Previewed: August 10, 2004
Previewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Atari

Developer
Monster Games

Release Date: August 24, 2004
Genre: Racing
Players: 4
ESRB: Teen

View Screenshots (11 Images)

I recently got to take a preview copy of Test Drive: Eve of Destruction for a…err…test drive and the results were not only surprising but refreshingly original. Coming to the PS2 and Xbox later this month, Eve of Destruction focuses its gameplay on the old-style demolition derbies, the kind you might find today at a state fair or perhaps a traveling road show. Not since the old Destruction Derby game from Reflections have I had this much fun destroying cars.

My PS2 review copy included only four of the many events that will be available in the final shipping version and each one was more fun than the last. And while the final game will offer split-screen support for up to four racers, my demo only supported a single driver. So I put on my helmet and took to the track for some serious destruction.

Figure 8 Jump is the first event and consists of a large track in the shape of a giant number eight. The intersection is actually in midair with short ramps leading into the crossroads that will launch your car making for some exciting and devastating collisions. Cars will be landing on each other and if the timing is just right you can get some massive T-bone collisions.

Demolition Derby puts all the cars in a gladiator-style arena and the last car moving wins. The trick here is to continuously drive in reverse and save that precious engine in the front of your car. Lining up and smashing into other moving vehicles gets progressively more challenging as debris and smoking wrecks litter the arena.

Jump Race is basically a circuit race with some big air jumps scattered throughout the track. This mode is more about racing than destruction but there are still plenty of chances to smash into the competition.

The final event is easily the most fun you can have; at least with the modes I had to choose from. Suicide Surprise takes the entire field of cars and divides them in half and has each half driving in opposite directions around a high-speed oval. While I almost always do this very same thing in NASCAR and Indy racing games, this is the first time where I was actually supposed to go the wrong way. Of course smashing into an oncoming car at a combined speed of 200mph can total your ride in a single hit, so avoidance is the key to winning this race, but those close calls are some of the most spine-tingling events of the game.

Other modes that will be in the final game include Gauntlet, where the player climbs behind the wheel of a hearse and tries to finish a set number of laps while the rest of the field attempts to stop them; and Trailer Race, a new brand of racing event, where players compete while towing various types of trailers and must finish the race with something resembling a trailer still attached.

The final game will have more than 30 custom vehicles to unlock and drive in the 25 events including buses, trucks, and many other surprises you won’t be expecting in a racing game, even a destruction based game like this.

As far as the technical aspects, since our build is definitely not final code I won’t be overly critical. The controls are very nice and highly responsive. You can finesse your way through skidding dirt turns and counter-steer to avoid wipeouts. Collision detection and crashes are nicely done with some good car damage modeling including broken parts that will fall off and litter the track for future laps.

Graphically, Eve of Destruction is very much “PlayStation” with some jaggies and shimmering issues. It also looks very “last year”, looking very much like a slightly improved Stuntman. I’m guessing the Xbox will look significantly better, but we’ll have to wait a few weeks to let you know for sure.

You have several cameras to choose from while driving including the standard chase view, a cockpit view with functional dashboard, and two other views, one that removes the body of the car and shows only the frame and front tires and another which “fools” you into thinking it’s a typical bumper cam only the camera is actually in the driver seat and the car simply isn’t there. Naturally, this causes some serious confusion, as you will be hitting other cars and objects when it looks like you have two car lengths of safety in front of you. Hopefully this will be fixed before the game ships otherwise this view is useless.

The music in the game is thumping rock, at least for the opening movie and menu screen. Once the racing starts its all about the sounds of revving engines, crunching metal, cheers of the crowd and a slightly annoying announcer doing some decent play-by-play that accurately follows the events of the race at hand.

Test Drive: Eve of Destruction is only a few weeks away and is shaping up to be one of the more intense driving games of the summer. It might not offer all the high-speed explosive collisions of EA’s upcoming Burnout 3 but if you are looking for a straight-up fun day at the track with great game modes, challenging races, and metal-crunching collisions, your Eve of Destruction is at hand.

Look for more information, updated screenshots, and movies leading up to our final review when this title ships for PS2 and Xbox later this month.