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By: Siou Choy |
| Developer: |
Midway |
| Publisher: |
Midway |
| Genre: |
Racing |
| #
of Players: |
2 |
| Est.
Release: |
9-25-01 |
| Posted: |
7-31-01 |
It's
become somewhat of a given in the entertainment industry: when
the well runs dry of ideas, (in the immortal words of Douglas
Adams), "don't panic!". This is hardly the
time to get flexing those well atrophied creative muscles -
just relax, kids, because it's time to recycle. It seems
that as soon as developers lose the creative impetus, they
indubitably choose to play it safe, by taking a popular
favorite and giving it a generally unwarranted
"update" in a crass attempt to peddle the same old
crap one more time. The only difference? Well, this
time, it's formatted for the system du jour.
Well, get ready for another one, people. Yes, folks, yet
another moldy oldie is getting the cobwebs dusted off of it,
and being given a new
paint job to take in the rubes: Midway's Spy Hunter will be
making it's return later this year, this round for the
Playstation 2. Spy Hunter:
The Return will be an updated version of the original Spy
Hunter, in full 3D, and running at 60fps.
The wisdom of this decision remains debatable, as doubtless
any fans of the first game know all too well; namely, the
original Spy Hunter, to be
generous, was somewhat lacking in plot...and in keeping to
form, there isn't much of one in The Return either. To
quote from the manual, your
mission on the original was to:
Pilot your vehicle through the track. Seek and
destroy enemy agents who will use every means to wipe you out.
You must avoid the road hazards and protect the friendly
pedestrian vehicles. There's terror at every turn -
tire slashers, torpedoes, bomb dropping helicopters - standing
in your way of the most diabolical collection of enemy agents
ever to hit a video screen. You have your skills and
reflexes along with smoke screens, oil slicks, and heat
seeking missiles to outmaneuver your opponents. One
mistake and it's all over. So strap yourself in; no need
to check your ammo. You've got more than enough; and
take the challenge. Be: Spy Hunter.
OK, admit it: if you ignore the usual smelly load of
hyperbole, media hucksterism, and PR B.S., it becomes pretty
obvious that there's not a
hell of a lot to Spy Hunter, and never was. Nonetheless,
for those of us who grew up popping quarters into sticky,
clunky machines in the dingy arcades of our youth, the fact
remains that the game was a lot of fun.
Once again you are behind the wheel of the G-6155 Interceptor.
As every true Spy Hunter aficionado would know already, after
you take on a certain amount of damage, it will transform into
a smaller vehicle, cleverly named (by popular consensus among
dental hygenists everywhere) as a "Secondary Extraction
Vehicle". Said vehicle is able to accelerate faster
and has the benefit of sharper controls (in other words, it's
a motorcycle, or jet ski, depending on whether you're on land
or at sea at the moment). The advantage to this, of
course, is that it makes you a smaller target, and thus a bit
more difficult for NOSTRA's cars to hit. Of course, your main
goal is still to arrive at the rendezvous point within a given
time, but this time, there will also be a task or two to be
accomplished during the level. Well, come on, you didn't
think they'd be able to sell a game this simplistic nowadays
otherwise, did you? There will be 14 levels with at least 65
objectives to be completed in the game. On the other
hand, their idea of sprucing up the game is to give you some
profound and deeply deliberated missions such as stealing
NOSTRA's plans for a vehicle similar to your own G-6155
Interceptor. (WOW, heavy, man.)
As in the original, the enemy cars will be black or blue, and
you have to keep your eyes peeled for those damn red 18
wheelers, which provide extra weapons for your car when you
pull up into them. These weapons include oil slicks,
smoke screens and various artillery. Hunting the enemy
will be easier this time around with the aid of a lock-on
feature. You will also be able to tell how fast you are
going thanks to some newly added displays which will also
inform you of the status of your ammunition, time remaining
and the amount of damage your car has sustained.
Each level will contain photo-realistic backgrounds and
include locations such as Venice, England, Germany, France,
Panama, Key West, and the Middle East desert. The
levels will be linear with the usual twists, turns, and
branching roads that the were found in the original Spy
Hunter.
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