Video Game Reviews
Issue 216 / December 2006 More from this Issue
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Auto Assault
NetDevil
PC
RPG/future/MMO
Street: April 2006
When I first heard about Auto Assault, it seemed like the answer to all of my adolescent and shallow prayers. Finally, an RPG without a medieval twist! The setting is a post-apocalyptic land with lawlessness on the roads but with some semblance of civilization in the towns. Just imagine Road Warrior with more guns and less talking. Unfortunately, Auto Assault starts off with some problems. The first patch you must download to play takes a while to install, then the game crashed my PC the first few times I tried to play it. A restart and a bar of soap in the mouth later and I'm up and running. In Auto Assault, you tear through towns, mowing down any and everything that gets in your way. Machine guns blaze, rockets seek and the front bumper chops through people, buildings, giant mutant bugs and all of the other things that can make the post-nuclear commute such a bitch.
The fun doesn't last forever, though. Upon your untimely demise, you will get dropped off just a few seconds from where you died with exactly the same inventory you had before. This "Free Life" makes the game too easy and not nearly as nerve-racking as it could be. Another problem is the lack of realistic physics applied to your car. You just plow through or over anything in your path, stop and turn on a dime and flip right side up from what automatically should turn you over. Adding to those problems some pedestrians can stand on your front bumper at up to full speed and these are, sloppy controls and mediocre graphics. Finally, for a MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game, there isn't that many other online players; I guess everyone is playing World of WarCraft. Although Auto Assault falls shy of a recommendation, I have high hopes that it paves the way for other games of its kind. - Jesse Kennedy
2 out of 5 radioactive mud pits
Bully
Rockstar Vancouver
PS2
Schoolyard/Action
Street: October 2006
Since their gigantic hits with the Grand Theft Auto series, Rock Star has done their best not to be encapsulated by their own mammoth creations. From their incredibly life-like Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis for the Xbox 360 to the popular Midnight Club street-racing series, it seems that Rockstar is trying their best to keep their line up evolving or at least revolving. Bully is definitely not a departure from the GTA style that made Rockstar famous, but that doesnt mean this isnt a great game.
Bully is the story of Jimmy, a smart-ass kid ditched at Bullworth Academy by his uncaring mother. As you get to know a few people around the school you find yourself caught between brawling groups of nerds, jocks, greasers and faculty. Kissing girls (or boys?), ditching class, picking locks and beating the crap out of schoolmates may not be your typical curriculum, but as part of this game, I’m sure Rockstar will find themselves at the principals office in the near future. As the seasons change through the school year, youll be pitted against each of the cliques as you rise to the top of Bullworth Academy.
NetDevil
PC
RPG/future/MMO
Street: April 2006
When I first heard about Auto Assault, it seemed like the answer to all of my adolescent and shallow prayers. Finally, an RPG without a medieval twist! The setting is a post-apocalyptic land with lawlessness on the roads but with some semblance of civilization in the towns. Just imagine Road Warrior with more guns and less talking. Unfortunately, Auto Assault starts off with some problems. The first patch you must download to play takes a while to install, then the game crashed my PC the first few times I tried to play it. A restart and a bar of soap in the mouth later and I'm up and running. In Auto Assault, you tear through towns, mowing down any and everything that gets in your way. Machine guns blaze, rockets seek and the front bumper chops through people, buildings, giant mutant bugs and all of the other things that can make the post-nuclear commute such a bitch.
The fun doesn't last forever, though. Upon your untimely demise, you will get dropped off just a few seconds from where you died with exactly the same inventory you had before. This "Free Life" makes the game too easy and not nearly as nerve-racking as it could be. Another problem is the lack of realistic physics applied to your car. You just plow through or over anything in your path, stop and turn on a dime and flip right side up from what automatically should turn you over. Adding to those problems some pedestrians can stand on your front bumper at up to full speed and these are, sloppy controls and mediocre graphics. Finally, for a MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game, there isn't that many other online players; I guess everyone is playing World of WarCraft. Although Auto Assault falls shy of a recommendation, I have high hopes that it paves the way for other games of its kind. - Jesse Kennedy
2 out of 5 radioactive mud pits
Bully
Rockstar Vancouver
PS2
Schoolyard/Action
Street: October 2006
Since their gigantic hits with the Grand Theft Auto series, Rock Star has done their best not to be encapsulated by their own mammoth creations. From their incredibly life-like Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis for the Xbox 360 to the popular Midnight Club street-racing series, it seems that Rockstar is trying their best to keep their line up evolving or at least revolving. Bully is definitely not a departure from the GTA style that made Rockstar famous, but that doesnt mean this isnt a great game.
Bully is the story of Jimmy, a smart-ass kid ditched at Bullworth Academy by his uncaring mother. As you get to know a few people around the school you find yourself caught between brawling groups of nerds, jocks, greasers and faculty. Kissing girls (or boys?), ditching class, picking locks and beating the crap out of schoolmates may not be your typical curriculum, but as part of this game, I’m sure Rockstar will find themselves at the principals office in the near future. As the seasons change through the school year, youll be pitted against each of the cliques as you rise to the top of Bullworth Academy.
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