Jason pops caps in many fool's asses. And plays this game.
Publisher: Ubisoft
Mon, 19 September 2005
by: Jason
To say this game is influenced by rap and all that goes with it( i.e.:, pimped up cars, more bling than Mr T and the occasional bit of hot lead action.), is like saying the pacific ocean is a bit big and slightly wet. Rap imagery and culture abound in this game and as you would expect of a production like this one the soundtrack was written and produced by rap artist Guerilla Black, never heard of him myself, but not being a rap fan that's probably not surprising. However the music does suit the style and mood of the game quite well.
On with the story, our main protagonist is a young man called Buck who owes his allegiance to a large veteran of the street Dupree who is currently involved in a turf war with a Mexican mafia hotshot Cortez, to teach Cortez some manners Buck enlists the help of Queen B; an attractive woman who is deadly with a weapon, in a game full of attractive women who are deadly with weapons.
 | | Rollin', in his 5.0 |
At this point I was expecting an average Grand Theft Auto clone, however I was surprised to discover instead an average Twisted Metal clone, with just enough new stuff sprinkled on top to grab your attention. The first thing you will probably notice when you first start the game is Buck is relegated to riding shotgun, very early in your first race you will find that in this case the shotgun is quite literal. Over the selection of 4 different types of vehicle Sport (fairly wild modern looking things), Muscle Cars (older style), Pickup (What we call Ute's here in Australia) and SUV (bloody great four wheel drive tanks, somewhere between a Landcruiser and an armored car, all of these have either a sunroof or in the case of the pickups, an open tray, all of these allowing for Buck to stand up and unload a storm of gunfire at the closest opponent.
As you would imagine, controls for this type of gameplay are difficult to pull off Ride or Die manages this fairly well. In single player mode the usual driving controls apply (Analog stick to steer X button for gas, Square for brake) with the addition of the right shoulder buttons being used to make Buck pop up and empty his current weapon to the front or rear. The toys list for this game is quite impressive ranging from a very wussy pistol to great big, attention grabbing, destruction creators like the chaingun and rocket launcher. Pound your opposition enough and you will be rewarded with some of the best crash scenes since the last burnout game, unfortunately the respawn as do you after loosing your health bar(this can be replenished with health pickups scattered on the road along with weapons)
 | | Biggie vs. Tupac...to the extreme! |
In Multiplayer is where this game has probably its most promising moments with one player driving and another handling the shooting side of things it becomes mildly entertaining rather than an average game trying very hard to present an attitude. A note of annoyance are races with all the weapon pickups replaced with mines, as you can imagine 6 cars flinging mines all over the track makes for impromptu racing decisions after a lap or two.
Don't get me wrong this isn't a bad game its just not out standing, the cutscenes are nice and drive the story (such as it is) along, the cars have the required look, buck has access to a larger selection of weaponry than a small South American nation it just doesn't have that something special it takes in the competition of games for the cash in your wallet today. That being said some of you may find this game, best described as a cross between Destruction Derby and Boyz n the Hood with more guns, absolutely awesome and if that's your cup of tea then congratulations to you.
by: Jason
More articles by Jason
Not a bad game by any stretch, but nothing outstanding either, rent this one first | |
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