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Stuntman Review
Anthony Wolfe
00/12/0000
From the creators of Driver comes the ultimate title for Evil Kenieval wannabees...
Behind all the glory, the film premieres, and big money actors, lies the true star of modern day filmā¦The Stuntman. Although dangerous, the profession of a Stuntman is quite a rewarding one. I mean, lets think about it. You get to walk the planet everyday as an arse kickin, sun-glass wearin, braggin to your friends, arrogant SOB all because you put your life on the line for no rewards, no recognition, and little money. What can be better my friends?
Although the feeling of being a stuntman is oh so good, letās face it. A personsā line of work means nothing these days, unless it is represented in the videogame world. Well, luckily the folks over at Reflections took care of that, by creating a game that lets everyday chums like us partake in the actions of a Stuntman.
First off, I would have to say that I believe that the title for of Stuntman should be change to āStunt Driverā. It might not have the ring of the āstunt industryā associated with it, but it is definitely a more appropriate title for this game.
The basic premise of the game is that, you start off as a rookie driver on the set of a basic āDukes of Hazzardā type film and work your way up until you start driving in āJames Bondā type action flicks. Sounds easy right? Well it sure as hell isnāt easy when you get into the game! Like the Driver series before, Stuntman is a challenge and a big one at that. Itās not so much the individual controls, or missions that are the problem, itās the combination of them together. In order to get through the basic levels you have to be very quick with the reflexes, much less the advanced ones, the likes of which had me running around in a huge fit. This game can be very frustrating and yet very fun at times. There are instances in which you will be playing the game for upwards of 3 hours and not advance a single level (I call it the Tomb Raider syndrome). Yet, there are times in which you are having such a good time that it doesnāt even matter. Thatās just the type of game it is, HARD, plain and simple. There is no ālet me find a way around thisā or āhmm, yea I cheated my way throughā, it takes skill, quickness, and a little bit of style to get the hang of this game baby.
As I stated early itās not so much the controls that are the problem, I mean, they are simple enough to get the hang of. The layout is standard driving fare; X accelerates, as Square is to Brake/Reverse. Then the traditional Handbrake makes an appearance controlled by the Triangle and Circle buttons. R1 is to make sure people know youāre coming, by tutinā the useless horn, and L1 provides the āactionā button. For changing in between cameras you use the select button, and for different in-car views, you would press, R2: Right, L2: Left, L2 & R2: Back. The layout is easy and yet typical for the PS2.
After all of my above ramblings about the Gameplay of Stuntman, I must say that I honestly feel that it holds forth great Gameplay mechanics that provide the game with a huge level of playability. Iām really digginā the fact that you canāt just breeze through the game and put it down. You have to take time and get to known the game in a sense. Only then, can you master the Gameplay.
When I first laid eyes on the screens of Stuntman (back in the day of course), I must say that I was in awe at the detail and quality of them. Now of course when I popped the final into my PS2, I was looking forward to a graphical feast. Well I must say that I am truly impressed with most of the effort put forth by Reflections. I feel that while in the game environments look very good, the cars and the way they interact steal the spotlight. The game portrays such realism in situations where a car crashes through an object, or when a car strikes another object and physics takes its course. I rant over this point because itās just feels good to see all of this action on screen. You actually get the feel of being in an action movie when an engine has that great a sense of realism.
While I am a big fan of some of the graphical achievements in Stuntman, I must say that I am disappointed in some of the visual aspects of Stuntman. I think that the environments as a whole are mediocre, admittedly there is a lot going on, but still, when you look at some of the backgrounds, they seem rather drab and monotonous. Another thing that really bothers me is the frequent framerate problems; sometimes it affects the game so much that you cannot negotiate key parts of your mission. Thatās part of the frustration in Stuntman as a matter of factā¦FRAMERATE! Oh and horrible load times too.
We have picked apart all of the fine parts of Stuntman except for itās audio. Basically the audio aspects of Stuntman go right along with the graphical aspect. Some things about the audio are nice and some not so nice. I was quite impressed with the music and sound effects in Stuntman. Whilst the music and sound effects do not break any extraordinary ground in the art of videogame music, they do serve there purpose quite well. Also a plus in the audio department, is the pretty well thought out voice acting in the sequencesā. I usually get bored of things like that, but that did not happen in Stuntman, of course I couldāve just been too tired to skip after a long level bout. The quick downside to the audio was the announcer. You just canāt win with this guy, heās an overall pain in the arse as are most announcers in games. Of course a true stuntman will be too busy to notice, but hey, Iāve got to point these things out anyway.
