The Fast and the Furious (PS2) Preview
Posted by Armando Rodriguez on 09.07.2006
A racer worth having?
The Fast and the Furious will be entering the PS2 highways later this month looking to compete with Need For Speed in the street racer category. Does it has the goods? Or is this just another lame movie game?
The Fast and the Furious has no official relation to any of the 3 movies, but it takes place in Tokyo, home of the latest entry in the series, Tokyo Drift. Mountain Races are the core of the game, which presents you with 5 different mountains to tackle, each one with it's own series of events, races and racers. Grip and Drift Battles are the meat of the game, with other events like Destination Races tossed in for good measure. Grip Races are your standard races, but they take place in mountains with plenty of twists and dangerous turns. Having a car with good grip(hence the name of the event) is a must to avoid loosing speed or control of your car. Drift battles are your typical scorefest that doesn't require you to cross the finish line first(although you do get points for that), but to pull off as many sick looking drifts as you can. You are awarded points for each cool trick and unlike Need For Speed, you will not loose points for bumping a wall or ending the drift too quickly. Even the shortest drifts are worth something and hitting walls takes a small amount of points from that particular drift, but not all of it. Looks like Drift Races are going to be significantly easier here.
Get ready for fast and furious action!
Destination Races are your typical point to point race, just like Sprint was in Need For Speed Most Wanted. Also much like in NFS Underground 2, you will find other racers around the city, which you can race against. They are usually marked with green triangles and flashing your lights at them will begin a race. The first to put 200 meters in front of the other wins. During your career, you will also race bosses that, once you defeat them, will give you a new ride, several discounts in part shops around the city and other bonuses.
There is no shortage of cars in the game. The game is divided in Japanese and American Manufacturers. Head to the Japanese section for Mazda, Mitsubishi and Toyota, including models only made for the Japanese Market. Head to the American Makers to find Ford, Chevy, Acura and more. Cars can be upgraded with performance and visual upgrades and the game encourages you to build cars specific for each type of event. In total there are five levels of parts to unlock.
By combining an arcade feel with realistic upgrade setups and a popular movie license, Namco seems to be creating a must have racer. Will this game live to the license namesake, or will it crash and burn like Namco's previous effort, Street Racing Syndicate? We are just a couple of weeks away from finding out!
