TuckerXE
11-24-2003, 07:20 PM
Well, here's my review. It's a freakin' novel, so I'll put it in a few posts. After the main site comes up, this will be in the regular reviews.
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The Simpsons: Hit and Run
Publisher: vivendi Universal Games
Developer: Radical Entertainment
Genre: Driving
Players: 1 in Main Game, 1-4 in Bonus Game only
Price: $49.99
Release: August 2004
Summary
Could it be? Has someone finally made a good Simpsons game? You'd better believe it, 'cause it's true.
It's sad, really, to think about the number of times Simpsons fans' hopes for a good game based on the show have been smashed. In fact, I can only think of one other Simpsons game that most people enjoyed - the arcade game. The good news is that the years of waiting are over. Finally, we have another Simpsons game worth playing!
Gameplay
Hit & Run is very clearly and unapologetically modeled after Grand Theft Auto III, although you won't find guns or hookers. Driving around Springfield completing missions, and smashing as many things as you can along the way are your main activities. There are seven levels in the game, and you switch characters every time you move to a new one. Over the course of the game, you play as Homer (twice), Bart (also twice), Lisa, Marge, and Apu. The people all have the exact same controls - none can jump any higher or run any faster than any other. However, every car you drive has different characteristics. They are all rated on their speed, handling, accelleration, and toughness, and you will definitely notice a difference as you drive them.
The missions are basically of three varieties - drive somewhere in a given amount of time, destroy another vehicle, or pick up a number of items before time runs out. As you progress through the game, there are variations on these themes - for example, you will have missions that require you race someone to a destination, or to hit another vehicle and "pick up" (aka run over) the items they drop. In the last level, you'll have to pick up a barrel of nuclear waste, and drive it across town without hitting anything head-on. Some of the missions are so easy, you'll complete them on your first try, but they're mostly in the first level. On the other hand, there are some missions that I tried so many times, the game offered me the option of skipping the mission and moving on to the next. You can always come back to a mission, whether you've completed it or skipped it, so it's not the end of the world if you wimp out on one.
Aside from the driving missions, there are items to collect in each level: cards, gags, clothes, cars, and "wasp cameras". The wasp cameras tie into the game's plot about a mysterious mind-controlling cola drink - it's not much, but it was written by the show's writing staff, and although some missions feel pretty contrived, it's just wacky enough that you don't mind. Collecting cards and gags is accomplished on foot - the cards show a memorable item from an episode of the show, and the gags are items on the level that you can interact with, like the giant tiki head in the Simpsons' backyard that blows fire (again, from an episode of the show). When you've collected all of the cards in the game, you unlock an exclusive Itchy and Scratchy cartoon. The wasp cameras are also found on foot, and when you find them, you must destroy them by jumping and kicking them. This gets harder as the game progresses, as the wasps are upgraded in each new level - faster movement, a shield, etc. Clothes and cars, however, are acquired by getting cash and buying them. To get cash, just smash whatever you can on the side of the road. Trees, mailboxes, and the like are worth 1 coin, but you'll also find large pieces of glass with Krusty's face on them that you can smash through for 5 coins. As you'd expect from a game based on a cartoon, you won't kill anyone by running them over, and if you leave an area of the level and come back, the items you destroyed will be back in place, ready to be bashed again. After you've gotten enough cash, you can find someplace that sells clothes and purchase a new outfit for your character. Some of these are very funny, and some are just ok - Homer in a devil costume is great, but Homer in his tighty-whities... not so appealing. You can also purchase a couple of cars on each level from Gil, the always down-on-his-luck salesman.
There are a few special cars on each level, aside from the ones you see driving around town. One car on each level must be unlocked by completing three races in any order. Some of these races are extremely difficult - I had to complete the level I was on and unlock a better car from the next one in order to beat several of them. Also, in each level, there's a special mission that doesn't tie into the main plotline, and you'll earn another car each time you complete each of those missions. Finally, there's a "hidden" car in every level that you can't get or use anywhere else. For example, in the first level, there's a rocket-powered car sitting in front of the house made out of gold. Don't be discouraged when you drive it - other levels have far better cars, such as the monorail engine, a monster truck, and even a tiny RC car. Aside from that special car, you can get any car you've unlocked simply by going to a phone booth. As you run into things, your car gets damaged, but you can always find wrenches around the levels - picking one up automatically restores your car to 0% damage, and they reappear after a short time. If you manage to completely destroy a car, you can drive around on the rims of the burned-out wreckage (the sound is satisfyingly annoying, and the sparks shooting off of the rims are a nice touch), or you can just go to a phone booth and have it fixed up and back in action for a very small amount of cash. You can also "get a ride" from any car on the street - you're not stealing the car, because the other person's still driving, as you sit in the passenger seat. One last note on the cars - don't be fooled when you see the hover-bike's toughness rating. It'll take a good beating - it doesn't seem to register much except for head-on collisions as giving damage.
Controls
As I mentioned, the people all conrol exactly the same, and you can run around jump, double-jump, or kick equally well with any of them as soon as you get the hang of it (which takes just a minute while you memorize the controls). One tip I missed out on - the B button makes your character run faster, but they can't turn on a dime while doing so. When walking, the L trigger zooms the camera in on your character, and the R trigger points it upwards - very handy when you're looking for that last elusive card or wasp.
