Vigilante 8 Review

Excellent Control
Whacked-Out Weapons
Large 3D Arenas
Four Player Mode
Funky Characters

Some Pop-In and Slow-Down

There probably isn't a gamer alive who isn't familiar with Twisted Metal, whether you own a PlayStation or not. Twisted Metal heralded in a new genre of car game that wasn't about racing; it was about destruction. Vigilante 8 picked up the ball where Twisted Metal dropped it, and although V8 is clearly a knock-off (no denying that), it is one great knock-off!

You can choose from 4 Vigilante's or 4 Coyote team members (2 new members on each team are unavailable at the beginning of the game). Of course, each member has their own special vehicle that corresponds to their lifestyle: Beeswax the hillbilly drives a beat up '70's pickup truck, while Chassey Blue prefers the confines of her slick '67 Rattler, a Corvette look alike. If it's a one player game you can play the Quest mode which has you fulfilling objectives (guarding gas stations etc.) whilst taking on a handful of enemies. Complete all four levels and you may unlock some special characters and vehicles. Arcade mode allows you to select the number of enemies (up to 12) and the area where you will battle for supremacy. Four player mode offers a versus mode and a cooperative mode, which are self explanatory.

V8's controls are easy to get the hang of. Steering is defaulted to the analog stick and the various weapons are controlled with those tiny and annoying c buttons. Those of you who haven't played a game of this nature before, expect about a 30-minute learning curve. Due to the nature of the game, V8's vehicle physics are a little out-there. Getting blasted 100 feet in the air and taking death defying jumps without flipping totally out of control is common place in this game.

Thanks to the added horsepower of the Expansion Pak, V8 hums along very smoothly. If you are playing on a high-resolution television expect the best. However, there is a fair amount of pop in and quite a few instances of slowdown, even with the ram pak. The four-player mode which is also exclusive to the N64 version, will have you going at it for hours. Personally, it gave me a headache due to the drop in frame-rate, but I know you kids love your four player modes and could not care less about what kind of irreversible optical nerve damage you are doing. Kidding! Seriously though, this game is a great multi-player experience and this alone will breathe life into the game long after the 1 player mode is finished.

Having played the PSX version extensively, I can tell you that the tunes are reasonable midi facsimiles of the original. This is the one are where the PSX version kicks it. The sound effects are all in place which means the trash talking is intact.

If you play this game without the Expansion Pak, you aren't going to get the experience in the way it was meant. That isn't a complaint; it is a warning. Break down and buy the thing. Donkey Kong 64 is going to require it, so you might as well get it over with now. Although this game isn't perfect, it does what it does very well; namely expand on an already existing genre. This is the only game of its kind on N64 so you don't have a lot of choice. If you naturally gravitate towards road rage, Vigilante 8 is your one-way ticket to a maniac's paradise. Definitely a worthy purchase.

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