Background Info

Heavy metal, classic muscle cars, and guns. I love the premise, but can Road Wars deliver? Well, to be sure, we'll have to wait for the retail and take another look at it. So far, though, it looks like it may be able to pull it off. The idea is a simple one: race, win, then upgrade your car with your winnings. The fun, though, is that it's dirty, cutthroat racing. Win by any means necessary.

The retail version is supposed to ship with 8 tracks (and some hidden), 12 cars, and an unknown selection of weapons. It will also support D3D, 3Dnow, and force feedback. The demo I looked at had six great cars: a '69 Shelby Mustang, a '68 Camaro, a '92 Porsche, a '69 Corvette, a '76 Maserati, and an '88 Jeep. All of them done very well graphically, as were the special effects. The rest of the graphics were merely passable.

Engine sounds were a mixed bag, some sounded good, and others not so good. Music and sound effects were all good though. Once the rough edges are worked out, the gameplay ought to be pretty enjoyable. The car physics are definitely arcade, but fun. You're able to powerslide through corners, catch a lot of air, flip, roll and otherwise be a menace on the tracks. Visual damage to the cars is great, and you have an I'76esque damage indicator, showing how your car is holding up. Hammer into too many walls or cars, and your engine will catch on fire.

There were only three weapons in the in current version, a front mounted machine gun, a side mounted rocket launcher, and a rear mounted smoke screen. The smoke screen in particular was very cool; it was very difficult to see through the smoke. The weapons as well as other upgrades like tires, engines, drive trains, armor and the like are purchased in the garage with the money you earn by winning races.

Overall impressions? Well, I'll wait and see. It didn't ooh and ahh me, but I like the idea, and if the multiplayer comes through solid, it could be a lot of fun. For now though, I'll stick with I'76.

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