|
|
Driver 2 Advance
|
|
|
|
|
|
Graphics & Sound:
Driver 2 for Game Boy Advance is proof positive that big-console values can translate quite nicely to small-console capabilities. In fact, there isn't much the GBA can't do these days compared to the console Driver originally appeared on. Jumping into Driver 2 'Advance,' the graphics smack you in the face like a two-bit hoodlum. Major story points, including the intro sequence, are played out via some great cut-scene animation. Not only is the color great, but the style of the cut-scene in the beginning lets you know this is not an 'Everyone' game. Yeah, murder and mayhem abound in this title. The 'wheelman' Tanner takes a ride into the depths of Gangland and these boys play for keeps. The body count keeps rising, and it's Tanner's job to get in the car and make things happen. The only complaint I had around graphics is the relative 'sameness' of things in Driver 2. Textures are almost completely absent, so the net effect is a very retro look that makes it hard sometimes to distinguish even between land and water...a potentially fatal mistake. Use of color saves the day, but a bit more fine detail and hi-res texture would have made getting around easier. Perhaps there was a choice between detail and speed, and the developers chose speed. Good idea, if that was in fact the case. But, the sacrifice in texture and detail keeps the 'wow' factor from creeping in much as you play Driver 2.
|
|
|
Gameplay:
Tanner is behind the wheel this time in both Chicago and Brazil. The connection is a troubling one, since gangsters in both cities are coming together and the violent offspring of this partnership has already reared its head in the US of A. Enter Tanner, with a mission to make his way into the inner sanctum of the dealmakers and try to find a way to avoid a complete meltdown. The strategy you'll use is to answer as many problems as possible from the inside of your car. And if not your car, somebody else's will do nicely in a pinch... Three main game modes make up the action. Undercover Mode is about as described above, and you'll go mission by mission until your work is done. Each mission style varies and the driving skills required to get through a stage will mean exercising every skillful bone in your body. Sometimes, it's just about getting from point A to B, with some kind of pick-up or drop-off to complete. Other times, you'll have some specific objective like tailing a car, putting someone to sleep permanently or just avoiding the cops long enough to make a contact. This mode will seriously test your skill, and the missions just keep getting harder and harder... Take A Ride Mode doesn't really qualify as a unique challenge, but it is a great way to cruise around unhindered by objectives. Getting to know every little alley and sidewalk can mean the difference between an ugly policeman bashing your car to pieces and the prize at the end of the road, so do cruise around each city to learn the map. Driving Games Mode makes up the second main mode, and there are a lot of little games to play. According to the objective you choose, your style of driving will need to change here frequently, making it a great practice area for Undercover Mode. You can choose to do a quick set of chase games, trying to destroy a target car, or be the target and try to 'getaway.' Trailblazer and Checkpoint games are very similar, giving you targets to take out along the way to an ending mark. Both games are timed. Survival is the final game, where you get to see how long you can keep yourself on the road with a horde of cops barreling down on you. Similar games are available for play in Multiplayer, the last of the main game modes. Attach one, two or three (!) other GBA units via the Link Cable to your system and take on the other players in races through checkpoints or 'demolition derby' style games. This mode can soak up a lot of time, and you'll find the cops way more difficult when your buddy is behind the wheel of a black-and-white, coming for you! |
|
|
Difficulty:
Other than timed missions, the worst thing you'll face is amped-up cop AI. Adjustable, yes, but barely manageable at the normal setting. In this game, being spotted by cops is almost a guarantee of failure. There isn't much you can do once you get cops on your tail, especially in a tight spot. Watching out for them on the radar helps avoid the obviously placed fuzz, but the felony meter that goes up each time a cop hits you with his car can't be brought down in any way during a mission. I found one mission particularly annoying because you have to go pick up some gangsters, and if the felony level on your car is high they won't get in. Staying out of the way of cops is difficult enough, but the extremely capable driving they exhibit caused me to replay this mission an uncomfortable number of times before I succeeded. I like a challenge, but the cops are almost inhuman in how they drive around. Coupled with some of the mechanical glitches, you'll certainly have some moments where you contemplate chucking the GBA through a window.
|
|
|
Game Mechanics:
There are plenty of glitches in Driver 2 for GBA that make it a drag to play. The overall structure behind the game is solid, the design of each mission's objectives is solid, but the execution really suffers from some sloppiness. First, as you drive down the road, you try to avoid hitting other cars because collisions will damage your car and get the cops all stirred up. So, you go to pass a car, giving yourself room to clear another car heading your way. Surprisingly, you smash into the oncoming car. Then, as you try to get away, the car bashes into you again and you get locked together like some rutting elk. It's sad. Edge detection is likely the culprit here, but whatever the technical jargon, hitting other cars or objects when you don't expect to means you have to give wide berth to everything on the road and play it safe. Driving crazy and being the wheelman is not as much fun when you get in some random accidents and start to suspect that the underlying code for what makes you pass a car versus smacking into it a million times is buggy. Imagine how annoying this is with the cops around you. When it takes you as long as it does to course correct, it gets old watching the cops turn on a dime and give you 9-cent change... Outrunning them is possible, but little glitchy issues with edge detection popped up a lot when I played. Controls are hardly the root cause; they're easy to master. The early missions that have Tanner on foot and teach you to jack a car illustrate the toughest controls you'll have to learn, which are the combinations used to get in and out of a car. Once you're in the damn thing you just hit the gas or brake and start driving. The driving action is believable enough, and the car moves around realistically, sliding and skidding, knocking over objects and scaring the hell out of pedestrians. What doesn't come through well is the interaction you should be able to have or not have with your surroundings. I love the premise of the game and the multiplayer action is awesome, but if controlling the car becomes more of a chore than a pleasure because of control issues, a driving game might as well be put to rest. Getting around and seeing the big town maps scroll by is a treat, and there are lots of neat little story elements that will motivate some to keep trying. For me, when the going got tough and the game seemed to be spitting the same tired issues at me (overly aggressive AI and some glitchy edge-detection), I decided to put Driver 2 back in the garage and take something else out for a spin. |
|
|
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
