| Product: |
Destruction Derby Raw (PS) |
| Date: |
26.05.01 (168 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Loads of tracks, Lots of action, 1 to 4 player mode
Disadvantages: lots of loading, some slowdown
Destruction Derby Raw is a fast and furious demolition car racing game. You get a taster of the action as the game loads with an opening FMV sequence of the cars smashing there way through to the front. This game is by Studio 33, the team behind the much improved Formula 1 99 and Newman Hass Racing.
There are 3 modes of play in this game.
Wreckin' racing.
Smash 4 $.
Battle.
Wreckin' racing is possibly the best one to play, You start with just one circuit open and a handful of cars to use. Win a race and score enough points and you open up more tracks. There are 25 tracks to play in this game. At the start of each race you choose a car based on speed, handling, brakes and strength. The tracks rage from ovals, car parks, mines or stadiums. All the tracts are twisty and bumpy with loops and turns all over the place.
The 25 tracks all have a different difficulty rating and a different score to achieve. Its not just a case of winning a race because you wont score enough points, you need to smash and crash into the other cars as well. You race against 19 other cars, so there are plenty to hit.
Some of the races have a trophy to win, these open up bonus cars which you can only use in Smash 4 $ mode. You get a short FMV after you win the trophy. There are 8 bonus cars to win.
Smash 4 $ sees you start with $1500, and you can only afford a small amount of cars. There are over 20 more out of your price range. Choose a car from the garage and then race on a randomly picked track. The more damage you do and the higher you finish earns you money. When you finish the race you must decide whether to repair your car at a price or buy a new one. Then you go to race again. This keeps going on until you can afford all the cars or you get bored.
Battle mode sees you take on up to 3 friends and you can choose from Assault, Destruction Derby, Sky scraper and Pass the bomb. Assault allows you to pick the number of laps, the t
rack and the level of carnage.
Destruction Derby, sees you playing the classic arena, Vampyre mode where you lose points as well and Armageddon, This mode sees how long you can last instead of a high score.
Sky Scraper is set on a roof where you must not fall off.
Pass the Bomb has a counting down bomb which is passed between cars when they touch. All these games still have a damage meter as well, so you must be careful.
The game graphics are fantastic for the Playstation, the tracks are very well set out with lots of detail in the background as well as the foreground. A lot of thought has gone into the track design. There is a little bit of slow down as the action gets frantic and some scenery loss around the edge of the tracks as the cars spin out of control. During a race the screen is not too cluttered You only have a simple crash meter, a position counter, a points readout and a speedo.
As you crash you get a type of crash caused flash on the screen these vary from 90* spin/ 180* spin/ 360* spin/ Jaw breaker/ Hurricane/ Flatliner/ Cork Screw/ Barrier Slam and many more all ranging from 10 points unto 300+
After each race you can watch the hi-lights using fast forward, rewind, eject etc.
The crashes look great as cars fly all over the place and smash into each other. The cars show the damage with bent panels and bonnets flying off. The handling suffers as the wheels get damaged and become more difficult to drive. The cars do look a bit similar and angular but that does not spoil the game.
The sound is pretty good too, Loads of American V8 engines gurgling away, Tyres screeching, Metal on metal smashes.
Difficulty, It took me two days to finish Wreckin' racing and the same for Smash 4 $. I don't play battle games as I prefer one player games but I did have a go to see what they where like. Some of the tracks are quite easy and some very hard. As some of the races are fairly short you find yourself waiting for
the game to load all the time, A bit off putting. You only need one memory block to save and it is quick and easy.
All in all this is a great game and fun to play, You can cause some spectacular crashes from the comfort of your armchair and not get so much as a single scratch. Well recommended.
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