Xbox Goes Redneck
You can stop looking at me like I could be one of the eccentric characters myself. What I mean by all that is, the game does such a good job of creating the rather icky world it takes place in, that it quite literally takes you over the top. Let's use the prison venue as an example. It doesn't look or sound like someplace you will ever want to spend any time hanging out. It's dirty, gritty, mean, and well… if only you could pack smells into an Xbox… Hypnotix has done a marvelous job of taking all of the little things in life that we try to avoid and putting them into a game where we revel in those tiny little details. On top of that, they have managed to use the ample power of the Xbox to animate all four players, the crowd, and everything else, smoothly and seamlessly. I mean, come on folks, the sand is deformable and shows where you've been, the commentator never shuts up, and the character animations are rock solid. If you are playing in the sewers (yeah, you heard me right, the sewers), then you get to watch the water splash up around your character's ankles. The ripples spread, the reflections in the water shine, and it's all so nice, you try not to think about what is probably floating around in that water. It is a sewer, after all. Even if games of this type aren't your ball of string, you have to admit, they did a hell of a job on this one.
The character renderings are top notch and feature a very high level of variety and humanity. By that, I mean that the characters are all proportioned differently, just like normal people are. While some may be thin to the point that you worry they have anorexia, others look and move like they have spent way too much time in the gym… or on the couch. And, the depth of detail is mind blowing. While these people aren't idealized in every aspect, they are far more human and realistic than you usually see, which is a nice change of pace. Of course, this is a real-world-based game (sort of), so there are some things that would normally occur that we haven't seen in any games, and it's nice to finally see them happening. For example, the characters can tan. I know that isn't anything totally new, except for two little words: tan lines. Think about it for a second. There are different outfits and clothes available for each player, right? Each one is going to fit differently, right? With all the time in the hot sun playing ball there are going to be some tan lines, right? Yep, you got it. This is one of the things that really surprised me when I first saw it. Admit it people, that's pretty darn impressive.
Since there are four characters in each match, how many do you think can be controlled? How about all of them? Yeah, that's right, four gamers can play at the same time, each controlling a character of questionable mental stability. I suppose this means that you have a chance to truly punish your friends for pounding you mercilessly in Halo. Then again, with the fighting engine in place, that may well backfire on you. My advice: Practice first, and then play them. Better yet, build up your favorite character's stats, then copy them over to your memory cartridge and take them to your friend's house. I'm sure the surprise on his face will be worth a laugh or two. On the other hand, you could always just sort of, um, "borrow" his high-level character for your own nefarious purposes. Regardless of what you do with it, there's one thing I can guarantee: You'll only be doing it on Xbox. By Carlson |
