Vigilante 8

"Vigilante 8 > Twisted Metal"

Introduction
First off, no I'm not a fan-boy. I've played both games and personally think Vigilante 8 completely owns Twisted Metal in gameplay. Why? Vigilante 8 has more to offer. You can jump straight into the game if you want. There is a small history portion in the options you can choose to read if you want, but it's not forcing you to read it when the game starts up, so that's a relief, unlike most games.

You can change options around, such as difficulty, volume controls, brightness, etc. There's even password input, but that's for good guessers and fun later on AFTER you've really beaten the game. Don't cheat to beat it, you just suck then. You'll notice a funny looking Family Tree like thing going on on the main portion in the options setting. As you can see, much more to the game than you thought. Unlockables? Much fun indeed.

Gameplay - 8/10
The game is addicting. From the very start, ramming vehicles, shooting them with machine guns and launching mortar at your enemy is the start of fun. Using the special weapons of the character you've chosen to adventure with.. is the real fun. Nothing like causing an earthquake from the sound system in a car, eh? You can do it. Watching them bounce off the ground and across the map from it is even better! Then the occasional glitch as they mass explode and go flying out of the boundaries of the level. Gotta love it.

The single player part of the game takes you into the seat of each character, going through a story mode that takes you to certain places across the United States. When there, you have certain objectives to complete. It's easy at first, but as you progress and near the end it can get insane. Don't be surprised if you find yourself actually needing a strategy to accomplish an objective after failing more than once.

When you engage in levels, it's all out war. You start out with nothing but machine guns(stock on all characters) but you can easily beef your ride up by adding things such as mini rockets, mortar launchers and turrets to the body of your vehicle. You can have up to 3 different weapons at a time, which gives you some choices to mess your opponents up with. There are hidden specials for each weapon too. It's not a spoiler, don't worry. The game hints these things out as you wait for a level to load usually. The combos are the best part of the fun too. Think the mortar launcher does enough damage? How about launching a more powerful mortar that causes a crater underneath your opponent, causing them to get stuck? One of many fun things you can do with weapon specials.

The obstacles in the levels are fun to mess around with as well. In a lot of games, most obstacles are there for the visual feel and serve no practical purpose. In V8, If you hit a tree, IT'S GOIN DOWN! So don't be afraid to take shortcuts in order to completely obliterate the enemy or complete an objective before it's too late.

Control - 9/10
Simple and easy to use. The vehicles control well and physics actually plays a roll depending on the size, weight, speed and the weapon type, damage, etc.

Story - 4/10
Each character has a short story behind them and what their goals and missions are, but honestly I think the reason there is even a storyline is to give a backbone to the point of the game, considering all you do is blow the crap out of everyone.

Graphics - 6/10
Not the best in the world. The game is 3D, that's about it, lol. There can be some really laggy times in the game when things get to hectic for the chipto process. The game occasionally froze on me too. I think it was because I had a faulty cartridge from someone who previously owned it since I know I take care of my games. Not much else to say. The game runs smooth for the most part and the frame rate is good. No random invisible walls to end your escape or prevent you from crashing into a building.

Sound - 7/10
The sound effects are nice. Got missile fire, machine guns goin off and the crunch of the vehicles as you crash into the enemy. The music is decent. Some songs can get annoying or may not suit your tolerability, but most are different and add to the environment and overall fun of the game.

Replay Value - 7/10
Once you go through the story mode with all the characters and unlock everything, there honestly isn't much else to do. You can look up codes for the game to increase the replay value and overall fun. Hell, put on something that would hinder you and increase the difficulty to hardest, see how well you can handle it. The codes are really part of the fun with the game. Oh, something I didn't mention, you can co-op on multiplayer. So story mode isn't going to be so hectic for you anymore now that you got a partner to team up with. However, whoever first player is, is the one whom the story mode advancement will count for. I believe there are a few different multiplayer game types you can choose from such as survival. Basically lasting it out as long as you can to see how many enemies you can destroy. Or head on head, etc.

Overall - 7/10
Vigilante 8 is fun, but it's not a game you'll be playing forever. If you really enjoyed it though, I would DEFINITELY recommend playing Vigilante 8 2nd Offense. It's the sequel and one of the few that actually builds on the problems of the first one, making it THAT much better.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/05, Updated 08/28/08

Game Release: Vigilante 8 (US, 03/29/98)