Game Reviews - Indews

The game starts out with you as a newcomer to the racing scene. First, youre harassed by the cops. Then, youre taunted by the other racers. Your goal is to pick them off one at a time by beating them in races in order to climb the blacklist and for a chance to get their pink slip. At least thats supposed to be your goal, but five minutes into the game and your real goal will be to see ultimate douche bag, Ronnie McCrae fly through his windshield. This character is the ultimate nerd (and thats pretty bad coming from someone who writes video game reviews). There is only one thing that could make up for someone whos more annoying than the stickers that hold CD cases shut: a super-hottie. EA manages to do this by hiring the lovely Josie Maran to play Mia Townsend. In this world of enemies, its good to have an ally or is it

In order to challenge the next member on the blacklist, you must first complete certain tasks. There are two types to choose from: bounties and races. Whats a racing game without races The variety of races is what keeps this series going after so many years. First, theres Circuit, which is a lapped track to see who can get done first. Next, theres Sprint, which is a race from one point in the city to the next. Then, theres Toolbooth, which is basically a time trial. You have to get from one tool booth to the next in the given amount of time. Then, theres Lap Knockout, which is just like Circuit except that one driver is removed after each lap until one remains. Drag is a very short race where you have to learn how to shift. It may seem to difficult to master shifting, while avoiding traffic and turning a corner, but the one-touch lane change makes it a breeze. Finally, Speedtrap is where there are several points in the race where your speed is going to be taken. Your goal is to have the highest combined total of speeds by the end of the race.

Now, lets not forget about the bounties. These are so exciting. Youll be given a task and your job is to complete it. The multiple goals keep this game fresh. You can be told to do almost anything like evade the police in under/over a certain time, or to cause so much money in damage, or even to disable so many cruisers. The only thing that remains constant is that you must evade the cops. To do so, you can knock down signs, gas stations, or water towers and then hide in any of the designated spots pointed out on your mini-map.

All in all, this was one of the greatest racing games of all time. The only downsides were Ronnie Douche Bag McCrae, and that the cars with lower stats seem to win as often if not more often than the cars with better stats. Its like the better car you have, the better car your competitors have. If it wasnt for these two things, I would say that this is the perfect racing game.

-Scizzle