|2-Vigilante 8







                         Reviewed by Dr.Dick

Developer: Luxosoft
Publisher: Activision
Format   : Playstation

With  the  motor  car becoming an all-too important part of modern life,
and  people hanging and risking everything on the continued existence of
personal  transport,  it's no wonder that the government is taking steps
to  tax  and  price  motorists off the road with more increase in petrol
duty,  the  aboltion  of  4-star  fuel and even taxes on company parking
spaces.   Pretty  soon,  cars  will be outlawed, so on outlaws will have
cars.  This is the world of Vigilante 8.

On  one side you have the Vigilantes, a group of government-hired, er...
vigilantes,  and  on  the other the Coyotes, and band of ruthless rogues
who  live  to  drive  and want nothing but guns and gas so that they can
continue with their fun.  It doesn't take much to work out that one side
hates  the  other  and  vice-versa,  which  sets  the scene for the many
battles between the two factions.

The  game  oozes quality:  The graphics are solid and very detailed; the
CD  music  is thumpingly good; the control setup is superbly logical and
easy  to  master and the whole game reeks quality.  Even the characters,
of  which  there  are 8 to start with, are wildly varied, so that along-
side  the  usual  smart-dressed  babe  and greasy rocker-type, there's a
funky  disco-dancer,  an  alien-loving hippy and a mad old man who keeps
bees.   In  his  van.   Further  characters are unlocked as you progress
through  the  game  completing  Quests.  Complete two quests to unlock a
special character and so on until the final head-to-head.

The vehicles all reflect the drivers' personalities and are as varied as
they  are,  everything  from a truck, through jeeps and roadsters, up to
and  including  a  school bus, is included.  Naturally, each vehicle has
it's  own  handling  properties,  but  they  also have their own special
weapons to use:  lightning rods, 3x3 rocket launchers and strange things
for the summoning of UFO's all feature in the varied artillery.

Each  of  the initial Quests comprises four missions where, depending on
your choice of Coyote or Vigilante, you will have to defend or destroy a
structure  within  the  play  area.  These play areas are huge, and they
remind  you somewhat of Carmageddon.  Similarly, the cars take on damage
too,  and  your vehicle's performance will be affected by this.  It will
even  stall if you are hammered too much, forcing you to frantically try
to restart the engine.

As  with  all good arcade drive-em-ups, you can pick up weapons, shields
and  repair icons along the way to aid you in your quest.  The manner in
which  the weapons are attached to your car (as opposed to the old trick
of  just  increasing  a  number on the stats screen) is pretty effective
too,  your  car  soon  starts to resemble something out of Mad Max, with
turrets and launchers sticking out at all angles.

5 Words:
                       This. Is. A. Great. Game.

I want to stop this article right here because, quite frankly, typing it
is  keeping me away from my Playstation and Vigilante 8.  I want to feel
my  Dual  Shock  controller  rumble  in  my  hands  as I take a hit from
someone's  special weapon, I want to do a handbreak turn and line myself
up  on a baddie ready to unleash half a dozen rockets upon his person, I
want to play Vigilante 8 and I want to play it NOW!

  Graphics      10/10 - Excellent detail, brilliant hires screens.
  Sound         10/10 - CD is so good you'll play it in your car!
  Persentation  10/10 - Very highly polished, absolutely perfect.
  Playability   10/10 - Great fun, easy to pull off groovy turns.
  Features      10/10 - Dual Shock and normal analog supported, woo!

  Overall       10/10 - This game is gonna be HUGE. Buy it. Now.

Fin.