In a future where every need and desire is provided, it's no wonder that many simply want to go very fast and shoot each other. No malevolent interplanetary dictator forces drivers to compete for the fate of their world, no one killed anyone's brother or mother, and you're far from being an evil, psychotic clown with a twisted wish. Acclaim's Extreme G is really just about hijinks.
Extreme G's developer, Probe, knows a little something about packing titles with value. You might remember Fox Interactive's Die Hard Trilogy, which had a great shooter game, a gun game, and a driving game (well, of sorts) all jammed into one title. While this game is clearly only about driving and shooting, Probe put a volley of different modes into it, the meat and potatoes of which is the Extreme Contest. At its outset, one or two players choose from a pool of eight different futuristic bikes - all with awfully butch names such as Grimace and Khan - each varying in acceleration, top speed, handling around turns, shield strength, and fixed weapons. Three tracks open up to each of the four different environments (desert, city, mines and canyons, and space station) as you qualify. Do well, and extras such as alternate game modes (play as a rock or as through a fish-eye lens) and vehicles (case in point, the high performance Roach) become available.
Other modes available for the single player are practice (once you reach a course in EC, it's open to rehearse in), time trial (beat your best time without any explosive distractions), and shoot 'em up (a weapon power-up-filled run). Multiplayer options include head-to-head (two to four contenders compete sans the computer-controlled bikes), cup challenge (a racing cup for two to 16, much along the same lines as Mortal Kombat Trilogy's tournament mode), battle arena (two to four players in four different open environments), and flag game (a moving target version of Capture the Flag). All the various multiplayer modes are well worth exploring and have their own separate merit, though the single-player variations don't come close to the Extreme Contest.
The Extreme Contest can get pretty fast and furious. Again, the Extreme G gameplay is much different from similar-looking racing titles. The bikes are firmly planted on the ground (for example, you must pull up for jumps and hug the track on dives), and the game is as much about battling opponents as it is about racing, giving it a very competitive feel in more ways than one. As you move up the different difficulty levels, all the bikes get faster, and the enemy vehicles become smarter and more deadly, as well.
