by: Michael Ogunnubi

April 05, 2009

Now when the game was first announced and more and more details and media started to unveil, I was one of, I’m sure, many who thought this game would not be anything special. That is indeed true to some degree but it’s actually not all that bad. When the demo released and I got a chance to try it out, I was actually impressed at the fun factor and how well the main focus, the driving, was handled. So when I finally received the full game I was anxious to play it. I think fans of Vin Diesel will also be pleased (or not) to find out that he himself and his studio, Tigon Studios, worked on this game in conjunction with Midway Newcastle. Vin Diesel served as executive producer.

The start of the game starts with a quick look over the city map, which apparently is the starting sequence to get you into the game. Vin Diesel stars as Milo who appears to have left the United States for his own unknown reasons to Barcelona. But in fat, he’s an undercover agent who was duty was to infiltrate the Barcelona underworld to gather intel surrounding a covert heist. Yep, he’s playing a double agent. The intro cinematic shows Milo in a car at the waiting as the getaway driver for a robbery. That is actually how it starts…no kidding. It would’ve been nice to at least open with information on Milo’s task and duty. Apart from the cops eying you up obviously giving away that you're an undercover operative, this is all that it gives you, no introduction, no nothing.

Your first mission is to get away from the scene and evading the cops when Lumi comes busting out the door ordering you to get away quickly. During this mission, you learn how to drive and how to combat other vehicles and it’s a nice little intro to what you can expect for the entire game. This is where the driving is done so well and enjoyable at; you can bash other vehicles by pressing the analog stick right, left or up into vehicles slamming them into side barriers and other objects which is fun and also easy to pull off. Later on in the game you get the ability to jump cars and hijack that car in the process along with unlocking boost. The game is very easy to play and in fact, you don’t need any ability or talent as its repetitive and not a challenge until you hit the bad spots in this.