Tuesday, 28 October 2014

DAY 301 / GAME 301 Vigilante 8

DAY 301 / GAME 301


Vigilante 8


      There weren't many Twisted Metal clones out there, in fact, I can only think of two:  Interstate '76 and it's spin-off title for the PlayStation Vigilante 8.  (Though, looking into it I also see there was a sequel to Vigilante 8 and a Star Wars game Star Wars: Demolition.)  
         Though they appear similar from the outside, they both shine in a different light.  Twisted Metal, with it's hearses and monster trucks has a much more heavy metal feel to it.  Vigilante 8 however, with it's Corvettes, RVs and dune buggies, and it's disco score, had a very 70's feel to it.  Though both games did feel like they could have come from the same developer.

      Vigilante 8 was developed by Luxoflux which, believe it or not, only consisted of 5 people total.  You certainly couldn't tell, the game itself was on par with Twisted Metal which was developed by SingleTrac, which was (I believe) a somewhat larger, bigger backed company.  It featured a half-decent soundtrack which, once the game was loaded into the RAM, could be swapped out with any other audio CD you popped into the PS1's drive.  



    Vigilante 8's story is kind of interesting looking back now.  Apparently the idea is that in an alternate version of 1975 there exists a global oil crisis.  This has caused rampant crime in the US forcing the military to take over, and though the major cities are pretty much locked down, the surrounding areas have become free from law and order.  (Hence, the vigilantism.)  Beyond that, apparently a global oil regime wants to destroy the U.S. in order to ensure it's monopoly on petroleum.  


    Vigilante 8 was a terrific take on the whole vehicle arena combat game.  It was a nice changeup in vehicle choices compared to Twisted Metal and the level designs were a nice change as well.  It was also nice to have yet another two-player splitscreened game that my brother and I could enjoy almost equally.  Though our preference was certainly for Twisted Metal.  As I mentioned before, Vigilante 8 saw a sequel come of itself, as well as an N64 port of the game which had some bonuses above the original copy.  I also just discovered that quite a few years back there was a remake on the Xbox 360 titles Vigilante 8 Arcade.  (As it was released digitally on the Xbox Live Arcade platform.)  And though the original had a slightly different feel to it, I may have to pick this one up and give it a whirl.

No comments:

Post a Comment