Ok, here are my first impressions of TMB.
First of all let me say that this will probably be the most un-biased review that you will read on here given that I am pretty hard to please, and I do not buy into a lot of hype over games. The first thing I have to address is graphics. I give the graphics 8/10.
The graphics are awesome! (8 is a very high score for me).
From the buildings to the vehicles the graphics are quite smooth.
Some of the things I like the most about the graphics are when you launch a missile, it really looks like you are launching a missile! And you can follow it until it reaches it’s target. And the explosions are terrific. The flow of the weapons are very smooth (you will hear the word “smooth” a lot in this review)
And the levels themselves just look great.
The reason it gets an 8 is because there is always room for improvement.
And I think there is about 2 more notches available for graphics to become better.
As for controls I give it a 8/10. The controls are again “smooth” and at first I was worried about the right joystick being used for the gas(up) and reverse(down) and the left joystick for turning. I believe that a lot of ps2 games have been ruined by the left/right joystick at the same time crap (Red Fraction, Time Splitters, ect…). But this game has a control saving option that I did not know about until I purchased the game. And that is you also use the square button for gas (instead of the right joystick). And trust me all is good.
If you like the left/right sitck it’s there, if not the buttons still work.
The fire and weapons select are set up for ease of use (thankfully).
The player can concentrate on playing the game instead of remembering which stupid button does what. They are easy to get used to . And believe me, you need all your attention on not getting your ass blown up! Not on the controls.
It got an 8 because the controls would have really rocked if they were completely customizable.
Ok now for gameplay. I give this a 9/10.
First of all the weapons are easy to get used to. And when they launch, they do what they are supposed to. You can actually follow a homing missile it seems like forever until it finds its target. And I LOVE the fact that you can just about destroy everything!
You can crush houses, buildings, pedestrians, other cars, fences, trees, structures, and just about everything else. I also like the fact that on the suburbia level that everything you hit with your vehicle does not stop you in your tracks. You pretty much just drive “through” trees (which RULES). There is nothing worse that bouncing off of a tree or house every 5 seconds (like in smugglers run).
There are SOME building that you cant run over, but you can pretty much tell before you hit them to stay clear. As for the computer foes, they are *****ES!
They will hunt you down like a dog! You have to be fast and you have to hit back hard.
There is no time for smelling the roses in this game. If you stop, you have mere seconds before you are being attacked by someone. It is very nerve racking. But also very fun!
It’s all action, no doubt about it.
Another thing I like about this game is all of the “little” things.
Like when I launched a homing missile and a pedestrian just happened to walk into the flight path. The homing missile just blows through the guy (pretty much exploding him) and keeps going until it hit it’s target! That was a truly lovely sight J And also blowing up the Ferris wheel and watching it crush everything in it’s path. And I am sure that there are TONS more cool little extra things to come in the upcoming levels. And that’s what really makes this game awesome. It’s the little things like that. (Well, they are not little, but a lot of other game makers seem to ignore these kind of things)
I have only played on 2 levels and already I am totally happy and excited about this game. The dust will finally be coming off of my PS2 because of this game.
Don’t even think….just go BUY IT!!!!!
G.
