Developer
Monster Games

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

9
8
7
8
8.7

Supported Features:

That is until developers at Monster Games Inc. got involved. This US-based design team responsible for the NASCAR Heat franchise has picked up this fallen series and has taken it even further in its off-road direction; and head-on into every redneck’s dream sport, the destruction derby.

You heard me, Atari’s latest release, Test Drive: Eve of Destruction is part racer and part beating the crap out of your vehicles as you race (and crash) your way to the top of the destruction derby circuit in Rural Town, USA. And while the thought at first screams "bore-fest", the team at Monster Games has delivered Test Drive’s most addicting game to date. Eve is a great looking racing game with good physics, solid control, and great crashes. Its arcade mode is so easy to pick up and play and its crashes will mesmerize even the soberest of friends. But what really makes the game succeed is Monster’s creative racing modes.

There are twenty-five different types of races in Eve of Destruction and none of them are alike. Also by the time you play through the entire career mode you will have wrecked over 30 different vehicles, ranging from your old hand-me-down Chevy to hearses and even school buses. Throw in custom soundtracks and a $39.99 price tag and we’ve got ourselves a winner.

In the career mode everyone starts as a driver with no reputation and no wheels except for grandma's old beater. The bank you start out with is enough to purchase a car from the local auto shop but you won’t be able to afford the faster cars until a few hours into the game. Since Eve is actually an arcade racing game at heart you won’t have to worry about those nit-picky specs of Gran Turismo or even the Ridge Racer series. The cars’ only stats are speed, control, and durability and even those are given a simple number system from 1-10, making it easy for anyone to understand.

After you buy your first car you’ll be introduced to Monster’s fun menu system, which is actually set-up as a mini town you can drive through fairly quickly. Stop by the garage for new cars; visit the paint shop to customize your look or head to the diner to challenge local loudmouths to a race. Of course, to really begin your ascent through the ranks you’ll want to do well in the weekend Eve of Destruction, the 12-man competition that has you racing and smashing your way to the top. DY-NO-MITE!

The Eves are, by far, the best aspect of the game. A great deal of imagination went into making each event different from the next. Half of the events take place on a dirt track while others, like the demolition derby, take place in a big ring. Some of the best races are the Suicide Race which divides the cars into two teams of six, each team driving the opposite way in the ring, leaving the race wide open for head-on collisions. Another one of my favorite races is the Jump Race, which has a large ramp at the intersection for cars to side swipe each other full speed and in mid air. As if that wasn’t enough madness, later events will have all cars racing with trailers, making it not only harder to control, but harder to avoid the wrecks as the trailers have their own physics, independent of the cars that are towing them.

Of course, the events based on destruction have their own kind of glory. Choose your biggest, baddest, most durable car for these since you’ll be beating it to a pulp. Your standard destruction derby is a great way to release some tension as you slam into other cars until yours is the only one left operational. Other events like the Push-out race mean you’ll have to knock all of the other cars out of the circle just like wrestling’s own king-of-the-ring. The team has even thrown in a Soccer Mode that consists of, you guessed it, a gigantic soccer ball. But rest assured no matter what the event calls for there will be plenty of collisions and every car can always be totaled so make sure you’ve gotten the necessary repairs before each competition.

Another graphic achievement is the collision modeling the design team uses. There are tons of damages your car can take. Bumpers, car doors, and grills can all be knocked off your car and thrown to the track where they will remain for the rest of the race. Cones, flaming barrels and haystacks also pollute the track, requiring drivers to maneuver almost constantly during the races. All it takes is for one vehicle to send a pile of hay in your direction and you’ll be knocked off-course. For once, a roll in the hay isn’t a good thing.

Finally, I have to say this is the first racing game that I’ve ever played where being hit is just as entertaining as winning the race. In Eve of Destruction, The development team has rewarded devastating hits by incorporating a matrix-like collision camera that freezes a split second after impact and rotates around the vehicles just to send your adrenaline into overdrive right before your watch you car is flip over and smash into the railing. And while getting screwed out of first place normally infuriates me, watching a life-like recreation of an earth-shattering hit is reward enough. Hell, sometimes I even turned around at the finish line just to find someone to ram if I didn’t get my fix. Kind of sick, but it’s my game and I’ll crash if I want to!

One thing I do applaud is the music chosen for the game. I really like the use of hard alternative music from popular artists like Sum 41 and Hoobastank and I think it makes sense to hear those distorted in-your-face tunes while you’re wrecking a car. I would have appreciated a bigger playlist, although I guess that’s the reason the Xbox has custom soundtracks, so no gripes will be tolerated here.

But even without Xbox Live, this game is very addicting and the gradual release of new races and unlockables (like turbo boosts) will have you playing for at least 15 hours, not counting the arcade races with up to three of your beer buddies.