“Slidin’ On Down The Highway To Heck” Review

“Slidin’ On Down The Highway To Heck”

Good old Mad Max started something didn’t he? Ever since that

’70’s classic movie of automotive violence and grown men wearing skin tight

leather pants while watering their houseplants, our collective unconscious has

long been tainted with a particular role that cars always play in post-apocalyptic

futures. Usually, the plot takes the following course: The deterrent concept

of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) fails and there is a nuclear war that ravaged

the planet leaving only a few mutant rejects alive. Sometimes a few mutant rejects

are left alive and a ruling, non-mutant (probably British or Californian) class

now lives either in posh orbiting space stations or underground. Sitting back,

sipping Chardonnay, and enjoying a fine novel by H.G. Wells.

Then, the

mutant population usually turns to the cars left on the roadways while their

owners burned in unnatural flames. These mutant brigands usually either take

to racing these automobiles for pleasure, or using them to kill each other for

fun. Either way this premise has made for many a good flick and a few decent

games. Powerslide, the latest post-apocalyptic-arcade-racing-game, breaks

from this premise, slightly. The disaster was actually just the destruction

of the ozone (the game must have been funded by the green party). The rich non-mutants

chose to live in the underground. The choice was made to race rather than kill.

Finally the racing is in off road buggies, which makes for a whole new kind

‘a drivin’ (preach on Taurus).

The name Powerslide is indicative of the racing style of the game.

You drive these modified dune buggies over wastelands of various sorts: Desert,

Mines, Rock Quarries, Dams, none of which have surfaces that make for good traction.

This causes every turn to be a Powerslide, handbrake used or not. But,

the game features a highly advanced physics system that makes every slide unique

and causes some entertaining results, like your buggy flipping over from the

G-forces or taking some of the funkiest jumps this side of I-76.

One of the most notable features of Powerslide is the graphics. Developed

by RatBag software, Powerslide uses “The Difference Engine” a new 3D

technology which gives us one of the best looking pieces of software on the

market with some of the highest framerates. Powerslide does a better

job of feeling real, feeling photorealistic than any other game on the market.

Mainly this is do to the excellent use of texture, high polygon counts, and

sparing use of non-ambient colored light sources, which are not often seen in

everyday life, contrary to the philosophy of Unreal

and Dethkarz.

Powerslide

has 8 tracks, 2 bonus tracks, and 2 Multiplayer only tracks. All feature tight

design and run from extremely short to some of the longest tracks found in a

racing game. The environments go everywhere from racing underground in the upper-class

“Nutopia” to slidin’ though the ruins of a very convincing Metropolis. The Bonus

tracks were conceived mainly to show off the game’s physics modeling. There

is a pure stunt track and a Luge track, yes, you heard correctly, a Luge track,

it’s cool (and flavorful!). The tracks are all extremely expansive, some of

them taking place outdoors, some of them featuring multiple paths, and even

completely irrelevant but fully developed environments. The tracks feel more

like driving areas than like the comparatively confined hallways of racing found

in games like Need For Speed 2.

Initially you only have access to 3 tracks and 4 of the 8 vehicles (each vehicle

has several drivers to choose from, paint jobs essentially). To gain access

to the other tracks (the better tracks) you must play through the increasingly

difficult championships in the game. Unfortunately, in order to gain access

to all the tracks and cars you have to perfectly complete 4 separate, overlapping,

championships. That is just to much of a chore and makes the game quite frustrating

up until you beat it, at which point you’ve almost played it out already.

Spread out over the tracks, and hidden in secret areas are the cheat

codes. Each code has an unusual effect on gameplay, my favorite being the

twister cheat which whips the AI cars around your head like something out of

the movie of the same name. Also, the game remembers the last 10 cheats you

entered and you can use them again just by pressing one of the 10 number keys

at the top of the keyboard. In addition Powerslide keeps the codes in

the same place as the refrigerator that stores the fresh fruit you win (post-apocalyptic

trophies) so that you can refresh your memory any time you like. None of the

cheats let you win in the championships. They are merely added spice to the

game that, for once, don’t ruin it.

The music, is some of the best I’ve ever heard in a game. In the opening race

around a desert, for instance, I was seriously impressed by the almost John

Williams orchestral score. Other tracks feature music that is in a style appropriate

for the location, but just as high quality. The sound effects were also good,

but not outstanding.

Overall this is one of the most enjoyable, unique, and innovative racing games

on the market currently. The physics of the game really create a whole new style

of racing, through one of the greatest visual feasts yet seen on a humble 3D

Accelerated PC. Aside from the championship problem and the fact that the game’s

focus on physics makes it feel like a bit of a tech demo, this is a nearly flawless

racing game, and an easy recommendation. Hell, how many different ways can you

say that the durn’d game is good?