Full Auto 2 (PS3) Review
Posted by Andrew Mellick on 04.11.2007
Another racer for the PS3? That's right, but this isn't any racer. No, this is a hi-octane, weapon charged, orgy of explosions! But when the dust settles is this game worth the price? Read on to find out.
Full Auto 2
The term unblowupable is thrown around a lot these days. In no game is this farther from the truth, than in Full Auto 2. Originally releasing on the 360, this adrenaline charged title crosses break neck speed with big booms, mixed in with a healthy dose of weaponry.
But in a world filled with Twisted Metal’s, Motorstorm’s and Burnout’s is there really any room left for another hyperactive racer? Well, the answer my friend lies in these pages.
Graphics:
This is a very pretty game. The vehicles are beautifully crafted and a few bear a striking resemblance to existing cars (Dodge Charger, Pontiac Trans Am, NASCAR Taurus, etc.). Watching these machines fly at break neck speed is a thing of beauty. Watching them explode off of walls, pillars, and each other is even more breath taking.
In case you hadn’t guessed it by the fast cars, mounted machine guns, missiles, and so on, this game is all about big booms. It doesn’t disappoint. Vehicles slam into immovable objects and explode, sending twisted metal and broken glass flying everywhere. The vehicles do a great job showing the damage they receive and all this carnage looks natural; as natural as thousands of pounds of former car soaring in the air can be.
What’s amazing is these cars fly around at blurring speeds, and then explode in super slow motion. In all this, there is virtually no lag or frame rate issues. It really is a testament to what good developers can do with the power of a system like the PS3.
Gameplay:
Well, I hope you like those amazing explosions because you will be seeing a lot of them. Yes if you’re looking for the relatively low learning curve of the original Full Auto, you’ve come to the wrong place.
Oh sure you’ll see plenty of explosions because your car will be on the receiving end of several each race. Unfortunately for this game the controls are just not responsive enough to keep up with the speed of the cars. The result is a lot of frustration. It’s not so bad on some of the death matches seeing as the goal here is to destroy your opponents and not really to get anywhere. However, in the races (which make up a good portion of the career mode) could drive a person to road rage. One minute your in the lead, the next you hit the corner of a dumpster and you are in dead last.
The game does try to remedy this issue with an “unwreck button”. It’s the racing equivalent of the Sands of time ability to rewind the game. This does help somewhat if an opponent tweaks you out of first or you catch some slowdown sliding off of an object. However, if you are unlucky enough to hit something head on, not even the ability to rewind your crash is enough time to correct your course. The end result?
A car slamming into the wall again, shattering your hopes of winning…along with your racer’s legs.
Sound:
The game’s is passable albeit totally expected. Car explosions are met with the proper sounds, however, they are a bit blunt and I would have liked to hear sounds of aftermath, such as broken glass scattering. Still, the affects do well enough to emit the feeling of a car crash.
Musically the game is pretty much what you’d expect. Full of electronica sounding tracks to get the blood flowing. Later on in the game certain cars have a licensed song tied to them. This is a nice thought but in practice it’s kind of off putting. See if you catch up to one of these vehicles, it’s “song” gets louder but if you fall back then it fades away and you are left with the unlicensed soundtrack again.
Overall the sound is perfectly adequate for a game like this. Nothing really sticks out as you play. Like I said I would have loved to hear more sound affects after the crashes and the vehicle “songs” are a nice idea but make game play awkward in the end.
Lasting Appeal:
This game features some pretty fun battle types online. Unfortunately you’ll be hard pressed to find anybody to play them with. Due to either too few PS3 owners or too few Full Auto 2 owners, there are very few combatants online to play. What’s worse is that the game features no communications between headsets, so you can’t even get in contact with someone and hunt for others together. No you have to sit there for hours just waiting to get enough opponents.
The story mode in this game is a bit cheesy and overdone. The city is overrun and you have to fight back against the man. For some reason the only way to achieve this is by mounting a shotgun to your car and going crazy on traffic. It really hurts a game when there isn’t a real good story to sink your teeth into.
There is a decent amount of stuff here to unlock. New weapons and vehicles are available if you are able to achieve various tasks. However, it would have been nice to see some more diversity in the tracks, which unfortunately, get repetitive.
Fun Factor:
While it is fun to watch there are so many frustrating aspects to this game, you’ll have a hard time having much fun.
The story mood is convoluted and cheesy. I would have liked to have seen something a lot more fleshed out in this area. Going against the computer in death matches is a nightmare because the AI is ridiculously unforgiving.
The game is just too repetitive and doesn’t offer very much in terms of anything ground breaking or new. It’s a rehashed idea that isn’t done very well. I can see this game sitting in the bottom of 19.99 bargain bins in the not too distant future.
The 411:
There is plenty of eye candy here in the way of crashes and the game itself is a nice hybrid of speed and carnage.
Unfortunately there are just far too many problems here to make this a great game. The controls are not nearly as responsive as they need to be. The online play, while strong is lacking in that there is no competition to be had. The difficulty is a bit excessive and makes the game hard to access for the general public.
Bottom line here, the game features some very fast action with some very big booms. It really doesn’t provide a whole lot more than that.
Graphics
8.0
Beautiful cars and breath taking explosions. All of this done with no lag at all.
Gameplay
6.0
The game offers a few fun aspects, but the controls and the ridiculously difficult AI take away from those.
Sound
7.0
Pretty average, nothing new or exciting here.
Lasting Appeal
7.0
The game offers a few things to unlock but the online play is a big disappointment due to the lack of players
Fun Factor
6.5
In the end, this is just another smash 'em up racer, nothing more.
