Street Racing Syndicate

"Ah, a good game to wait for NFSU2, and the others of course."

I'm actually relieved to have this game. Well, after waiting 2 years for this piece to come out, the time spent to make this was still worth it. First info was released as 3D0 was to publish the game, and Eutechnyx was to develop it. After 3D0 went bankrupt (sorry...), Namco picked it up. And so, the changes were of course made...

Story...
Well, your stuck in a garage with a guy. The guy has a friend who rides a Skyline and that guy is suppose to drive that night, but somehow, he ain't there and your stuck with driving the car. Sounds cool? I guess. Since the ride is only for a moment and you thrashing the car is no problem. You need to win this since the cash winning is for you to get your own ride. And then, you do what u want. Yippee.......

Gameplay...
About the cars, all the cars have their own style of driving. I mean, in a few ways, diffrent handlings. The 350Z can be a pain, and the Celica could be the great beginner car for everyone. The Supra could suck, and the Skyline is a miracle. Maybe the handlings are made crazy, since you would not like to waste your cash on useless cars. Hey, it's a game. Online play is nice actually. You put your car on the line, and even crazier, your girlfriend too! Oh I didn't mention about the lady factor? Later than. The modes of play is too little, ranging from street mode/story mode, and arcade mode. The game emphasizes on drag, circuit and sprint. Too bad they didn't have drift. The game also includes simulated gambling. Well, in the street mode. You can challenge others by putting a wager. In the series, you can put on wagers against others. You win, you get double your wager. You lose, the wager is gone.

Tuning factor.
Nicely said, this game could have been a tuner's dream come true. But still, I'm not feeling to gifted. The modding for the car's engine is, well nice. Early modification's could be done and the chance to make your first car go 60 mph in 4 seconds is wicked! Applying nitrous early is great, something NFSU doesn't have early. Weight reduction and the others are great for your engine and enables you to win ealy street races. The vinyls are better than NFSU, since we can colour them! The only slacking thing is that they don't have more colours on the vinyl, and the designs are quite limited. That all I guess.

The lady factor....
This is the first for a car game, heck there is only few games that enable you to get a girlfriend (Remember Harvest moon? I'm not going to list dating sims...). The models in the game are all beautiful and they llok really nice. Scoring them as your mate can help you see diffrent race intros. If you win a race series, the girlfriend you carry could neat you an extra video for you to watch. Enticing? Of course! Worth it? VERY!!!

Visuals and soundtrack..
The graphics in the game are very good. Visually apealling to say enough. It is on par with what NFSU has offered, but couldn't come to Midnight Club 2. The songs available in this game are dissapointing. Well, the songs are actually too little for enjoyment. You can't customixe the music, and you don't even know the songs unless you watch the girlfriend videos, then you'll know. I demand the songs be multiplied!

The bad stuff...
Ok, this is a bad thing to say, but hey, not all games are perfect. First, you got the speed problem. When you feel like your going on 60, you might feel it slower than 60. The experience of driving fast is not quite reached in this game, making it hampered behind by NFSU. The damage model is crazy enough. Using your skyline? wreck it and pay 10k to fix it up. Sounds to much? Of course! If you thought the Nitrous is refilled after a race, then you thought wrong. The nitrous bottle only carries as much as it could. When finished, you need ot buy a new bottle. Not much a prob since the cost is only 11 hundred.

Conclusion...
All in all, this game is just ok. It could've been a tuner's dream come true, but It couldn't even match with a racer's game come true. It seems like this is good enough to wait for even better games to come out in the holiday season. Great work Namco and Eutehcnyx, do better next time.

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