RoadKill (PlayStation 2)

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By the later stages of the game, these sentinels actually don't pose much of a threat. Since power-ups that instantly restore your vehicle to full health are strewn about each city, you'll find yourself able to thwart countless numbers of these enemy cars, especially if you've picked up some of the better special weapons. This limits the game's long-term replay value. On the other hand, some of RoadKill's story missions are quite tough--nothing you shouldn't be able to handle by attempting them enough times, though, and the game does a nice job of mitigating any frustration factor by causing you to instantly respawn at your garage if you get blown up. There's no real penalty for getting killed--Mason's just that tough.

Going straight through the story missions should take at least 10 hours, and you could easily spend about as much time scouring the game's big cities for secrets. The cities are mostly noninteractive; the numerous storefronts are mere facades, though each square block at least looks distinct from all the others, and, much like in Grand Theft Auto, there's some occasionally funny (if crass) signage that's always worth keeping an eye out for. Other than the single-player mode, RoadKill offers a Twisted Metal-style multiplayer mode for up to four players. This mode features some power-ups that aren't otherwise available, and since it's not hard to point and shoot in this game, the gameplay here more or less is about making a beeline for the best pickups and using them to get the edge over your buddies. Twisted Metal: Black and some other Twisted Metal games offered a lot more lasting value to their multiplayer modes because their gameplay not only featured some special moves that could be mastered, but also required some finesse with many of the vehicles' special abilities. The vehicles themselves offered much more variety than those of RoadKill.

RoadKill does have variety, in its single-player story missions. Like those of Grand Theft Auto, the missions in RoadKill involve racing against the clock, blowing up or otherwise killing bunches of bad guys, multistep scavenger hunts, straight-up shooting sprees, and more. Each mission is prefaced by a prerendered cutscene featuring the jaded Mason Strong, who patiently takes orders from various thugs in his effort to eventually surpass them. These cutscenes have a simple look to them, but they are animated and choreographed very well and can be quite amusing. As long as you don't have sensitive sensibilities, anyway. Heed that M rating on the box, because RoadKill deserves it and pretty much wears it on its sleeve. The game's got plenty of four-letter words and toilet humor, as well as graphic violence, as when a pedestrian's body becomes lodged onto the spikes of your car and spews blood for a while before finally tumbling off to the side. RoadKill's attempts at humor are hit-and-miss; the game goes for the same exact irreverent tone as the Grand Theft Auto games, but isn't quite as clever or subtle. Still, if you appreciated the GTA games' sense of humor, you'll be in familiar territory here, and you'll probably like Mason as a character.

Just like in the Grand Theft Auto games, RoadKill's musical score is composed of songs you'll hear on the game's fake radio stations. Most of what's on the radio here is actually just talk--there are several different chatty DJs to listen to, as well as three music stations. One's rap, one's metal, and another consists of licensed late-'70s, early-'80s classic rock from such bands as Judas Priest, Blue Oyster Cult, April Wine, and Foreigner, one of whose songs on this soundtrack can also be heard in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, whether or not by coincidence. Still, this is great stuff, though you'll wish there were more of it. The one station with licensed music on it is easily the best, though switching over to the rap channel can make for a good change of pace. Other than that, RoadKill's voice acting is solid, and the ambient sounds and the cacophony of the battles all sound good. Of note, it's fortunate that the cars' machine guns sound so loud and powerful, since they all sound the same. On the other hand, each vehicle has its own distinct exhaust note.

RoadKill is a good-looking game, and it looks more or less identical on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube--the latter two versions are just slightly cleaner than the PS2 version. The game is prone to a little slowdown when things get really crazy, as when you blow up a couple of cars simultaneously, but generally it runs smoothly. The cityscapes are suitably big and detailed, though the textures for most of the areas are simple, while the car models are creative and appropriately deadly looking. Pedestrians and drivers look simple, but through the magic of rag-doll physics, they look great when caught in a blast (or on the hood of your car) as they go flailing about. Some weather effects and natural disasters, like hurricanes, also look quite good.

This game may not be the next Grand Theft Auto, but it's got a lot of the same style and the same spirit, content, and dialogue that would send a PTA meeting into a panic, and lots of good, simple shooting action. If you think the idea of a game about driving around in a machine-gun-toting car while completely ignoring traffic laws and blowing away anything in your path sounds like fun, then you'll get it out of RoadKill.

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