Review:

How many of you out there actually remember the 70s? Well, I do and let me tell you it was the most horrendous decade of the twentieth century. Gaudy clothes, polyester, gold chains, bad music, bellbottoms, and let's not forget the Bicentennial Minute. In Interstate 76 you get to live in a different 1976, one where the fuel crisis gets really out of hand and some people have taken it upon themselves to become 'auto vigilantes'. They armor their cars, place weapons all around, and go out blasting the bad guys for all they're worth. You play Groove Champion, and your sister Jade is one such vigilante. Unfortunately, Jade gets killed and you want to avenge her death. You take her car, team up with her partner Taurus (complete with giant afro), machanic Skeeter, and take over where she left off. Your mission is to hunt down and kill her murderer, Antonio Malochio. During the game you will be kept informed of the mission status by Taurus via a CB radio in your car. The excellent plot is just the tip of the iceberg in this game. You have seventeen well thought-out missions in 'The Trip', the name given to the plot-driven aspect of the game. They range from training missions to escorts to all out destruction. Your final goal is to track down Malochio and make him pay. You will be driving a '72 Picard Pirahna, one of the ficticious muscle cars made up for the game. Most of the cars are taken from real cars of the era, the Leprechaun obviously a Gremlin, the Pony a Pinto, and so on. Except in this game, they all come heavily armed and dangerous. All of the cars are excellently rendered 3D polygon models. In fact, the whole game was taken from the Mechwarrior II engine, and tuned for this game. The characters, environment, you name it, are all rendered in 3D. In fact, even the cut scenes are done in the same polygon format. No leaving the game for flashier animated 2D scenes. Everything here is powered by the 3D engine, an excellent touch. The only problem with the graphics is the fact that other vehicles tend to 'clip' quite a bit, even becoming one with the walls now and then. The music is well done, but unfortunately also keeps with the '70s theme. I guess we have to sacrifice something for authenticity. The voice acting is very vell done, and Malochio himself is wonderfully voice-acted by John DeLancie, who does an excellent job. Gameplay is excellent, after performing your missions, Skeeter will salvage everything he can off of the battlefield, then repair and refit your car between missions. There are about three upgrades per car part that you can achieve in the course of the game. You start with a V6 engine, and will scavenge V8s and even V10s by the game's end. Brakes start as simple drum brakes, but you will find disc and drum, and even four wheel discs later on. You will really feel the difference in the performance of your vehicle as you upgrade. Special parts may also be found, like a nitrous add-on for that speed boost when you need it. Weapons include multiple caliber machine guns, cannons, rockets, oil slicks, mortars, land mines and more. If you're lucky enough to find them, turret mount weapons are also available. These track your enemies for you without aiming. Just target an enemy, and the gun will keep a bead on it. Almost everything about this game was well thought out. One of the small touches I love is the fact that the game manual is made to look exactly like an owner's manual for a car. The 'Auto Vigilante Compendium' contains instructions on how to use your car, vehicle statistics of other models, and even some notes left to you by your sister. Nice touch. Other than 'The Trip', the game includes a couple of other single player options. These include separate missions, for that 'instant fix' we crave, and arena style combat, where you can try out the other cars from the game and duke it out one-on-one. Multiplayer is included, the game supports network play, modem, null modem, and best of all, Internet play. You may log into Activision's server for free and duke it out with other people whenever you like. So, does this excellent game have any drawbacks? I hate to have to bring it up, but there is one major flaw in the game. Interstate 76 has the most user-hostile save game feature I have ever seen in a game. You cannot save your game in the midst of a mission. You may only save your game while on the salvage or configuration screens after a mission has been conpleted. If you forget to save your game there, and advance into the next mission, you are stuck and must hope to complete the mission correctly or all of your work since the last save is lost. Unlike Dark Forces, which also had a horrible save game problem, there are no freeze points in Interstate 76. If you fail your mission, you must start at the very beginning of it again. This problem is certain to frustrate many, if not most, of it's players (it certainly ticked ME off). How much effort would it have taken to add a simple save game option? In all other aspects, this is an excellent game, lots of fun, and multiplayer friendly. Save game problem or not, I highly recommend this game. Just remember, NEVER get out of the car.

Bottom Line: Excellent gameplay, missions are well thought out. An action game that isn't just 'blast everything in sight'. Some clipping in the graphics. Major flaw in the save game philosophy, fail a mission, and you have to start at the beginning again. Still lots of fun to play, and multiplayer friendly. Finally, something to like about the '70s.