Ok, because my wife is the coolest wife ever, she got me Full Auto for Valentines? Day. She even pre-ordered it via EB Games and scored the free 360 face plate.<?
Now I was really looking forward to this game, and the reviewers have tanked it. So I was a little nervous.
However, the game is, to be blunt, insanely fun. It delivers exactly what it promises, high speed vehicles, a wide variety of weapons, and totally destructible tracks.
Most of the reviews raise the following issues:
No Story: The game has a campaign mode, which is a bunch of races with different objectives, but there is no story. Ok, but the game's promise was basically "PGR3 or Burnout with guns". Where is the story in PGR3? Where is the story in Burnout? In fact, where is the story in Grand Tourismo? Racing games don't have stories. I'm not sure why this game needs a story. You drive, you shoot stuff. It's Car Wars in a vid game. 'nuff said.
Unrealistic Physics: Yes, the game has "<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
ffice:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on">Hollywood</st1:place>" physics. That is, you shoot a car enough times in the gas tank, it explodes and flies 20 feet in the air. (Anyone who watches Mythbusters knows this is totally unrealistic) You can get huge jumps off of seemly small objects and ramps. But does anyone really expect realistic Physics from a game that lets you fly down a track and 90 mph launching rockets, 50 caliber machine guns, grenades, etc? If you put your mind in a place where this game is? a "movie" where James Bond and Dukes of Hazard type physics apply, you'll love it. If you need F=ma and E=mc2 to be in effect, they ain't. If they were, when you fired that roof mounted howitzer from the top of a Honda Civic, the car would flip.
It's Not "Next Gen" Graphics: Well, it depends what you define as "Next Gen". If next gen means that all that matters is how shiny things are, then ok. However if polygon count maters, and persistent damage matters, and totally destructible environments mater, then this game definitely could only be done on a 360. You can blow up everything. To the point that you're racing under an overpass with a train on it; Hit it a few times with a missile and watch the bridge, and the train, fall down. Shoot that factory tower in the distance and watch it collapse. Blow out the plate glass window. Not only that, but every little chunk of rubble or piece of broken glass stays on the track. On your second lap you'll see the bits of the window you blew out. You'll have to swerve to avoid the lamp post you took out. And that train is now in the way blocking the road, better shoot it. Also, damage is persisten on the cars. Shoot a shotgun into your opponent's trunk and see the buck shot pattern appear, pass him again later, and the patter is still there "Hey, that's the bastard I shot earlier." It also a joy to fire machine guns and watch rear windows blow out and class fly everywhere. Again, this is Holywood, in real life we all know that bullets don't blow out safty glass windows.
It gets boring: The line in many reviews is "Racig and blowing things up gets old". Ehh, only as old as it gets in PGR3, or Burnout, or any other game that is essentially the same mechanics. Racing on the same track is actually a <st1:place w:st="on">LOT</st1:place> of fun in FA, as you can try to blow up new things, and jump over new elements of terrain.
It's not innovative: This one I don't get. The rewind time feature is really cool. Now I know this has been done in games like POP, but never in a racing game to my knowledge. And I've never seen a racing game with environments this destructible. Race through a corner store, in one window, out the other. The game also has two additional subtle innovations: The way it handles boost and time rewind. These are both meters, but how they charge is different. The Boost meter charges when you do cool driving moves: power slides, jumps, etc. Think kudos in PGR, it motivates you to try cool driving techniques to increase your boots (turbo) button. The time rewind feature is recharged based on the amount of destruction you cause. Blow up that billboard, take out that enemy car, blow up that fire truck, all these things score wreck points (ala Burnout) and recharge your rewind time. Basically as you race you have several things to worry about:
- Win the race
- Drive cool to keep your boost meter charged
- Blow stuff up to keep your rewind meter charge
- Try not to get killed by other drivers? weapons.
Another great innovation is how aiming works with your weapons. Many weapons are fixed mounted (front or rear) but some can be upgraded to aim. Aiming is accomplished with the right stick and shooting is done by clicking it. This is fairly easy to do while you steer with the left stick and keep the right trigger pulled for the gas. This skill is essential because some enemy cars are equipped with rear firing weapons such as grenade launchers and mine layers. Staying directly behind these guys to line up a shot is deadly. What you need to do is pull up next to 'em, rotate your gun, and let them have it from an angle. You can do some neat stuff if you use a weapon that ?imparts force?. These weapons are defined in the book, but they?re obvious like missiles, shotguns etc. Firing one of these weapons will give the target car a shove, so shooting them in the right rear quarter panel is like giving the car the classic ?right rear tap? (a trick that cops use) and can spin them out or cause them to swerve into a building.
The Cars All feel the same: Uh, not to me they don?t. Driving the jeep is totally different than the race cars. Even in the same class the cars handle differently. The muscle car has enough torque that you can power slide then accelerate to take turns tighter at high speed. Try this in a less powerful vehicle and you?ll careen into the gas station and possibly blow the whole place up. But don?t count the slow and clunky vehicles out. They have huge amounts of armor (another thing you need to keep your eye on) and can really cruise in the middle of the pack and dish out damage while taking a good amount of fire. Don?t try this in a sporty coup, you won?t last long.
The game handles slow motion moments and replays really well. And the time rewind feature adds some great strategy. How many times have you been running a perfect race in a game, only to screw up in the end, crash, and come in 10th. No problem in FA, just rewind a few seconds, break a little sooner, and try the corner again. But it is cooler than that. Fire your rocket and just miss your opponent? Rewind real quick and try again? But if you use all that rewind time on missed shots and dodging mines, you?ll be out when you need it for that missed turn.
Summary: Is this game a 10? a 9? No, probably not. It does have a few hiccups in frame rate, and if it had a couple extra elements it could have been outstanding. 9?s and 10?s are for games like Halo and Splinter Cell, and this is not one of those. However, it is CERTAINLY no 5.5 (For SHAME OXM, for SHAME, I?m still trying to figure out how King Kong got a 9.0), if we are being honest this game is probably 7.5-8.5 material. Meaning a good game, and if you like the genre, a very good game. A few reviewers did get it right, and reviewed the game on it?s terms and gave it a fair shake, they are here:
(9.5) http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/launchreview.asp?reviewid=665722
(9.5) http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/launchreview.asp?reviewid=665982
(8.5) http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/launchreview.asp?reviewid=666267
(8.3) http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/launchreview.asp?reviewid=665359
(8.0) http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/launchreview.asp?reviewid=665775
So don?t let all the reviews dictate your opinion of this game. Full Auto delivers what it promises, nothing more, nothing less. But for me, that promise is exactly what I wanted. My 360 is proudly wearing its flaming Full Auto face plate, and it will be for some time.
Happy Gaming,
Russ
