Wreckless – The Yakuza Missions
|
Wreckless – The Yakuza Missions images
more below... |
Review of Wreckless – The Yakuza Missions
The Yakuza thugs, headed by the infamous Tiger Takagi, are running wildly in the streets of Hong Kong. Needless to say, Hong Kong is not a good place to be these days. The good, honest citizens of Hong Kong are being terrorized and the inept police force are unable to control the Yakuza. Public safety is at an all-time low. Someone needs to do something and YOU are that ONE.
What will strike you first is the initial load time of the game, seems quite long, but if you can see past this, you are not disappointed with the game itself. You are given a few options on multiple screens once the game is loaded. Load game or a New game. After choosing the New Game mode, you need to choose a Scenario with each having its own storyline. Dragon Venture, which is where you assume the role of 2 female Elite Flying Dragon anti-Yakuza squad members or Spy Story where you take on the role of 2 male high-level secret agent spies that leave you wondering how they became spies in the first place. Another option from these menus is the Cheats. They spell out the Cheats for you and tell you what missions you need to complete to unlock each cheat.
Once you choose your Scenario, then you choose your mission, ironic since after mission 1, there are prerequisites for all of the following missions. Can’t go to mission A2 before you complete Mission A1. At this menu, you can choose your difficulty level (Easy, Hard, Bonus). Each Mission has a sub-mission that can be completed to unlock a cheat. These sub-missions can also be passed over and played at a later time. Then off to the garage per say to select your car. Remember that not all cars work for every mission so if you have a hard time with one particular car on a mission, go back and change cars to see if that helps you complete the mission.
Some cars have more maneuverability, but are slower, while others are very quick, but lack in the handling department. Controlling the cars is simple and straightforward using the left analog stick and the buttons on the right side of the controller. After you have made all of your selections, you are given a text screen with what your current mission is. When the particular mission is loaded and gameplay is about to begin, you hear your captain across the car radio spouting out what was just shown in text form. If you fail on a particular mission, you also hear from your Captain, but he’s not really in a good mood since you failed to complete the mission.
Let the missions begin. Depending on the scenario you choose, you have 20 missions with 20 sub-missions to complete each storyline. As the Flying Dragons, you are tracking down the Yakuza units that show no respect for the authorities and go about their Yakuza business as they see fit. As the “Spies”, you are out to uncover the illegal activities that go on between the Yakuza and the Police that you work for. In two-player mode, you are pitted against your opponent to complete missions like chasing and destroying Yakuza transport cars, clearing the path for a bus so that it won’t crash and explode, since it has a bomb attached as well as many others. So you better put on your seatbelt and grab the steering wheel tight because this is going to be one heck of a ride. You are scored on your time and other factors depending on what mission you may be in. Sometimes you are in a race against time and others you are racing against an opponent controlled by the game. There are short scenes before and after each mission. They show what lead up to the current missions and the results after the mission has been completed successfully.
I want to bring up another gaming point, there is another option within the game called Free Roam, where you can explore the city without being immersed in a mission. This might be a good way to get acclimated with different cars and how they handle as well as finding out what you can drive through and what you can’t. Ever want to drive off the top of a building? Drive through a tree? When crashing into other vehicles, while inflicting damage to their cars, your own car will sustain some real time damage making the game more realistic
As many of you may know, when Wreckless hit the Xbox console it was considered to be a graphical tour-de-force of the consoles capabilities with the game throwing all kinds of special effects at you. Well, the PS2 version doesn’t achieve the graphical levels of the original, but it does actually improve in some areas…believe it or not.
The game boasts a cool 60 fps, which gives the game a nice visual flow from scene to scene, virtually doubling the output of the Xbox version. The explosions are graphically pleasing to the eye as they seem quite realistic. The PS2 adds a ton of its own filtering effects that can be turned on or off, unlocked or viewed from a reply perspective.
The sheer amount of geometry being thrown about to depict the cities and areas being driven through (literally) is also quite impressive. Another little visual tidbit that is nice to see is when you backup the car you are in, you can see the driver actually turn his head to look behind him. So, overall the visuals in Wreckless don’t disappointed and for a port of an Xbox game are actually quite good…but we have also certainly seen better on the PS2 to be sure.
The accompanying music that is playing in the background is perfect for this game. The music is not overwhelming and does not become noticeable to the gamer, but adds a nice background vibe.
OUR PLEDGE: We promise that we have fully played 'Wreckless – The Yakuza Missions' before writing this review. The scores given above are our honest opinion and were not influenced in any way by the manufacturer or distributor of the game.
This review was written by Bill Gibbs © Absolute PlayStation
Have You Played Wreckless – The Yakuza Missions ?
If you have owned 'Wreckless – The Yakuza Missions' long enough to have formed a solid opinion on it, then click here to write your own mini review of Wreckless – The Yakuza Missions.
Alternatively, if you would like to read what other gamers who already own Wreckless – The Yakuza Missions think of it, click here to view all of our reader comments and mini reviews of Wreckless – The Yakuza Missions.
Want To Know More About Wreckless – The Yakuza Missions ?
Playstation Chat Forum