The cars are equally easy to control - as in most driving games, the triggers serve as gas and brake, and you can change between three different cameras while driving by pushing black, and white honks your horn. The horn is fun, but doesn't actually serve any purpose. Lastly, if you get lost or stuck someplace that you'd rather not maneuver yourself out of, the select button will stick you back on the road, pointing in whatever direction is closest to where your car's currently headed. The developers did a nice job of differentiating the way the cars move and handle - fast cars really do move more quickly, tougher cars can take much more of a beating, and the cars rated as handling better respond more as you steer. The physics aren't legendary, but the game isn't trying to be a sim. Once I learned to do a good powerslide, I stayed pretty happy with the controls, although I never can remember without experimentation which button is the horn and which is the camera.
Graphics
The graphics in Hit & Run are good - after not too long, it'll be obvious which trees you can smash and which you can't. You'll also see pretty clearly where the edges of things are - I can't remember any clipping issues in the game. A couple of nice touches are the permanent tire marks on certain ramps, guiding you to the best direction for taking the jump, and the fact that there are a few things you can drive under if you're driving a short car, but not if you're in a tall car. When you take a big jump, the camera will switch away to a more dramatic view while you're in the air, but it switches back in time for you to make sure you don't crash upon landing. Don't expect photo-realism - this is a cartoon, after all - and I only noticed a couple instances of cell-shading, notably in some effects in cutscenes. However, in my opinion, cell-shading wouldn't have matched the show's animation style. If you really watch for it, you'll also notice that scaling polygon counts are used to nice effect on the people walking around - someone far from you is just a 2D drawing with a few frames of animation, but as you get closer, the game cranks up the resolution on them, as well as the number of frames of animation they get. If you want to see this effect, the best place for it is just inside the front gates of Krustylu Studios, where you can get a good distance away from people and walk towards them. Again, you'll have to watch for it, though. I'm aware of it and still don't notice it unless I make an effort.
Graphics on the cars are nicely done, with damage showing pretty clearly - your car will get dented, then the trunk and doors will start flap in response to your steering. Then, it'll start to emit white smoke, then billowing black smoke as it gets close to exploding. (Unlike GTA, you can't be hurt by being in or near your car when it explodes.) Some of the cars have some nice reflective surfaces - you'll see them the most on Hank Scorpio's car, which was my favorite for quite a while. Also, I especially enjoyed seeing things like feathers flying out of the back of Cletus' pickup truck, or burning pages coming from the book burning mobile. The bad news is that the billows of black smoke can easily obscure your view if you drive on any slope, and if there's much of anything going on in the area you're in, that black smoke will slow the frame rate down pretty badly.
The levels are fairly well designed, and the only jarring differences between areas within a level are clearly designed to be so - such as when you switch between the 636 and 939 area codes in the first level. In the level with the Springfield Squidport, for example, there's a nice transition between the port area and the rest of the level. The third level feels somewhat thrown together, but it features parts of Springfield like the area around town hall, which don't appear in the show very often, so that may be the source of that feeling. However, I imagine you'll be just as frustrated as I was when you get to the fourth level and find that it's almost identical to the first - there are just a few paths open that weren't open in the first. The fifth and sixth levels follow the pattern, and are nearly identical to the second and third, respectively. However, when I reached the seventh level and found it to be in the same place as the first and fourth, I didn't mind as much, because it had been completely re-drawn with a halloween theme.
There are a couple of odd glitches in the graphics, but you'll really have to look to see them, and they're all in the same level - the third. As I was driving near the sea, I saw something way out there. Using the handy zoom on the camera, I found that it was Comic Book Guy, standing out at sea... As you drive, if you're near where you should go for your next mission, or if you're supposed to follow a certain route to something, nice green arrows appear on the road, and any building that you can enter has a flashing blue light around the door. The third level is by far the level with the most hills, and again, when I was down in the port area, I happened to look up towards the other part of town, which was not being drawn in because I was so far from it. However, up in the sky - in the right location - I could see the green arrows and flashing blue lights around the doorway of the comic book store, where I was supposed to go to get my next mission.
Finally, the heads up display is done well. You will constantly have an indicator in the top left corner of your screen indicating where you should go or to whom you should speak for your next mission, but except for the few seconds after getting the mission, it won't appear as more than a small icon. When you get coins, your current coin total appears for a few seconds in the top right corner, as well. A nice addition is the fact that you can see your current coin total and the explanation of what you should do next on your mission at any point by hitting Start to pause the game. They will display along with the pause menu. The only other thing you'll see on your screen all of the time is a circular map with your Hit & Run meter around it, which appear in the bottom right corner of the screen. As you hit people and things, your Hit & Run meter rises. When it's full, the cops will chase you for a time, and if they catch you, you'll be forced to pay 50 coins (unless you have less than 50 coins, in which case they just take everything you have). The meter goes down as you drive without hitting things, it goes down faster if you walk/run instead of driving, and it goes down even faster if you're indoors. Want it to just go away? Stop your car, get out, and hop in another car. It'll drop to nothing the instant you get in the other car (as long as it's not the same model as your current car). If you prefer your old car, just get out and get back in that one - the meter won't come back.
Sound
Hit & Run's sound is good, but not amazing. There's generic music in all of the levels, but it only plays while you're driving. There are appropriate sounds when you hit things, and when your car slides. It's nothing special, but it's not enough to get annoying, either, and there's something to be said for that, considering how often you'll hear those sounds. What does get annoying is the lines that your characters constantly spout while driving. It is funny to hear Lisa say "Ah, time for more gameplay" or Homer say "Hey! He used a cheat code!" A couple of my generic pedestrian quotes are "Careful, I have bad reflexes!" and "This is a sad day for generic characters everywhere." However, they all get really old after about the 50th time. There just aren't enough phrases for as often as they are said. To put it briefly, the sounds are nicely done (all of the voices are done by the show's talent), but are very repititious. If you own The Simpsons: Road Rage (as I do), you'll be disappointed to hear many phrases that were used in that game included in the repitition.