Released: 19991228 Publisher: Activision Developer: Luxoflux Corp. Genre: Action

Review by: Mike

One of the Playstation's premier car combat titles makes debut on the Sega Dreamcast with the
release of Vigilante 8 : Second Offense by Activision. Not only does it look better, it plays much smoother
than its 32-bit counterpart. What does this mean? Slicker action, more responsive controls, and cooler
explosions, which is all very good. As the back cover notes, the future of blowing $#!% up is here.



So what's the scoop on V8 part deux? Media coverage of the combat game promised a bigger
game, vehicle upgrades, and a multitude of options. And they delivered. The new additions are more than
welcome, helping to beef up the gameplay variety. In general, the game's new gadgets do not disappoint.
No, V8: Second Offense doesn't pull anything spectacular, but is without a doubt a solid effort in the
combat genre. Am I being vague here? Yeah, so let me explain.



The funky 70's theme is ever present in this sequel, with the stereotypical set of music and
characters tagging along. The game BGM is a little more varied this time around (and selectable during
gameplay), with a total of 18 characters to choose from. Everything from All Star Flying Trio and their
mini-cycle, to literally a farting bus… the character selection is as diverse as 70's can get. Stages are set in
eight different arenas across the United States, including California, Utah, and Minnesota. With that in
mind, I have to admit I favor Twisted Metal's stage and characters a bit more. I'm down with the 70's, but
TM's character designs are more appealing to me. Plus the stage locales are more diverse, enough though
V8's level design is far superior. Now, how does the game play?



In short, the best Vigilante 8 yet. This one is chock full of modes consisting of Survival, Quest
(think of it as mission mode where you complete objectives), and Arcade in single player. Up to four
players are supported, which opens DeathMatch and Co-op multiplayer modes in Brawl, Team, and Smear.
Jumping right into Arcade, you notice the controls are dead on, which is more than I can say for the
Playstation version (slug-ug-ish). The game handles like a dream, as far as steering is concerned. The
button scheme, however, is just slightly awkward at first considering I've grown accustomed to the
Playstation pad scheme. The Playstation's four shoulder buttons do really come in handy when switching
between weapons, opposed to the DC's two. As a result, you have to reach over for the Weapons Select
button while keeping the accelerator down. Yeah, so it's really MINOR. You certainly can't fault Luxoflux
for that, they did make the best of what they had.



As far as the game's objective, it's really a no-brainer : blow up $#!%. As usual, there's a just a bit
of strategy and things are ten times more involved than in any previous car combat game. You can
develop your own weapon combos with the game's Whammy combo system. By firing different weapons
in succession, you can deliver a whammy which deals even more damage. The stages are littered with
power-ups which include mines, homing and regular missiles, mortars, flame throwers, and of course,
ammo for your Special Weapons. Depending on your weapons inventory, you can input special button taps
to unleash special attacks like in Twisted Metal.



The game stages are more elaborate and interactive than ever before. Most of stages feature
multiple plateaus, moving objects (like trains and trucks you can blow up), and stationary objects (like gas
pipes, airplanes, and boxcars which you can blow up). Multiple terrain comes into play too with snow, tar,
and water ways, which is where the new Propulsion Power-ups come into play. By picking up these, you
can improve your vehicle's mobility for a short period of time. Depending on the power-up, you can
improve you car's speed and traction, or turn it into a hovercraft.



On graphics, you notice it looks much better than the PSX version. Duh. Everything is nice,
smooth, and vibrant. However, it's really nothing we haven't already seen on the Dreamcast. And frankly,
I've seen much better. Having said that, the visuals do get the job done, showcasing a PSX game on the DC
level. This comes through especially when it comes to special effects. The light trails on certain weapons
are slick and explosions are really fluid, brilliantly colored, and well, explosive. You can sit back and expect a thunderous
blowout after totaling your opponent. The game manages to run along even in four player mode, but you
notice some slowdown and graphic cutbacks, but nothing that remotely depreciates the experience. The most annoying thing though is that cars can pass through one another, and through certain walls as well.



Replay value varies with the amount of friends you currently have available. This is, essentially, a
made for multiplayer type of game. The single player is nice because Luxoflux went the distance. Take for example, the
new Vehicle Upgrade System, where you earn points towards your war machine and save it to the memory
card to test on friends. The meat of V8 is in the three to four player action, though. In all likelihood, I
probably won't be beating the game with every last character. I'll play through Quest a few times, Arcade
if I want a quick 10 minutes, and occasionally Survival to see how much ass I can whoop. The rest of the
time will probably be devoted to kicking some live human ass through any of the multiplayer options. I
imagine this is the kind of game you rent one day, play with your friends, and find it's so cool that you just
might want to buy it.



At the end of the day, I can really say I've played one of the best car combat games ever. But,
that's considering I went in expecting to play a great multi-player instant action type of game, and nothing
more. I wouldn't go in looking for something pointless like story because you won't find it (the game has
one, I didn't bother to pay attention). The game keeps intact the car combat gameplay we all know, but
makes use of little innovations that help refresh the genre. It's not too different from anything in the past, it
just looks better, runs better, and has more stuff to keep you going. Luxoflux keeps you busy every second
with the gameplay additions making this the most complicated and exciting car fighter to date. As far as
adrenaline-pumping non-stop mayhem, this one has it all.

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