007 Racing

Electronic Arts has taken the racing genre and thrown in a James Bond storyline to provide gamers with an action packed story driven racer. But does it work and will gamers find it a title worthy to be placed on their shelf? Well let us begin and I will tell you why you might not want to rush out and grab this title.

In 007 racing you become Bond, James Bond, worlds best secret agent. The game places your character behind the wheel of some of the most dangerous and specialized cars from Q.

As with everything from Q, all the vehicles are equipped with an assortment of weaponry, like the machine gun, missile launcher and hellfire missiles, plus each vehicle is equipped with some of the latest specialized equipment like the oil and smoke thrower. These weapons and items will be needed if you wish to complete each mission as everything from minefields, to tanks, to helicopters will be thrown at you to prevent you from completing your mission.

The storyline of the game places you in an assortment of levels in which you will have to drive, fight and accomplish goals through a multitude of primary missions. The missions are your basic drive around the maps acquiring the needed weaponry and blowing items up. This is your goal in 007 Racing.

Graphically this game was somewhat distorted and blurry on the Playstation with coarse edges and effects when you used your oil or smoke throwers. When tested on the Playstation 2 console the games graphics went straight out the door with boxy and distorted edges and horrible motion effects. This is a title that must remain on the Playstation to view it as it was meant to be seen. The vehicles and landscapes in 007 Racing were lacking the smoothness found in most racers, and at times can become somewhat frustrating to view while at high speeds.

The sound in 007 Racing was your average “hear the engine roar, listen to people scream as they get machine gunned”. Gameplay backdrop music did provide a somewhat pulse pounding experience when you had the time to listen and hear the music. However, due to the gameplay style it was more annoying, tending to break concentration while trying to secure new items.

Gameplay in 007 Racing is the most disturbing aspect of the game. With titles like Need for Speed and Ridge Racer, plus the latest Playstation 2 games to compete with, 007 Racing falls short. While most racers are designed to be knuckle burning, lip-biting action, 007 becomes more of a straight “drive over new weapons so you can shoot more vehicles” exercise. The tension of a head-to-head style racer is not felt while playing this title. The goal during each level is to drive over different icons providing you with weapons, life, or ammo, while shooting anything that moves as you race from point a to point b.

The true value of the game can only be felt when played as a multiplayer title against another human racer. 007 Racing provides gamers with peer-to-peer competitions or cooperative missions to be completed. Due to the constant drive, pick up item, shoot bad guy theme I found myself playing less and less of the solo game and playing more of the multiplayer aspect.

007 Racing provides racing enthusiasts with some interesting multiplayer gaming experience on the Playstation, but lacks the current style and playability of more recent racers. As with all Playstation titles, technical problems were nonexistent. If you liked Spy Hunter then this is a title you may find enjoyable, but if you are seeking a "Kick the tires and light the fires" style racer, look.

Genre: Racing Players: 1-2 Release Date: Available Publisher: EA Games Developer: EA Games ESRB: Everyone System Requirements :