Reviewed: February 25, 2001
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Acclaim
Developer
Clockwork Games
Released: January 24, 2001
Genre: Racing
Players: 2
ESRB: Everyone
6
6
5
7
5.1
Supported Features:
Vanishing Point is another attempt to add a new twist to the standard racing game genre. Originally developed for the Dreamcast then ported to the PlayStation by Clockwork Games and Acclaim, Vanishing Point offers console racers some new innovations and several unusual quirks to learn and overcome. The game is purely arcade, so don't count on lots of details or car tweaking that you would expect as in the Grand Turismo series.
Vanishing Point has you racing "the clock" more than other cars. Sure there are other cars in the race and even civilian traffic, but they are secondary to beating the ever present clock and a series of "top times" that grow increasingly difficult to match let alone beat.
In addition to the game modes you get to choose from a stable of 32 real-life cars and 13 tracks. Most of these have to be unlocked throughout the course of the game by finishing first in the Tournament Mode. In fact, you only get two cars and a single track when you first start the game. This could discourage a lot of people from the very start, although courses and cars are not terribly difficult to unlock and as you get the faster cars and various upgrade parts, unlocking the remaining rewards becomes exponentially easier.
Vanishing Point takes awhile to get used to. The controls are super-sensitive, especially when compared to the original Dreamcast version. Things get a bit easier once you unlock some higher performance cars and learn the idiosyncrasies of how to tweak them for optimum control and handling.
Once you master the controls you can enter the Tournament Mode where you compete in three races per car on a random selection of tracks. Finishing first in the tournament unlocks additional cars and the tracks you raced on. Your choice of rides is limited to the Ford Mustang Cobra and a Ford Explorer, both of which are insanely difficult to control and will have you flinging your controller at the TV after a few inevitable wrecks.
The other cars on the course are there mainly to get in your way. In their attempts to slow you down they will swerve in front of you or even crash right into you. The hyper-realistic physics that cause you to crash or skid out of control doesn't affect the other cars on the track; so there is definitely an exaggerated arcade feel to this game.
I had originally played Vanishing Point on the Dreamcast and it looked amazing. The PlayStation version admittedly takes a backseat in the graphics department, but when compared to other racers on the same system it is well above average. Some tracks are downright beautiful with lots of scenery and animated objects you've come to expect in console racers such as the obligatory jet flying overhead. The courses are simplistic in design but nicely detailed. There is enough detail present to immerse you in the driving experience without taxing the power of the PSX to the point of excessive pop-up on the horizon.
The cars are modeled fairly well, and the cheesy reflections from the Dreamcast version have been replaced with shadows and lighting effects which give each car a distinctive look. Your choice of camera angles ranges from a chase view that is nearly impossible to use to a bumper-cam, which seems to exaggerate the speeds to a nauseating limit. No matter what your preference you are sure to find a camera that you can live with.
For those of you with a PlayStation 2; I did try Vanishing Point in both my original PSX and my PS2, and I did notice a slight improvement in visual quality and a significant improvement on load times when playing on the PS2.
The techno music is the standard stuff we've all come to expect from a console racer. Some of the music almost sounds like a direct rip-off of the music from the Ridge Racer games. You will most likely tire of it and opt to disable the music in favor of the detailed sound effects.
Each car has uniquely sample sounds such as engine noise, tire squeal, and crunching metal during wrecks, and there are plenty of ambient noises to immerse you in the racing experience. These effects seem to have been sampled down from the Dreamcast version, as they aren't as rich or vibrant as the DC original.
As with most games in the racing genre there is really no defined end to this game. A more appropriate question would be, "How long until you get tired of it?" For me, that answer would be about 8 hours. In that amount of time I was able to unlock about a third of the cars and enough tracks to formulate my opinions for this review. I had no desire to go back and play it past that point. The game is pretty average stuff and even if I didn't have better games to play on my DC and PS2 I can think of better racing games for the original PlayStation that I would rather be playing.
Vanishing Point offers split-screen racing for two players but you will take a big performance hit when attempting a two-player race. Even on the PS2, the game grinds to a chugging halt in two-player mode. If you have friends who want to challenge you to a race you will be better off playing the single player game and switching off competing for best times. If you really want the ultimate multiplayer experience and you own a Dreamcast then you way want to opt for the DC version that supports the DC's 56k-modem and offers online competitive racing.
Vanishing Point simply put is just another average racing game. Clockwork tried to put a twist on the genre but racing against the clock is no more innovative than the gimmicks used in Tokyo Extreme or the Kudos system in Metropolis Street Racer. Perhaps my expectations are a bit high as I have multiple systems and titles to choose from in my daily life, but even keeping this game in context with other PSX titles I can think of other games that are more deserving of your gaming dollar.
