Downhill Domination Review

Developer	Incog Inc.
Publisher	SCEA
Genre	Racing

Through the years, driving games have evolved at an exponential rate. Look at the original Pole Position, and compare it to a game like Downhill Domination. The difference is enormous. Domination is one of the best bike racing games in the next-gen era, mainly because it is so multi-dimensional in all the aspects of the game.

Gameplay - Downhill Domination has a very impressive selection of gameplay options. From the standard races to a moshbowl mode, the game takes several hours just to explore all the modes of play, and each one is unique in its presentation. Of course there's also the multiplayer modes, which are every bit as impressive. In the single player mode, there's the option of single event, career mode, arcade mode, moshbowl, super jump, and training, a few of which must be unlocked. The 1-player game starts out with a nice selection of riders and gameplay styles, but there is so much more to unlock.

At the start of each race, the racers are greeted with a voice-over announcer as the countdown begins; it really helps in giving the game a more realistic feel. The racecourses are every bit as fleshed out as the rest of the game. In locations from Peru to Scotland, each course is entirely different, and it will take a couple tries on each one to get the hang of where to turn, where the big jumps are, and where the short cuts occur. While driving through the challenging courses, "pickups" will appear; these include adrenaline boosts, a huge speed boost, quick mount, which will revitalize a crashed player instantaneously, and energy, a sprint enhancer.

The game is a combination of the typical racing game, and a trick-based game. While performing tricks during a race, the player earns extra points, which are converted into money at the end of the course. The money can be used to buy upgrades at the bike shop. The shop adds an entirely different element to the game, and gives more incentive to attempt as many tricks as possible during a race. During the latter half of the game, it's almost vital to have an upgrade from the shop; the shop is also where some of the game's different play modes are unlocked, so players may find themselves going back to other courses to earn more money -- an ingenious way to gain replay value in the game.

One other noteworthy point is the AI programming. The artificial intelligence in the game is impeccable. The character that the player chooses will make comments when passing an opponent, such as "Sorry, mate, can't stand to come in second". A nice touch is that the computer opponents will make the same type of comments when passing the human player, or even each other. Also, the AI players are able to take the pickups, an ability the AI doesn't have in some games. The artificial intelligence is often not mentioned about a game, but it's so well done in Domination that something had to be said about it.

Among the game's strong points in the gameplay area, there are some gripes. There are some occasions where it is necessary to buy a certain upgrade from the bike shop that costs a whole ton of money. Although it's fun to go back to other courses to earn enough money, it does slow the game down a little bit, and makes it feel like a little less of a true arcade-style racing game. Also, the controls take a bit of time to get used to, mainly because there are so many controls to remember. The game has upwards of two dozen controller functions for tricks, sprinting, attacking nearby opponents, etc. It's nice that there are so many custom control moves in the game, but it makes it a bit of a challenge to remember what button does what.

Graphics - The graphics are generally very well done. The background and foreground visuals are sometimes as realistic as actually being there. The character models for the racers are also notable. Of course, in a game like this, only the backs of the characters will be seen 90% of the time. Even though the design team probably realized this, they still decided to make the fronts of the character models as lifelike as possible.

In addition to the superb background graphics, the game also lets players actually interact with these environments. There's a lot of freedom in where players are allowed to go; there aren't a lot of invisible boundaries -- players can go off the beaten path to find short cuts. There are some buildings and other foreground visuals in these off-road paths that aren't seen anywhere else in the course. This just goes to show how much time went in the graphics field of the game. Basically, almost everything in terms of visuals was done next to perfection.

Sound - The sound in the game is executed nicely. The background themes are nothing that everyone's going to rush to find MP3's for, but they fit in their corresponding areas, and add the overall enjoyment and experience. The best part about the music is that it never seems to be repetitive; the sound tracks are long enough that they don't recycle themselves over and over again during the same race, and each course has its own music.

The sound effects, while minimal, suit the game to a "T". When the player is a little short on a jump, or hits a sign, or crashes into a rail, a small but adequate groan is heard. The sound of the bike on water or sand or gravel also adds to the realism in the game; as far as sound effects go, it's quantity versus quality, and the latter of the two wins in this game. It wouldn't have hurt to have a few more effects, but all in all, the sound is well done.

Overall Value - Surprisingly, Downhill Domination is a very good game. Having low expectations, the game turned out to be an impressive little number for Sony's console. There's a good amount of replay value, for aforementioned reasons as well as the fact that it has an entirely fleshed-out two to four-player mode; multiplayer always adds to the replay value. This game isn't just a racing game, it isn't just a trick-based game, and it isn't just both, but it's an entirely new and interesting experience.

Review by Mark Raby