RoadKill Preview

Developer	Terminal Reality
Publisher	Midway
Genre	Driving
Release Date	10/14/03

Two games have really defined the car combat genre up to this point: Twisted Metal and Carmageddon. They had imitators like Vigilante 8 which, while they added a few twists, never really took things to the next level. Even the sequels in the series didn’t really recapture the magic of the first titles, and the post apocalyptic wasteland scene has been a bit quiet. Up until now that is. Midway will have their own version of the classic “boy meets car, boy mounts gun on car, boy shoots other cars” tale with the upcoming release of Roadkill on the Xbox, GameCube, and PS2.

A bit of this, a bit of that…

Roadkill borrows rather obviously from a number of previous titles. While this is somewhat lacking on the creativity side of things, they at least showed good taste in the areas they filched from. There’s the all out mayhem of the Twisted Metal/Carmageddon influencing the basic gameplay. That’s resulted in tight controls, wild battles, and smartly laid out button configurations – something that bodes well for the retail version.

The game also borrows the mission layouts from the Grand Theft Auto series, allowing gamers to take on missions (over 30 in all) whenever they feel up to it. There’s a reputation meter that tracks how well you’re doing in regards to your standing in the community – do well, and you’ll build standing until you can attract your own followers. Groupies…gotta love ‘em.

Graphics are well done, with each environment being absolutely huge and packed with small details. Frame rates, perhaps the most important element in a good car combat game, are rock solid even in the prerelease version we received.

There’s a ton of licensed music that’ll be available via the ingame radio, much like in Grand Theft Auto. Tunes include the very fitting “Don’t Fear the Reaper”, as well as offerings from April Wine, Judas Priest, and…Rick Springfield. That’s right, this balls to the wall car combat game will feature, out of all the tunes in the world, “Jessie’s Girl”. Oh well, I won’t hold that one unusual thing against it, as the rest of the audio seems to be as fitting as it gets. There’s even a politically slanted talk station and a love chat channel, in addition to a police scanner that helps keep gamers informed on events in the world.

There’s a touch of customization available, with car parts being won while progressing through the game. Compete against rivals and you can win parts like nitrous or armor that will help make your car even tougher. It’s a simple concept that, thanks to the inclusion of 40 vehicles and over 15 weapons, should make for some extended replay value.

Replay, replay, replay

When it comes right down to it though, Roadkill’s biggest strength looks to be in its multiplayer component. Up to four players can play via split screen, with the frame rates remaining steady even with major combat underway. Thanks to the simple controls that let anyone pick up and play, multiplayer Roadkill quickly becomes as addictingly fun as Halo. This is especially true for all those gamers who have been starving for some good car combat.

Roadkill is slated to hit the streets in October. With solid multiplayer backing up the tried and true gameplay, this is one to watch out for.

Preview by Rod Oracheski