavily on momentum, so speedy maneuvering is a result of patience and constant correction. The physics, unfortunately, are often too much. If you play the game hard, and by that I mean non-stop speed and risk-taking, your vehicle has a tendency to land at bizarre angles, sending the screen into convulsions of spins and rolls. You will find ways out of this (turbos usually boost you back on track), but it shouldn’t be necessary. Thankfully the physics are usually a very good thing, especially with levels as complex in design as these.

Damn, I almost forgot about the above average two-player mode. The split can be vertical or horizontal, the engine holds together as well, and the action is strategic and fast. There is also, like in Twisted Metal 2, a two-player co-op mode where you and a buddy challenge three CPU opponents in a deathmatch-type scenario. If you have grown weary of single player games in the Quest and Arcade modes, the two-player games are an excellent alternative.

Some few final notes now. The music, apart from two good disco tunes and a cool symphonic track, is just crap. Activision, what the hell is up? Also, the voices are not funny and they are as well horribly acted. Other than that, I have no other complaints. Vigilante 8 is a great vehicular car combat game that many fans will love. The levels are fantastic and well rounded, everything in sight can be destroyed, and there is plenty of skillful game play both alone or on multiplayer.

The Final Verdict- Vigilante 8 offers heavy-duty physics, manic action and enough personality for it to stay interesting. Vigilante 8 is also one of the best alternatives to Twisted Metal. Vigilante 8 also earns some credit for being one of the first car-combat games for the Nintendo 64.

8 =

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/04/02, Updated 09/03/02