Driven to Destruction Review - PS2

amount of those that the game features, some being real and some being fictional. For example, the 'Whip Around' race has you racing one lap and then swinging around with the handbrake and racing the next lap the other way; the Figure-8 Jump Race is held upon a track shaped as a figure-eight, with four jumps in the middle leading to many dramatic mid air crashes; and of course there's the Destruction Derby as I mentioned before, in which your goal is to destroy your opponents' cars within a small, round arena.

One of the game's largest problems happens to be one of the most important. Ramming your opponents in damaging locations while keeping your car on the track during races requires precision control, but this is made difficult with the unrealistic handling system that the game employs. When steering it's obvious that the car is simply turning on a central pivot, clearly marking a flaw in the game's otherwise realistic structure; in no way would even the casual gamer be convinced that the car is being controlled by its four wheels. Even when speeding along, you'll try to turn and the car will keep floating across the dirt for numerous seconds before even realising that it should begin turning. Overall, the way the cars handle makes keeping control of your car much more of a task than it should be.

Back onto a good note, Driven to Destruction's damage system is great, adding a welcome hint of strategy to the game. In each event, every car has a life meter, representing how much kick they have left in them before they're so damaged they can't even compete any longer. Ramming opponents drains their health meter and the amount of damaged caused with each hit is noted in the heads-up display. But what's interesting is that damage carries on through the career mode, not only through each event in an eve but even into the next. Of course, you can repair your car at your home for a very small cost, but eventually it'll become irreparable and you'll need to buy a new one. Yet another reason to keep a stockpile of cars, risk taking only one into an eve, half-damaged for example, and its unlikely that it'll come out alive. In addition to this, the damage system prevents haphazard and careless ramming; in order to keep your car running, you must plan each hit that you want to land on an opponent carefully as damage will, obviously, be caused to your car too, the amount of which depending on numerous factors such as the speed of both cars and the hit location.

Graphics

In general, the game has a very realistic look to it. All of the textures are highly detailed, melding well with the gritty look presented by each of the cars. The barriers on tracks - made up of objects such as witch's hats, haystacks and the like - aren't restrictive, each becoming ...