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Spy Hunter is a remake of the old game we all know and love. The game sets you behind the wheel of an incredible vehicle with some interesting choices in weaponry. The graphics are stunning and offer a plethora of visuals to keep your eyes happy. The sound track fits the theme of driving really fast trying to complete your objects. The game play, unfortunately, doesn’t offer as much as the visuals or audio.
Graphics
There is a lot of detail on the car that you drive and a lot of detail in the world you see. The scenery in each level sets the atmosphere of your mission. Whether it is a highway in Germany or a canal in Italy, each has its own scenery so you don’t get the feeling of playing the same levels all the time.
The surrounding cars look fairly realistic. They swerve in and out of traffic and the opponent cars run amok trying to get to you. It is cool how each enemy has its own unique weapons - some cars use wheel spikes as you pass by them, and others shoot you with missiles or guns.
The transition from car to boat to motorbike is really cool. I don’t think it could have been better, the pieces of the car flying off, and it all flowing together. It really looks amazing, it’s all automatic too, which may or may not be a good thing.
It’s somewhat like your standard race game where you can run into surrounding items, poles and boxes etc. Sometimes they 'explode’ and other times they seem to just disappear. Explosions and such are nothing amazing but what is cool is how a smoking car driving in front of you totally clouds your vision.
The water reflections are amazing, some of the best I’ve ever seen. The water effect however is somewhat bland and fell short of my expectations.
Audio
There is a soundtrack that follows you as you play the game - it has a James Bond feel to it. It does give you the feeling that you are a spy on some important business. The music plays subtly in the background of the game and doesn’t get too annoying - sometimes it helps when you get to some more intense moments.
The only voice I remember hearing is the computerized voice of the lady helping you on your way. As you drive she gives you your objectives and such. Nothing fantastic, a little disappointing there wasn’t a better voice actor.
The general sound effects are generic. There really isn’t anything fancy about them, classic bang bang boom. Other sound effects sound a tad unrealistic - it takes away from the feel of the game, ruins the moment in other areas.
Game Play
There are two modes of play, single player and two players. In single player you get a set of objectives that must be complete in order to beat the mission, failing one usually means you failed the mission.
You start off in some part of the map and just drive around killing enemies and try to complete your objectives, easier said than done. This game is very difficult; I have yet to win any mission I have tried.
The maps are pretty linear, but offer a wide area to cover sometimes, especially in the boating stages. You can explore a bit, but basically you can only go one way, and never get lost.
Some maps offer you the ability to go from land to water in a matter of seconds. The transformation, as I stated, is really cool. When your car or boat gets too damaged it ejects you to a mini boat or motorbike.
There are refill trucks or boats in this game, as there were in the original. Enter one and you are completely refilled of everything, even if you are badly damaged you come out 100% fixed.
There are several types of weapons, from machine guns to oil slicks. You start off with dual machine guns and unguided missiles; your defensive weapon is an oil spill. As you go along you get better weapons such as guided missiles and an EMP blast.
In each level you have tons of bad guys that try to thwart your attempts to stop them. They really get in the way and can cause you to miss your objectives several times. Blowing up everything you see isn’t a wise idea as most missions forbid the loss of civilian life.
The set routine for each map is drive around and blow stuff up while finishing your objectives. It is very fun at first, but after a while of getting fed up with missing objectives or just getting sick of the monotonous game play, you tend to get bored and stop.
Multiplayer
There is a two player mode that I had talked about. Basically it has 3 modes in it; Head to head, Globe Trotter, and Chicken Hunter.
Head to Head is your basic racing game. You use what ever weapons you can find to stop your opponent from beating you.
Globe Trotter is about collecting SATCOMs throughout the mission, the one with the most wins.
Chicken Hunter is as it sounds. Kill as many chickens as possible.
These 3 modes really are lacking, when they should have included some sort of co-op feature.
