A Full Auto Career

Full Auto™ will revolutionize the racing/action genre when it's released on February 14 with its completely destructible environments, stunning next-gen graphics, stellar track design, online multiplayer, and innovations like the Unwreck meter, but what exactly will it offer for its offline single-player component?

My mechanic hates me.

A lot of arcade-style racers offer relatively simplistic straightforward campaigns with little replay value, but Full Auto shakes free of that mold in a big way with a lengthy career mode sporting several different race-types, medals to be earned, cars and weaponry to unlock, Achievements for your gamerscore, and more. Here's just what you can expect.

Initial Instruction
Molding the tutorials into the actual singe-player career has become commonplace in games, as its inclusion ensures that you're properly instructed in the mechanics of the game before being thrust into meat of the experience. Full Auto is no different. Run through several races in the beginning that teach you the basics of driving, how to fire and aim your weapons, how to use and build up your Unwreck and Boost meters and more. No need to worry about learning the ropes. The game takes care of that.

Get used to close shaves.

Medals and Load-Outs
Before each race you have a couple of factors to keep in mind. First, every race sports a semi-auto and full-auto medal to shoot for (these are just the names, they don't reference a need to use a particular weapon), with each medal you earn offering you some sort of reward (early on this is usually a new paintjob). Each race has a different set of requirements for earning the medals, so make sure you know just what is required of you to earn a medal.

You also need to decide just what car you want to take out on the track, with each vehicle boasting different stats. Some may be large and in charge with outstanding durability, others speedy little roadsters with great acceleration and maneuvering, and every combination in-between.

In addition to the car choice, you can also select from different weapon load-outs, so if the up-close-and-personal combat is your fancy, the front facing shotgun and rear facing grenade-launcher may be to your liking. Conversely, the dual-job of front facing machine gun and missile launcher might seem worthier. Of course, there are many more diverse selections as you unlock different weaponry, but you get the idea.

Shoot that rear-mounted shotgun!

Race Types
The simple structure Full Auto offers goes something like this. Win races to unlock more races, but you don't just go from one to the next; you'll usually have a few different options to choose from to help keep the variety alive. Here are a few of the basic race types you'll encounter:

• Gang Wars: Sometimes traffic fights back and that's just the case in the Gang Wars scenario. Here you'll find dedicated drivers tricked out with weapons just like you.  What's more, they're gunning for you with reckless abandon.
• Warlord: This scenario pits the ultimate cars against each other with speed and destruction like you've never seen before. Aptly named, these guys are the king of the road.
• Rampage: Though not recommended in your daily commute, Rampage is a satisfying release after being stuck in an hour of stop-and-go traffic. Annihilate a set amount of cars in traffic as quickly as you possibly can (pre-determined amounts will net you medals as well). Run them down, blow them up, riddle them with bullets, catch them on fire by shredding a nearby gas-station—use your imagination!
• Sudden Death: Sometimes even Unwreck cannot save you. This game type tests your skills by only giving you one life to win.

This is just a sampling of what you can expect from the career-mode in Full Auto. With the depth it offers both in sheer number of races as well as the variety of race-types with different challenges, the replay value that unlockable items and medals offer, and the many Achievements to shoot (often literally) for, you can expect the single-player experience to entertain for weeks and weeks, if not months and months.

Article by Alex McLain