Smuggler's Run

"Rockstar and Angel make a game thats as easy to pick up and play as it is to enjoy!"

When i first picked up that wonderful box with the letters 'PS2' (and number... i guess) on the front, i wanted to get a game with it that was not only something i could show off to family and frends, but also a game that is lots of fun to play that lots of people from different age groups could pick up on. After all, one of the reasons i got my PS2 so early was to show off its stuff, and what better way to do it than make friends and relatives of all ages want to play what i have?

That was the major seller for me. Most think of this game as a mere rental, but i have no regrets about purchasing it. The premise is super simple, easy to learn, but will take a long time to beat. Driving around in huge maps with a bulky SUV while being chased over a mountian by border patrol and competing gangs is commonplace. The game is easy to learn with simple controls, but mastering your vehicle will take some practice.

After spending a weekend with friends just roaming around and messing with the 2 player modes, I finally settled into the game's many missions and found it to be challenging and loads of fun, with still a bit of variety to boot. When little cousins came by, they too had a blast roaming around in that vast hilly region of the US/Canadian border. Indeed all age groups will have a blast with this game.

On to the meat of the review:


GAMEPLAY-
If you have played a Rockstar game, you should know they dont favor the law much. Simple premise, you work for a gang of smugglers, either on the Canadian/US border or the US/Mexican border, and try to smuggle contraband of all sorts across the lines. It wont be a cakewalk, you have to do it with the hassle of Border Patrol, the Army, even CIA, as well as around 4 other Gangs.
How a game is run: You choose from the 7 groups of 'gangs' and around 6 initial cars, (buggy, SUV, trophy truck, rally car, monster truck and hummer) each of which will differ depending on your gang. One gang may prefer speed over power, so even the large monster truck of that gang will have a rear spoiler, a higher top speed and better acceleration to the expense of climbing power and endurance. All gangs differ, even in looks, CIA is in all black with sirens and lights, the quebecios all have rear spoilers, so on and so forth.
After a little bit of 'warmup' missions, the real game starts. Mission differ, but are mainly 'Pick up, and drop off there without getting killed or busted' but missions can vary! Anything from destroying radar stations to stealing something from a rival that is transporting the item acroos the map, to gan grabs, in which you get to have a team, so do they, and you race to get 5 contraband items to your 'base' before they do. Theres even traditional racing missions. All in all your looking at 30 or so missions.
Not only that, theres also 2 player split screen modes for these games, and of course, a joy riding mode that lets you explore huge maps.

What's this game got over others like Midnight Madness, Driver, GTA and the like? 3 HUGE LEVELS!! Yes, only 3, but those three are plenty. A forest level, desert level and snow level. Whats so big about it? 5 square miles is what. You can begin in the town of the forest area, drive into a river, over a huge spiralling mountain, and after a nice hilly terrian, reach a conniferous forest full of wild creatures (which you can run over, a lot of fun seeing deer, bears, eskimos, hikers, police, llamas, cows, everything, to run over) and risk getting run down by a train to reach the badlands before going into the mineshafts to get to the small valley town with a huge magnificent waterfall. all in one level, and theres more too, i just dont want to spend a page describing one level. You get the whole place to play any of the game's levels and scenarios. Running away has never been this much fun, rather than taking the road, go off roading and ditch the group while you launch yourself off the top of the waterfall to the jagged rocks of the waters below. And yes, cars do take damage. Roaming around with just your frame is not uncommon.
Control is real easy to pick up, with analog, you get the left stick for steering, and the right stick for acceleration and brakeing. Pushing into the left stick honks the horn, and pushing into the right stick is the emegency brakes. The shoulder buttons show reverse views, and a map view. You can also switch to digital controls, with X as accelerate, Square to brake. Simple enough.

Story
Theres not a whole lot to say about the story... you get to play as a gang and go against other gangs, and eventually go at it with the leader. I havent finished with all gangs, but i think you may end up being able to be the cops too. There is a little background story, narrated by a really annoying woman's voice.

Audio/Video
The music is funky, much like rockstar's other games... I was kind of hoping for more of an alternative soundtrack, you know, driving/chasing music, but the sounds were just fine. The effects are pretty cool, you can hear a different engine hum per car, the engine whines and has a hard time when going up hill, theres lots of crashing noises, and best of all, all those people and animal yells when you [attempt to] run them over.
The graphics arent the type that show off the amazing power of the PS2 unfortunately. They could have been better, but for the type of game you get, they are pretty well done. The huge maps arent just flat land, theres plenty of different textures ranging from sand, grass, dirt, rocks, mud and everything else. Water effects are nice, and the cars look real cool, even with all the damage. Where this game does shine, is the large amount of landscape you can see. When you get atop a hill, you can clearly see the forest below with a river running by to a waterfall by the little town, even the large scale of mountains a mile away. No fog effects, no pop-in, and all while showing 8+ cars onscreen at a time. You really can see to the horizon and know what is coming up.

Replayability
When you take the several hours to finish the first set of missions, you make it to the desert levels, then to the snow. Don't worry, cuz even if you zip by the missions, theres the wonderful 'arcade' mode that lets you play the crooks and smuggler's game, where you go against 8 other cars in a grab and deliver game. Next up is the team loot and grab game, you get a team of 4, and you have to bring 18 pieces of contraband to your base before the opponent, and a simple race mode. All playable in all 3 levels, the whole levels. For a break, play the Joyridin' mode, which lets you fully explore the 5 square mile + maps in full freedom, whilst running down opposing traffic and some wildlife. This is the mode to play when lookin for all the shorcuts, best lines and such. Or, do what i do, look for the highest peak to launch off of to have the best crash/spill. Its fun as hell to drive through an underground tunnel youve never seen before to get to a spot in the map that has some real cool lighting effects coming from a crack on the top of the cave.

Buy or Rent
Well, thats a decision you'll have to make. This game has tons going for it, most of which ive mentioned, but still some will get tired of the same old same old after a while. My opinion, no regrets. Freinds come by, relatives too, and they watch as i pick up a box of weapons and run off being chased by rival gangs and cops. The thrills and fun kept me interested. Others might want to rent first to see if its a lasting thing for them.

In the end, i dont think i made a mistake in buying this first. Surely i wont last with just this one game, but its fun as hell until i get another to play with too. If your like me, a game only gets old if you play with it and only it for weeks at a time. I gave it an 8, 8.5 if i could have, but the rating system doesnt allow for it. I strongly recomend you rent it at least and get a few friends to play the 2 player modes, its pretty fun. Dont miss out in any good gaming experience. HUGE maps to roam, intense gameplay, and the full freedom only a game like this can give.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/00, Updated 11/01/00