Publisher: Midway Developer: Midway
*This review is based on the PS2 version.
I was very excited to hear about a another Spy Hunter for the next-gen consoles, however this one isn't much different that it's predecessor. The Spy Hunter games haven't really changed from the late 80s to now. They've basically added many graphical and sound improvements, and they've tried to incorporate a storyline. The basic idea is still the same. You're in a fast car, and you've got weapons. Some things never change.
Gameplay: 6
The gameplay is extremely repetitive in Spy Hunter 2. You're basically driving forward, shooting everything in your path. Sometimes you're protecting someone, sometimes you're just trying to get somewhere. While this may be fun to some of you, it does get old after 10 or 12 missions. Luckily, the game doesn't have that many levels anyhow. I don't remember exactly, but it seemed like there were only 15 or so.
Spy Hunter 2 plays like it's supposed to, as in you're always on the run, and you're always with a gun. Sure, you've got a few different weapons to unlock, but everything is basically the same. The guns are fun to fire, although controlling the cursor is difficult at times. You've got a limited range to fire in, and you can't move up or down very well. (You can do it, but it's awkward to control.)
The game does have a few quirks though. It's very easy to get stuck in corners or up against a wall. Backing up is funky, and sometimes you've got lots of bad guys behind you. Not only that, when you're in battle with lots of cars, it's very hard to see what you're doing with all the firing going on. Things get pretty messy in no time.
The Interceptor drives nicely, but it's pretty easy to get killed. The car takes damage quickly, and that makes some of the missions pretty hard. You'll be able to beat them all with a little practice though.
Graphics: 7.5
The game looks good, but things get sticky if you're off course. You get stuck easily, and the camera doesn't work well in that case. You can't see anything, and the graphics definitely weren't designed to help with that. Besides that, I didn't have any major problems. It was pleasant to look at, and car transformations looked pretty clean.
Sound & Music: 7
The music wasn't very memorable in the game. The voice-overs were standard, but the sound effects were good. When you're blasting away at enemy cars, you hear is a nice loud explosion upon defeat. This lets you know that the car is gone. I take that to mean "job well done." ...
Story: 3
The game doesn't have a very good story. It's always "Escort him, protect her, go here." I played through the whole thing, and I couldn't even begin to tell you what was going on. I guess it wasn't that memorable.
Replay Value: 5
Spy Hunter will always be fun to pick up and play every now and again, even just for the multiplayer features alone. That's usually fun every few months.
To buy or to rent?I'd definitely rent this first. Major fans of Spy Hunter will rush out and buy, but the rest of us can probably beat it in a rental.
Overall: 6
Overall, the game was kind of fun to play, but I'm not going to be too excited about another sequel unless they've made some major changes. The game was simply too short (and too hard to play) to enjoy for any long period of time.
Additional Information:
Genre: Racing/Driving
Players: 1-2
Memory Required: 283K
Rating: T (for Teen)
Extras: None
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