fujisan's Full Review: Redline Racer 3-D for Windows
The setting…67 years in the war torn future where gang wars rage between rival clans, and the resistance movement against these clans has recruited you to help in the seemingly never ending battle of good against evil. A plausible enough story for a computer game, and without a doubt, one that could have had a real chance to make it big in the computer game industry, were it not for several shortcomings that are apparent early on and throughout the game.
First of all, let’s examine the game in terms of general plotline and overall coherency; a future torn apart by rivaling gangs and an organization that wants the gangs eliminated. It’s a good start…the story has the makings of a great game, now let’s throw in what every good gamer covets, a good graphics engine that will take advantage of 3D acceleration and appear visually stimulating and interesting to hold the attention of the target audience. Redline initially appears to do quite well in this respect…everything looks crisp and clear, even when played on a computer with a slower microprocessor, though a Pentium II or higher is strongly recommended. The main problem I had with Redline is that some of the boards looked very artificial. Even for being set 67 years in the future, the terrain is more like that of an alien planet than Earth in the Future.
This doesn’t apply to all levels, most have an adequate, if not above par level of realism. Basically, where you run into the fantastical landscape is when you start getting into network and internet play. As I played the game more and more I found there was only one level for multiplay that I really enjoyed, and that was one called Terminal that takes place at none other than an airport terminal. To be honest, all the other maps had a sort of artificial quality to them that most likely won’t appeal to anyone who is used to the almost photo-realism of games like Quake II and Half-Life.
Aside from the graphics, the overall playability of the game isn’t bad; Redline is the first of it’s time to combine first-person foot combat with vehicle combat in one game. For instance, you’re running along the ground and spot a motorbike, you can go up to it, climb in, and drive around with a whole new arsenal of weapons. For being a pioneer of this concept, Accolade pulls it off with a reasonable amount of success, but here again there are fatal flaws that prevent the die-hard gamer from taking the game completely seriously. The first of these flaws is the fact that the physics model of the bike (or any of the many vehicles for that matter) prevents it from sustaining any damage when it runs into any wall, building, or any other stationary object. Needless to say, this detracts from the overall realism of the game, and adds to the feeling that you are playing your game in an artificial world, with definite rules as to what you can and cannot do. It would be far better if you could at least see damage inflicted on your vehicle, as it is, the only thing your really see is the vehicle bouncing off whatever you hit, which is pretty cheesy in my humble opinion.
The second of these flaws lies in the fact that during battle in the vehicles, it takes an incredible amount of firepower to kill your enemy, which makes for a frustrating time to be had by all. When you’re in any sort of vehicle, even the bike that has low armor, you are faced with the nearly impossible task of destroying your opponent’s car. However, even after you have jumped this hurtle, you still have to kill the person inside the car, as he does not die with his trusty vehicle.
The fact remains that Redline is the first of it’s kind to combine hand to hand on-foot combat with a Carmageddon-type driving game, and with that in mind, Redline must be given a certain amount of slack. My main qualms with the game are with the unrealistic nature of the vehicle, coupled with the semi-artificial quality of the worlds.
However, several good qualities do shine through, such as the ability in multiplayer mode to have a play list of worlds on a cycle so that players alternate worlds after a certain time limit or certain number of kills. Also, single player mode is quite a lot of fun and easy (depending on the difficulty level) to play. It’s presented in a very straightforward way that is easy to follow. Your objective is spoken to you by the organization that wants to recruit you, so it’s not hard to find out what you’re supposed to do.
Overall, Redline proves to be a stereotypical prototype of a new genre of game…combination vehicle/foot first person combat; it has it’s share of strengths and weaknesses, but in the end proves that it needs a little work.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.